At this time Polycarp was perfected by martyrdom, when great persecutions had thrown Asia into tumult; and I think it most necessary to set down in the record of this history his end, which is still extant in writing.
The document is in the form of a letter from the church over which he himself presided, signifying the events concerning him to the dioceses in Pontus, by these words:
「The church of God which sojourns at Smyrna, to the church of God which sojourns in Philomelium, and to all the dioceses of the holy catholic Church in every place: may mercy, peace, and love of God the Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied. We have written to you, brethren, concerning those who were martyred and concerning the blessed Polycarp, who, having as it were set his seal upon it by his martyrdom, brought the persecution to an end.」
Next, before the account concerning Polycarp, they relate the things concerning the rest of the martyrs, describing what steadfastness they displayed against their agonies. For they say that those who stood around in a circle and looked on were astounded, when at one time they were torn with scourges down to the innermost veins and arteries, so that even the hidden inward parts of the body, their very entrails and members, were laid bare to view; and at another time they were made to lie upon sea-shells and certain sharp spikes, and were brought through every kind of punishment and torture, and finally were given over as food for wild beasts.
They relate that above all the most noble Germanicus distinguished himself, strengthening by divine grace the inborn cowardice of the body in the face of death. When the proconsul wished to persuade him, putting forward his youth and entreating him, since he was quite young and in his prime, to take pity on himself, he did not hesitate, but eagerly drew the beast toward himself, all but forcing and provoking it, that he might the more quickly be released from their unjust and lawless life.
When, because of his glorious death, the whole multitude marvelled at the courage of the God-beloved martyr and at the virtue of the whole race of the Christians, they began to cry out all together: 「Away with the atheists! Let Polycarp be sought out!」
And indeed, when very great tumult had arisen at these cries, a certain man, a Phrygian by race, Quintus by name, lately arrived from Phrygia, on seeing the beasts and the threats accompanying them, became faint of soul, grew soft, and at the last gave way as to his salvation.
The account of the aforesaid document showed that this man had rushed upon the tribunal with others rashly and not with due caution; nevertheless, when he was caught, he afforded to all a clear example that men ought not to venture upon such things recklessly and without caution. This, then, was how matters stood concerning these.
Now the most admirable Polycarp, when he first heard these things, remained undisturbed, keeping his disposition steadfast and unmoved, and wished to remain in the city. But yielding to those about him who entreated and exhorted him to withdraw, he went out to a farm not far distant from the city, and there stayed with a few companions, doing nothing night and day but persevering in prayers to the Lord, in which he made supplication and entreaty, asking for peace upon the churches throughout the whole world; for this was his constant custom.
And indeed, while praying, three days before his arrest, he saw in a vision by night the pillow under his head suddenly consumed and burned up by fire; and waking on this, he immediately interpreted the appearance to those present, all but foretelling the future, and plainly declared to those about him that he must depart this life by fire for Christ’s sake.
While those who were searching for him were pressing on with all eagerness, they say that, being once more constrained by the disposition and affection of the brethren, he removed to another farm. Thither, not long after, those pursuing him came, and seized two of the servants there, one of whom they tortured and so came upon the lodging-place of Polycarp.
Coming upon him at a late hour, they found him lying in an upper room, whence it was possible for him to have removed to another house; but he would not, saying, 「The will of God be done.」
And indeed, learning that they were present, as the account says, he came down and conversed with them, with a face exceedingly cheerful and most gentle, so that it seemed a marvel to those who beheld it, who had long been strangers to the man, as they gazed upon the age of his years and the dignity and steadfastness of his countenance, and wondered that there should be so great eagerness for the arrest of such an aged man.
But he, without delay, immediately gave orders that a table be set before them, and then bade them partake of food in abundance, and asked of them one hour, that he might pray undisturbed. When they had granted it, he rose and prayed, being so full of the grace of the Lord that those present who heard him praying were amazed, and many of them already began to repent that so venerable and godly an old man was about to be put to death.
