Jerome. Lives of Illustrious Men 16
16 Ignatius the bishop PL 23, 633
Ignatius, third bishop of the church of Antioch after Peter the apostle, condemned to the wild beasts during the persecution of Trajan, was sent bound to Rome, and when he had come on his voyage as far as Smyrna, where Polycarp the pupil of John was bishop, he wrote one epistle To the Ephesians, another To the Magnesians, a third To the Trallians, a fourth To the Romans, and going thence, he wrote To the Philadelphians and To the Smyrneans and especially To Polycarp, commending to him the church at Antioch. In this last he bore witness to the Gospel which I have recently translated, in respect of the person of Christ saying, “I indeed saw him in the flesh after the resurrection and I believe that he is,” and when he came to Peter and those who were with Peter, he said to them “Behold! touch me and see me how that I am not an incorporeal spirit” and straightway they touched him and believed. Moreover it seems worth while inasmuch as we have made mention of such a man and of the Epistle which he wrote to the Romans, to give a few “quotations”: “From Syria even unto Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and by sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, that is to say soldiers who guard me and who only become worse when they are well treated. Their wrong doing, however is my schoolmaster, but I am not thereby justified. May I have joy of the beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them ready; I will even coax them to devour me quickly that they may not treat me as they have some whom they have refused to touch through fear. And if they are unwilling, I will compel them to devour me. Forgive me my children, I know what is expedient for me. Now do I begin to be a disciple, and desire none of the things visible that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Let fire and cross and attacks of wild beasts, let wrenching of bones, cutting apart of limbs, crushing of the whole body, tortures of the devil,—let all these come upon me if only I may attain unto the joy which is in Christ.”
When he had been condemned to the wild beasts and with zeal for martyrdom heard the lions roaring, he said “I am the grain of Christ. I am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts that I may be found the bread of the world.” He was put to death the eleventh year of Trajan and the remains of his body lie in Antioch outside the Daphnitic gate in the cemetery.
855 Ignatius Antiochenae Ecclesiae tertius post Petrum apostolum episcopus, persecutionem commovente Trajano, damnatus ad bestias, Romam vinctus mittitur. Cumque navigans Smyrnam venisset, ubi Polycarpus, auditor Joannis, episcopus erat, scripsit unam Epistolam ad Ephesios, alteram ad Magnesianos, tertiam ad Trallenses, quartam ad Romanos, et inde egrediens scripsit ad Philadelpheos, et ad Smyrnaeos; et proprie ad Polycarpum, commendans illi Antiochensem Ecclesiam, in qua et de Evangelio quod nuper a me translatum est, super persona Christi ponit testimonium dicens: Ego vero et post resurrectionem in carne eum vidi, et credo quia sit. Et quando venit ad Petrum, et ad eos qui eum Petro erant, dixit eis: Ecce, palpate me, et videte, quia non sum daemonium incorporale. Et statim tetigerunt eum, et crediderunt. Dignum autem videtur, quia tanti viri fecimus mentionem, et de epistola ejus, quam ad Romanos scribit [ Al. scripsit], pauca ponere. De Syria usque ad Romam pugno ad bestias, in mari et in terra, nocte dieque ligatus cum decem leopardis, hoc est, militibus, qui me custodiunt: quibus et cum benefeceris, pejores fiunt. Iniquitas autem eorum, mea doctrina est, sed non idcirco justificatus sum. Utinam fruar bestiis, quae mihi sunt praeparatae, quas et oro mihi 857 veloces esse ad interitum, et alliciam eas ad comedendum me, ne sicut aliorum Martyrum, non audeant corpus meum attingere. Quod si venire noluerint, ego vim faciam, ego me ingeram, ut devorer. Ignoscite mihi, filioli: quid mihi prosit, ego scio. Nunc incipio Christi esse discipulus, nihil de his quae videntur desiderans, ut Jesum Christum inveniam. Ignis, crux, bestiae, confractio ossium, membrorum divisio, et totius corporis contritio, et tota tormenta diaboli, in me veniant, tantum ut Christo fruar. Cumque jam damnatus esset ad bestias, ardore patiendi, cum rugientes audiret leones, ait: Frumentum Christi sum, dentibus bestiarum molar, ut panis mundus inveniar. Passus est anno undecimo Trajani. Reliquiae corporis ejus Antiochiae jacent extra portam Daphniticam in coemeterio.
