Editing Ignatius of Antioch (section)

== Martyrdom ==
=== Circumstances of martyrdom ===
Ignatius was condemned to death for his faith, but instead of being executed in his home town of Antioch, the bishop was taken to Rome by a company of ten soldiers:
{{blockquote|'From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts, both by land and sea, both by night and day, being bound to ten leopards, I mean a band of soldiers...'|''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0107.htm Ignatius to the Romans]'' Chapter 5}}
Scholars consider Ignatius' transport to Rome unusual since those [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecuted as Christians]] would be expected to be punished locally. Stevan Davies has pointed out that "no other examples exist from the [[Flavian dynasty|Flavian age]] of any prisoners except citizens or prisoners of war being brought to Rome for execution".<ref name="davies">{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Stevan L. |title=The Predicament of Ignatius of Antioch |journal=[[Vigiliae Christianae]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |date=1976 |pages=175–180 |jstor=1583332 |doi=10.1163/157007276X00249}}</ref>

If Ignatius had been a Roman citizen, he could have appealed to the emperor, with the common result of execution by beheading rather than torture.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38" /> However, Ignatius's letters state that he was put in chains during the journey, but it was against Roman law for a citizen to be put in bonds during an appeal to the emperor.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|175–176}}

[[Allen Brent]] argues that Ignatius was transferred to Rome for the emperor to provide a spectacle as a victim in the [[Colosseum]]. Brent insists, contrary to some, that "it was normal practice to transport condemned criminals from the provinces in order to offer spectator sport in the Colosseum at Rome."<ref name="brent">{{Cite book |last=Brent |first=Allen |author-link=Allen Brent |title=Ignatius of Antioch - A Martyr Bishop and the Origin of Episcopacy |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |location=New York |isbn=9780567032003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iTVAwAAQBAJ |date=2007 |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163108/https://books.google.com/books?id=6iTVAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|15}}

Stevan Davies rejects this idea, reasoning that: "If Ignatius was in some way a donation by the Imperial Governor of Syria to the games at Rome, a single prisoner seems a rather miserly gift."<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}} Instead, Davies proposes that Ignatius may have been indicted by a legate, or representative, of the [[Roman governor|governor]] of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] while the governor was away temporarily, and sent to Rome for trial and execution. Under Roman law, only the governor of a province or the emperor himself could impose [[capital punishment]], so the legate would have faced the choice of imprisoning Ignatius in Antioch or sending him to Rome. Transporting the bishop might have avoided further agitation by the Antiochian Christians.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|177–178}}

Christine Trevett calls Davies' suggestion "entirely hypothetical" and concludes that no fully satisfactory solution to the problem can be found: "I tend to take the bishop at his word when he says he is a condemned man. But the question remains, why is he going to Rome? The truth is that we do not know."<ref name="trevett">{{Cite journal |last=Trevett |first=Christine |title=Ignatius "To the Romans" and 1 Clement LIV–LVI |journal=[[Vigiliae Christianae]] |volume=43 |issue=1 |date=1989 |pages=35–52 |jstor=1584438 |doi=10.1163/157007289X00173}}</ref>

=== Route of travel to Rome ===
During the journey to Rome, Ignatius and his entourage of soldiers made a number of lengthy stops in [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], deviating from the most direct land route from Antioch to Rome.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}} Scholars generally agree on the following reconstruction of Ignatius' route of travel:
# Ignatius first traveled from Antioch, in the province of Syria, to Asia Minor. It is uncertain whether he traveled by sea or by land;
# He was then taken to [[Smyrna]], via a route that bypassed the cities of [[Magnesia on the Meander|Magnesia]], [[Tralles]], and [[Ephesus]], but likely passed through [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0108.htm Ign. Phil.] 7)
# Ignatius then traveled to [[Alexandria Troas|Troas]], where he boarded a ship bound for [[Neapolis (Thrace)|Neapolis]] in [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0110.htm Ign. Pol.] 8)
# He then passed through the city of [[Philippi]]; (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0136.htm Pol. Phil.] 9)
# After this, he took some land or sea route to Rome.<ref name="jefford">{{Cite book |last=Jefford |first=Clayton N. |title=The Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament |date=2006 |publisher=[[Baker Publishing Group]] |location=Grand Rapids, MI |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jq4Wo3YFskUC |isbn=978-1-4412-4177-1 |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163109/https://books.google.com/books?id=jq4Wo3YFskUC |url-status=live}}</ref>
During the journey, the soldiers seem to have allowed the chained Ignatius to meet with entire congregations of Christians, at least at [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]] (cf. [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0108.htm Ign. Phil.] 7), and numerous Christian visitors and messengers were allowed to meet with him individually. These messengers allowed Ignatius to send six letters to nearby churches, and one to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|176}}