After this the document concerning him continues the subsequent narrative of the history word for word somewhat thus: 「When at length he ceased his prayer, having remembered all who had ever met with him, small and great, of high and low repute, and the whole catholic Church throughout the world, the hour of his departure came; and setting him upon an ass they brought him into the city, it being a great Sabbath. And the chief of police, Herod, and his father Nicetes met him; and removing him into their carriage, they sat beside him and sought to persuade him, saying, ‘For what harm is it to say, ‘Lord Caesar,’ and to offer sacrifice and so to be saved?’」
「But at first he made no answer; and when they persisted, he said, ‘I am not going to do what you counsel me.’ And they, failing to persuade him, spoke dreadful words and hauled him down with haste, so that, in descending from the carriage, he scraped his shin. But, not turning round, as though he had suffered nothing, he went on eagerly and with haste, being led to the stadium.」
「And as there was so great an uproar in the stadium that it could not even be heard by many, a voice from heaven came to Polycarp as he entered the stadium: ‘Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.’ And no one saw the speaker, but many of our people heard the voice.」
「So when he was brought forward, there was a great uproar, when they heard that Polycarp had been seized. Accordingly, as he came forward, the proconsul asked him whether he were Polycarp; and when he confessed it, he sought to persuade him to deny, saying, ‘Have respect to your age,’ and other things following upon these, which it is their custom to say: ‘Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent; say, Away with the atheists.’」
「But Polycarp, with a grave countenance, looked upon all the crowd in the stadium, and waving his hand at them, groaned and looked up to heaven and said, ‘Away with the atheists.’」
「But when the governor pressed him and said, ‘Swear, and I will release you; revile Christ,’ Polycarp said, ‘Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’」
「And when he again persisted and said, ‘Swear by the fortune of Caesar,’ Polycarp said, ‘If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the fortune of Caesar, as you say, pretending not to know who I am, hear plainly: I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn the doctrine of Christianity, appoint a day and hear.’」
「The proconsul said, ‘Persuade the people.’ Polycarp said, ‘You indeed I have deemed worthy of an account; for we have been taught to render honour, as is fitting, to rulers and authorities appointed by God, where it does us no harm; but as for those, I do not count them worthy that I should make my defence to them.’」
「And the proconsul said, ‘I have wild beasts; to these will I throw you, unless you repent.’ But he said, ‘Call them; for repentance from the better to the worse is for us a thing that cannot be, but it is good to change over from cruel things to righteous ones.’」
「And he again said to him, ‘I will have you subdued by fire, if you despise the beasts, unless you repent.’ Polycarp said, ‘You threaten a fire that burns for an hour and after a little is quenched; for you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Bring what you will.’」
Saying these and many more such things, he was filled with courage and joy, and his countenance was filled with grace, so that not only did he not collapse, troubled by what was said to him, but on the contrary the proconsul was astounded, and sent his herald to proclaim three times in the midst of the stadium: 「Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian.」
When this had been said by the herald, the whole multitude both of Gentiles and of Jews who dwelt in Smyrna cried out with uncontrollable wrath and a loud voice: 「This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our gods, who teaches many neither to sacrifice nor to worship.」
Saying these things, they cried out and asked Philip the Asiarch to let loose a lion upon Polycarp. But he said that it was not lawful for him, since he had brought the wild-beast shows to a close. Then it seemed good to them to cry out with one accord that Polycarp should be burned alive.
For the vision which had been shown to him concerning the pillow had to be fulfilled, when, seeing it burning while he prayed, he turned to the faithful who were with him and said prophetically, 「I must be burned alive.」
These things, then, came to pass with such great speed, more quickly than it takes to tell, the crowds at once gathering from the workshops and the baths wood and faggots, the Jews especially being eager, as is their custom, in lending their aid to these things.
But when the pyre was ready, putting off all his garments and loosing his girdle, he tried also to take off his shoes, though he had not been wont to do this before, because each of the faithful was always eager to be the first to touch his flesh; for even before his martyrdom he had been adorned in every way on account of his good conduct.
Straightway, then, there were placed about him the instruments prepared for the pyre; but when they were about to nail him also, he said, 「Leave me as I am; for he who grants me to endure the fire will grant me also, without the security of your nails, to remain unflinching upon the pyre.」 So they did not nail him, but bound him.
