''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is a manuscript written in the form of a letter that relates the
religious martyrdom 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
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
(the site of the modern city of
Izmir, Turkey) and disciple of
John the Apostle
John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee a ...
in the 2nd centuryAD. It forms the earliest account of Christian martyrdom outside of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. The author of ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is unknown, but it has been attributed to members of the group of early Christian theologians known as the
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
. The letter, sent from the church in Smyrna to another church in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
at
Philomelium, is partly written from the point of view of an eye-witness, recounting the arrest of the elderly Polycarp, the Romans' attempt to execute him by fire, and subsequent
miraculous events.
The letter takes influence from both Jewish martyrdom texts in the Old Testament and the Gospels. Furthermore, the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' promotes an ideology of martyrdom, by delineating the proper conduct of a martyr.
Content
The author writes in praise of martyrdom and deplores a would-be martyr who instead made sacrifice to the Roman gods to save his life. Polycarp, retiring in the countryside at 86 years of age, has a prophetic vision, and awakens realizing he must be burnt alive. Similar to Jesus, there is a betrayal to the authorities, and Polycarp comes forward so that two associates might be freed, as well as the traitor undergo Judas's punishment. Polycarp is brought to a stadium in Smyrna and encouraged to swear by Caesar and thus affirm
that the emperor was a god. Polycarp declines, and the officials attempt to burn him alive. However, the fire miraculously avoids him in a circle, merely giving him a heavenly glow. Instead, Polycarp is stabbed; his blood goes everywhere, extinguishing the fire, similar to Jesus's sacrifice. The Jews influence the governor to burn the body so as to remove all evidence and avoid his body becoming a shrine. The author concludes by praising Polycarp and martyrs in general.
Manuscript tradition
Modern critical editions of the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' (''MartPol'') are compiled from three different categories of manuscript: seven Greek manuscripts, the fourth century ''
Ecclesiastical History
__NOTOC__
Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.
Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...
'' of
Eusebius of Caesarea
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 Christia ...
, and a single Latin manuscript. The Greek manuscripts are all from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. Of the seven manuscripts, six provide a similar account of the martyrdom of Polycarp and are thus believed to represent a single family of texts. The seventh manuscript, however, known as the Moscow Codex and dating to the thirteenth century, contains a more elaborate final chapter (22.2–3).
[On the Greek manuscripts of the Martyrdom of Polycarp and their influence on the current critical editions, se]
Sailors
In addition to the Greek manuscripts there are also the writings of Eusebius related in his ''Ecclesiastical History'', written around AD 324–325. Eusebius heavily summarizes the martyrdom and ends his account at 19.1, omitting the concluding sections that relate the transmission of the text, as well as the passion narrative parallels.
The Latin version of the ''Martyrdom'' dating from the tenth century exists as another account of the martyrdom but does not offer any variance upon the text. There is also an Old Church Slavonic translation.
Date
Little corroborating evidence exists to assist in the dating of the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', although Moss has suggested a date around 200AD or later. Alternatively, historians have attempted to assign a date to the actual death of Polycarp. Various dates have been proposed for Polycarp's death:
* Estimated as 155AD or 156AD (and no later than 160AD) due to the known proconsuls of Asia, such as Quadratus and the chronological statements in ''MartPol 21''. (Waddington, Turner, Schwartz, Barnes, Dehandschutter, et al.)
* 167AD due to Eusebius dating of ''MartPol'' to the seventh year of the reign of Marcus Aurelius. (Telfer, Marrou, Campenhausen, Brind’Amour, et al.)
* 177AD as argued by Grégoire and Orgels that the phrase "seventh year" in Eusebius's account is miswritten and means the "seventeenth year" of Marcus Aurelius.
Historicity
The ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', along with other documents of the Apostolic Fathers, plays a central role in bridging the New Testament and emerging Christian writers in the latter half of the second century, such as
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
and
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
. In his youth he is said to have known the apostles and in his later years also Irenaeus.
A challenge to the dates could well call into question the authenticity of the document itself. Part of the skepticism regarding the MartPol text has centered on the number of parallels with the passion narratives of the Gospels, including Polycarp's prediction of his capture and death (5.2), the eirenarch named Herod (6.2), the arrest of Polycarp "with weapons as if he were a criminal" (7.1), and Polycarp being carried on a donkey back to Smyrna (8.1), miraculous occurrences such as the 'voice from heaven' urging Polycarp to 'Be strong and be a man!' (9.1). On the other hand, the fact of an overlay of interpretation does not necessarily in itself invalidate the historicity. Moreover, none of the non-miraculous elements are completely implausible; the name Herod, for example, is a common name for an aristocratic Jew and the association of Christians with donkeys is well documented.
The most difficult aspect of the narrative to accept as authentic is its treatment of Roman legal proceedings. Polycarp's trial is represented as taking place before one of the leading magistrates of the Empire on a public holiday, in the middle of a sport stadium, with no use of the tribunal, no formal legal accusation, and no official sentence. Though the trials of Christians, and of all subjects for that matter, were subject to the governor's procedural method of ''
cognitio extra ordinem'', this still does not explain the lack of a formal legal accusation and sentence. This lack of information muddles the case that the account is historically reliable; Roman capital trial procedure would presumably have been well known to the population of the time. The ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is also a theological composition designed to support a particular understanding of martyrdom in relation to the Christian Gospel; the question is how much, if any, of the narrative is from a historical base, and how much was modified or outright invented for theological purposes.