These aspects of Ignatius' martyrdom are also unusual, in that a prisoner would normally be transported on the most direct route to his destination. Travel by land in the [[Roman Empire]] was far more expensive than by sea,<ref name="oxford">{{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-110 |title=Travel in the Roman World |last=Cioffi |first=Robert L. |date=7 March 2016 |website=Oxford Handbooks Online |publisher=Oxford |access-date=3 July 2019 |quote=Roads were by far the costliest means of transporting goods and traveling; according to calculations made by applying the ORBIS model to data from Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices of 301 AD, transportation by wagon cost between five and fifty-two times more than travel by boat for equivalent distances... |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.110 |isbn=978-0-19-993539-0 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703130450/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-110 |url-status=live}}</ref> especially since Antioch was a major sea port. Davies argues that Ignatius' circuitous route can only be explained by positing that he was not the main purpose of the soldiers' trip and that the various stops in Asia Minor were for other state business. He suggests that such a scenario would also explain the relative freedom that Ignatius was given to meet with other Christians during the journey.<ref name="davies"/>{{rp|177}}

=== Date of martyrdom ===
Tradition places Ignatius's martyrdom in the reign of [[Trajan]] ({{circa}} 98–117). The earliest source for this is the 4th-century church historian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]. [[Richard Pervo]] argues that Eusebius may have had an ideological interest in dating church leaders as early as possible, and asserting a continuous succession between the original apostles of Jesus and the leaders of the church in his day.<ref name="pervo"/> However, Jonathon Lookadoo argues that [[John Malalas]] and the [[Acts of the Martyrs|Acts of Martyrdom's]] accounts of Ignatius are independent from Eusebius and they still place his death under Trajan.<ref name="lookadoo">{{Cite book |title=The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch |last=Lookadoo |first=Jonathon |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |date=2023 |isbn=978-1-6667-7068-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cp7UEAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 April 2024 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163135/https://books.google.com/books?id=cp7UEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