856 Ἰγνάτιος τῆς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ ἐκκλησίας τρίτος μετὰ Πέτρον τὸν Ἀποστόλον ἐπίσκοπος, διωγμὸν κινήσαντος Τραϊανοῦ, θηριομαχῆσαι κελευσθεὶς εἰς Ῥώμην στέλλεται δέσμιος. Πλέων δὲ καὶ ἐπιστὰς τῇ Σμύρνῃ ἐν ᾗ Πολύκαρπος ἀκροατὴς Ἰωάννου ἐπίσκοπος ἦν, ἔγραψε πρὸς Ἐφεσίους Ἐπιστολὴν μίαν, ἄλλην πρὸς Μαγνησιανοὺς, τρίτην πρὸς Τραλλιανοὺς, τετάρτην πρὸς Ῥωμαίους. Κᾀκεῖθεν ἐξιὼν, ἔγραψε Φιλαδελφεῦσι, καὶ Σμυρναίοις, καὶ ἰδικῶς πρὸς Πολύκαρπον, παρατιθέμενος αὐτῷ τὴν ἐν Αντιοχείᾳ ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ περὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τοῦ πρώην μεταφρασθέντος, ἐκ προσώπου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μνήμην ποιεῖται, λέγων· Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐν σώματι αὐτὸν εἶδον, καὶ πιστεύω ὅτι ἐστὶ. καὶ ὅτε ἦλθεν πρὸς Πέτρον, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ὄντας, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ψηλαφήσατέ με, ὅτι οὔκ εἰμι δαιμόνιον σωματικόν. Καὶ εὐθέως ἅψαντες αὐτὸν, ἐπίστευσαν. Ἄξιον δὲ φαίνεται, ἐπείπερ τοιούτου ἀνδρὸς πεποιήμεθα μνήμην, ἐκ τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους γραφείσης ὀλίγα ἐκθέσθαι. « Ἀπὸ Συρίας ἄχρι Ῥώμης, θηριομαχῶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ καὶ ἐν γῇ, νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, δέκα συνδεμένος λεοπάρδοις, τουτέστι στρατιώταις τοῖς φυλάσσουσί με, οἵτινες καὶ μετὰ εὐεργεσίαν χείρονες γίνονται. Αἱ γὰρ ἀνομίαι αὐτῶν, παίδευσίς μοί ἐστι, ἀλλ' οὐ διὰ τούτο ἐδικαιώθην. Καὶ εἶθε ἀπολαύσω τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐντρεπισθέντων (Sic) μοι, ἅτινα εὔχομαι ὀξύτατα εἶναί μοι εἰς ἀπώλειαν, καὶ ἐνδελεχίζειν εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν κατάβρωσιν, μήπως ὃν τρόπον ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων μαρτύρων, μὴ τολμήσωσι τοῦ σώματός μου ἅψασθαι. Εἰ γὰρ ἐπελθεῖν μὴ θελήσουσιν, ἐγὼ βιάσομαι, ποθῶν καταβρωθῆναι. Συγγνώσετέ μοι, τεκνία, τὸ συμφέρον μοι ἐγὼ οἶδα. Νῦν ἄρχομαι εἶναι μαθητὴς, οὐδὲν τούτων τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐπιθυμῶ, ἵνα τὸν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν εὕρω. Πῦρ, σταυρὸς, θηρία, σύγκλασις ὀστέων, καὶ τῶν μελῶν διασπασμὸς, καὶ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος συντριβὴ, καὶ βάσανοι τοῦ Διαβόλου, εἰς ἐμὲ ἔλθωσιν, ἵνα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπολαύσω. » Κατακριθεὶς τοίνυν θηριομαχῆσαι, καὶ πόθῳ τοῦ παθεῖν, ἀκούσας τοῦ βρυγμοῦ τῶν λεόντων, ἔφη· « Σῖτος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰμι, καὶ εὔχομαι τοῖς ὀδοῦσι τῶν θηρίων ἀλεσθῆναι, ἵνα 858 ἄρτος καθαρὸς εὑρεθῶ. » Ἔπαθε δεκάτῳ ἔτει Τραϊανοῦ. Τὸ δὲ λείψανον ἔξω τῆς Δαφνητικῆς πύλης Ἀντιοχείας κατάκειται ἐν τῷ κοιμητηρίῳ.