Lucius Statius Quadratus was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Besides being

consul ordinarius A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

with Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus in AD 142, he was proconsul of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

during the reign of the emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. Statius Quadratus is best known for presiding over the trial and execution of

Polycarp Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...

, bishop of Smyrna.

Life

Statius Quadratus was a native of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, and is considered the son of Lucius Statius Aquila, suffect consul in 116. His existence is attested by an inscription recovered from

Magnesia ad Sipylum Magnesia Sipylum ( el, Mαγνησία ἡ πρὸς Σιπύλῳ or ; modern Manisa, Turkey) was a city of Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of Smyrna (now İzmir) on the river Hermus (now Gediz) at the foot of Mount Sipylus. The cit ...

(IGR 3,175).

Date of the trial of Polycarp

Statius Quadratus' role in the trial of Polycarp provides an important clue to the date of the bishop's martyrdom.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

, in his ''Chronicle'', dates his martyrdom to 166–7; yet a letter describing the events around his death states he was executed on Saturday, Xanthicus 2, i.e. 23 February, in the proconsulship of Statius Quadratus, although two experts have argued independently that Xanthicus 2 should actually be equated to 22 February; moreover, a reference in

Aelius Aristides Publius Aelius Aristides Theodorus ( grc-gre, Πόπλιος Αἴλιος Ἀριστείδης Θεόδωρος; 117–181 AD) was a Greek orator and author considered to be a prime example as a member of the Second Sophistic, a group of celebra ...

has been used to date Quadratus' tenure to 153–4. Of these, that 23 February fell on a Saturday in 155, and 22 February on a Saturday in 156, has convinced most experts to place Polycarp's death in one of those two years. This has led

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he i ...

to date Statius Quadratus' tenure to 156/7.''A New Eusebius'', ed. J. Stevenson and W.H.C. Frend (London: Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 1987), p. 29; Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', pp. 214f

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Statius Quadratus, Lucius Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Asia 2nd-century Romans Quadratus, Lucius Statius