While many scholars accept this traditional dating, others have argued for a somewhat later date. Richard Pervo dated Ignatius' death to 135–140.<ref name="pervo"/> British [[Classics|classicist]] [[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Timothy Barnes]] has argued for a date in the 140s, on the grounds that Ignatius seems to have quoted a work of the [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[Ptolemy (gnostic)|Ptolemy]], who became active only in the 130s.<ref name="date of ignatius"/> Étienne Decrept has argued from the testimony of John Malalas and the ''Acts of Drosis'' that Ignatius was martyred under the reign of Trajan during Apollo's festival in July 116, and in response to the earthquake at Antioch in late 115.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Circonstances et interprétations du voyage d'Ignace d'Antioche |journal=Revue des sciences religieuses |url=https://journals.openedition.org/rsr/433 |last=Decrept |first=Étienne |date=1 July 2008 |issue=82/83 |pages=389–399 |doi=10.4000/rsr.433 |language=fr |issn=0035-2217 |access-date=14 August 2022 |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814221949/https://journals.openedition.org/rsr/433 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Death and aftermath ===
Ignatius wrote that he would be thrown to the beasts;<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ignatius of Antioch |editor1-last=Roberts |editor1-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Donaldson |editor2-first=James |title=Epistle to the Romans |chapter=5 |series=Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I}}</ref> in the fourth century, Eusebius reports a tradition that this did happen,<ref name="Eusebius 3.36">{{ws|{{Cite book |author=Eusebius |orig-date=313 |date=1890 |title=Church History of Eusebius |translator-last=McGiffert |translator-first=Arthur Cushman |editor-last1=Roberts |editor-first1=Alexander |editor-last2=Donaldson |editor-first2=James |editor-last3=Coxe |editor-first3=Arthur Cleveland |editor-last4=Schaff |editor-first4=Philip |editor-last5=Wace |editor-first5=Henry |series=[[Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]] |volume=Series 2, Vol. I |title-link=s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book III/Chapter 36}}}}</ref> while [[Jerome]] is the first to explicitly mention lions.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38" /> [[John Chrysostom]] is the first to place of Ignatius' martyrdom at the [[Colosseum]].<ref>Timothy B. Sailors {{Cite news |title=Bryn Mawr Classical Review: Review of ''The Apostolic Fathers - Greek Texts and English Translations'' |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html |access-date=21 May 2023 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921163149/http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Modern scholars are uncertain whether any of these authors had sources other than Ignatius' own writings.<ref name="Arnold 2017 p. 38">{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=B.J. |title=Justification in the Second Century |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |series=Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR) |date=2017 |isbn=978-3-11-047823-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qc2DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |access-date=15 April 2018 |page=38 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628163135/https://books.google.com/books?id=9qc2DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Eusebius 3.36" />

According to a medieval Christian text titled ''Martyrium Ignatii'', Ignatius' remains were carried back to Antioch by his companions after his martyrdom.<ref name="ante">{{Cite web |title=Church Fathers - The Martyrdom of Ignatius |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0123.htm |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=newadvent.org |archive-date=1 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701032014/https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0123.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The sixth-century writings of [[Evagrius Scholasticus]] state that the reputed remains of Ignatius were moved by the Emperor [[Theodosius II]] to the Tychaeum, or Temple of [[Tyche]], and converted it into a church dedicated to Ignatius.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Evagrius Scholasticus |chapter=Chapter XVI - Translation Of The Remains Of Ignatius |orig-date=593 |title=Ecclesiastical History |translator-first=E. |translator-last=Walford |date=1846 |chapter-url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/evagrius_1_book1.htm |author-link=Evagrius Scholasticus |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=2 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402194022/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/evagrius_1_book1.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> In 637, when [[Battle of the Iron Bridge|Antioch was captured]] by the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], the [[relic]]s were transferred to the [[Basilica di San Clemente]] in Rome.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Joseph |last=Mullooly |title=Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr, and his Basilica in Rome |date=1873 |location=Rome |publisher=G. Barbera |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n88XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA137 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002222635/https://books.google.com/books?id=n88XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA137 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===The ''Martyrium Ignatii''===
{{Main|Martyrium Ignatii}}

The ''Martyrium Ignatii'' is an account of the saint's martyrdom.<ref name="ante" /> It is presented as an eye-witness account for the church of Antioch, attributed to Ignatius' companions, [[Philo of Cilicia|Philō of Cilicia]], deacon at [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], and [[Rheus Agathopus]], a Syrian.<ref name="jefford" />

Its most reliable manuscript is the 10th-century collection ''[[Codex Colbertinus]]'' (Paris), in which it is the final item. The ''Martyrium'' presents the confrontation of Bishop Ignatius with Emperor Trajan at Antioch, a familiar [[trope (literature)|trope]] of ''Acta'' of the martyrs, and many details of the long journey to Rome. The [[Synaxarium]] of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] says that he was thrown to the wild beasts that devoured him.<ref name="synaxarium">{{Cite web |title=Lives of Saints - Kiahk 24 |url=http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/4_24.html#1 |access-date=25 July 2020 |website=copticchurch.net |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418205241/https://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/4_24.html#1 |url-status=live}}</ref>