Literary form
The ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is recognized as taking on two literary forms. It is simultaneously considered to be a letter as well as a martyr act.
Letter
The construction of the text follows an epistolary format. Specifically, it is a letter sent by the church in Smyrna to the church in Philomelium but was meant to be circulated to all the congregations in the region. The letter abides by the following structure: an initial greeting and blessing (1.1-2), followed by the body of material about the story of Polycarp's death (5.1-18.3), and a closing afterwards (19.1-20.2). By the second century, the authority of
Paul the apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
and his epistles to the congregations had already been established. Thus the epistolary form was well recognized and used in early Christian literature.
Martyr acts
The ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is also the earliest of the martyr acts as a genre in the ancient Christian tradition. This martyrdom theme enters Christian literature through the early Jewish martyrs' literature found in 2 Maccabees 6–7, in the Old Testament, and through the account of the death of Stephen in Acts 7 in the New Testament. The motifs of complete surrendering of will, and a steadfast behavior in the face of suffering are common in these acts would become popular events in the mindset of Christians who were persecuted.
Martyrdom ideology
In addition to attempting to edify its audience, the MartPol advances an argument for a particular understanding of martyrdom, with Polycarp's death as its prized example. The letter begins with an opposition of two martyr examples in which one is marked as good, and the other as bad. These examples are in sections 2-4 of the letter, where the noble
Germanicus of Smyrna
Saint Germanicus was a youth who was arrested and martyred for his faith in Smyrna during the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus. As Germanicus stood in the arena, facing a wild beast, the Roman proconsul pleaded with him that in view of his ...
is praised for his steadfast example, as well the example of Quintus who expressed an urge for martyrdom and sought it out. Polycarp thus serves as a testimony of proper discipleship and imitation of the Lord in his martyrdom.
“Blessed and noble, therefore, are all the martyrdoms that have occurred according to the will of God. For we must be reverent and attribute the ultimate authority to God.” (2.1)
Parallels with the passion narrative of Jesus Christ provide validation and value to the death of Polycarp. This comes to be central to this ideology of martyrdom. It is thus the completion of this imitation through death, as did Christ, that makes the witness a martyr.
Relation to Scripture
The author of the ''Martyrdom'' displays significant knowledge of the scriptures. Beginning with the case of the Old Testament which is rooted in Jewish
martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...
. In regards to the New Testament we find more references. The most prominent among them being the blessing at the end of the introduction (parallel to Jude 2), the charge to think always of others in 1.2 (parallel to Philippians 2:4), the recollection of the mystical visions of the martyrs in 2.3 (parallel to 1 Corinthians 2:9), the warning that Christians should not seek martyrdom in 4.1 (parallel to Matthew 10:23), the account of Polycarp's submission to the authorities in 7.1 (parallel to Acts 21:14) and finally the observation that governing authorities receive their power from God in 10.2 (parallel to Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14).
The letter draws significant and deep parallels to the gospels. These examples include:
* (7.2-3) Polycarp serving as a host for a final meal and agonizing in prayer before his arrest (Matthew 26:36-46)
* (8.1) Escort back to Smyrna on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11)
* (9.2-10.1) Interrogation by a high Roman authority (John 18:28)
* (6.1-2) Betrayal by a friend, a Judas figure (Matthew 26:47-49)
* (8.2-3) Interrogation by Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
* (7.2) Host at a final meal (Matthew 26:17-29)
* (12.2-13.1) Jews inciting death of Polycarp (John 19:12-16)
* (5.1) Prayer for churches (John 17:1-26)
Such correspondence between these events and those of the canonical passion narratives might cast doubt on the former's historical veracity. Other scholars have argued that it is difficult to establish dependence on particular New Testament texts and have pointed to the influence of Greek philosophy and early Christian Biblical interpretation on the account.
See also
*
Martyrology
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...
Notes and references
Sources
*
* Bobichon, Philippe, ''La plus ancienne littérature martyriale'' in ''Histoire de la littérature grecque chrétienne, t. II/5 : De Paul apôtre à Irénée de Lyon'', B. Pouderon and E. Norelli (dir.), Paris, Cerf, 2013, pp. 619–64
online* Foster, Paul, and Sara Parvis. Writings of the Apostolic Fathers. London: Continuum International Publishing, 2007.
* Jefford, Clayton, Kenneth Harder, and Louis Amezaga. Reading the Apostolic Fathers: An Introduction. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.
* Moss, Candida R. 'On the Dating of Polycarp: Rethinking the Place of the Martyrdom of Polycarp in the History of Christianity' ''Early Christianity'' 1:4 (2010): 539–574.
* Moss, Candida R. Nailing Down and Tying Up: Lessons in Intertextual Impossibility from the Martyrdom of Polycarp. ''Vigiliae Christianae'' 66 (2012): 1-20
* Pratscher, Wilhelm. The Apostolic Fathers: An Introduction. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 2007.
*
External links
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2nd-century Christian texts
Apostolic Fathers
Acts of the Apostles (genre)