And he, putting his hands behind him and being bound, like a noble ram taken out of a great flock for an offering, a whole burnt-offering acceptable to God Almighty, said:
「O Father of your beloved and blessed Servant Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of you, O God of angels and powers and of all creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live before you, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and this hour, to take a part in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, unto the resurrection of eternal life of both soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit;」
「among whom may I be received before you this day as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as you, the God who cannot lie and who is true, have beforehand prepared and foreshown and have now fulfilled.」
「For this cause, and for all things, I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Servant, through whom be glory to you, with him, in the Holy Spirit, both now and unto the ages to come. Amen.」
When he had sent up the Amen and finished the prayer, the men in charge of the fire kindled the fire; and, as a great flame blazed out, we saw a marvel—we to whom it was given to see, who were also preserved to report to the rest the things that came to pass.
For the fire, taking the form of a vaulted arch, like the sail of a ship filled by the wind, made a wall round about the body of the martyr; and he was in the midst, not as flesh burning, but as gold and silver refined in a furnace. For we perceived such a fragrance as of incense breathing forth, or of some other of the precious spices.
At length, then, when the lawless men saw that the body could not be consumed by the fire, they ordered an executioner to go up to him and thrust in his dagger.
And when he had done this, there came forth such a quantity of blood that it quenched the fire, and all the crowd marvelled that there should be so great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this man too had become one—the most admirable teacher in our times, apostolic and prophetic, who had become bishop of the catholic church in Smyrna. For every word which he uttered from his mouth both was fulfilled and shall be fulfilled.
But the jealous and envious and wicked one, the adversary of the race of the righteous, seeing the greatness of his martyrdom and his blameless conduct from the beginning, and that he had been crowned with the crown of incorruptibility and had borne off an incontestable prize, contrived that not even his poor body should be taken by us, although many were desiring to do this and to have fellowship with his holy flesh.
Accordingly, some men prompted Nicetes, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, to plead with the governor not to give up his body, lest, said he, 「forsaking the Crucified, they begin to worship this man.」 And they said these things at the suggestion and instigation of the Jews, who also watched when we were about to take him out of the fire, being ignorant that we can never forsake the Christ, who suffered for the salvation of those who are being saved in the whole world, nor worship any other.
For him, as being the Son of God, we worship; but the martyrs, as disciples and imitators of the Lord, we love as they deserve, on account of their unsurpassable devotion toward their own King and Teacher; may it be granted us also to become their partners and fellow-disciples.
So when the centurion saw the contentiousness that had arisen on the part of the Jews, he set the body in the midst and burned it, as is their custom. And thus we afterwards took up his bones, more precious than costly stones and more proven than gold, and laid them away where it was also fitting.
There, as we are able, gathering together in gladness and joy, the Lord will grant us to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already contended and for the training and preparation of those who are to come.
Such were the events concerning the blessed Polycarp, who, together with those from Philadelphia, was the twelfth to suffer martyrdom in Smyrna; yet he alone is remembered above all others, so that even by the Gentiles he is spoken of in every place.
Such was the end of which the marvellous and apostolic Polycarp was accounted worthy, the brethren of the church in Smyrna having recorded the account in their letter, which we have set forth. In the same writing concerning him there were appended also other martyrdoms which took place in the same Smyrna about the same period of time as the martyrdom of Polycarp; among these Metrodorus, who appeared to be a presbyter of the Marcionite error, was delivered to the fire and put to death.
Of those at that time a certain famous martyr was known, Pionius. The writing concerning him contains most fully his several confessions, his boldness of speech, his defences of the faith before the people and the magistrates, his instructive public addresses, and further his welcoming of those who had succumbed to the trial during the persecution, and the consolations which he set before the brethren who came to him in prison, as well as the tortures which after these things he endured, and upon them the pains and the nailings, and his endurance upon the pyre, and, after all his marvellous deeds, his death. To this we shall refer those to whom it is dear, for it has been included among the martyrdoms of the ancients collected by us.
Next there are also extant memoirs of others who were martyred in Pergamon, a city of Asia—Carpus and Papylus and a woman, Agathonice—who after many distinguished confessions were gloriously perfected.