Martyrdom of Polycarp 21.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:340

Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ ὁ μακάριος Πολύκαρπος μηνὸς Ξανθικοῦ δευτέρᾳ ἱσταμένου, πρὸ ἑπτὰ καλανδῶν Μαρτίων, σαββάτῳ μεγάλῳ, ὥρᾳ ὀγδόῃ. συνελήφθη δὲ ὑπὸ Ἡρώδου ἐπὶ ἀρχιερέως Φιλίππου Τραλλιανοῦ, ἀνθυπατεύοντος Στατίου Κοδράτου, βασιλεύοντος δὲ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα, τιμή, μεγαλωσύνη, θρόνος αἰώνιος ἀπὸ γενεᾶς εἰς γενεάν. ἀμήν.

English · Claude translation

The blessed Polycarp was martyred on the second day of the first part of the month Xanthicus, the seventh day before the Kalends of March, on a great Sabbath, at the eighth hour. He was arrested by Herod, when Philip of Tralles was high priest and Statius Quadratus was proconsul, while Jesus Christ was reigning forever; to whom be glory, honor, majesty, and an eternal throne from generation to generation. Amen.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:340 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 312–345 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Also in

PG 5:1044c–1045a (found by text match)

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 25, 1913); made independently of existing English translations.

Notes

Translation notes

“The seventh day before the Kalends of March”: 23 February. The eighth hour is about 2 p.m.
Chapter 21 is widely thought to be a later addition. The proconsulship of Statius Quadratus is the main evidence for dating the martyrdom to 155/156, though some date it later.
Some older editions and translations (e.g. the Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1885) read “the Kalends of May” (that is, 25 April); Lake's text reads “March.”

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 21.1 (PG 5:1044c–1045a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/21/1/).

Plain text

Mart. Pol. 21.1 (PG 5:1044c–1045a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/21/1/).