# Martyrdom of Polycarp 9.2

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Martyrdom of Polycarp](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/) (*Martyrium Polycarpi*)
- Date: ca. 156–160 (approximate)
- Source: Lake, LCL 25:324; 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 5:1036c (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/9/2/

Summary: Told to say “Away with the atheists,” Polycarp said it, but of the pagan crowd.

## Greek text

προσαχθέντα οὖν αὐτὸν ἀνηρώτα ὁ ἀνθύπατος, εἰ αὐτὸς εἴη Πολύκαρπος. τοῦ δὲ ὁμολογοῦντος, ἔπειθεν ἀρνεῖσθαι λέγων· Αἰδέσθητί σου τὴν ἡλικίαν, καὶ ἕτερα τούτοις ἀκόλουθα, ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς λέγειν· Ὄμοσον τὴν Καίσαρος τύχην, μετανόησον, εἶπον· Αἶρε τοὺς ἀθέους. ὁ δὲ Πολύκαρπος ἐμβριθεῖ τῷ προσώπῳ εἰς πάντα τὸν ὄχλον τὸν ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ ἀνόμων ἐθνῶν ἐμβλέψας καὶ ἐπισείσας αὐτοῖς τὴν χεῖρα, στενάξας τε καὶ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν· Αἶρε τοὺς ἀθέους.

## English translation (Claude)

So when he was brought forward, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. When he said that he was, the proconsul tried to persuade him to deny, saying, “Have respect for your age,” and other such things as they customarily say: “Swear by the fortune of Caesar; change your mind; say, ‘Away with the atheists!’” But Polycarp, with a solemn face, looked at the whole crowd of lawless Gentiles in the stadium, waved his hand at them, groaned, and looking up to heaven said, “Away with the atheists!”

## Translation notes

- “The fortune of Caesar” (τὴν Καίσαρος τύχην, Latin genius): the guardian spirit of the emperor. Swearing by it was a religious act as well as an oath of loyalty.
- Polycarp turns the crowd's cry against them: the “godless” are the pagans, not the Christians.
- “Change your mind” (μετανόησον): the usual word for “repent”; the proconsul uses it of giving up Christianity (again in 11.1–2).

## Citation (SBL)

Mart. Pol. 9.2 (PG 5:1036c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/9/2/).