4
Ignatius, bishop of the church in Antioch of Syria, had been arrested in this city
somewhere between 107 and 110 AD and sent to Rome for trial.
13
There are no details of
the persecution in which he was arrested, though Ignatius does mention others who were
probably arrested during the same persecution and who had preceded him to Rome.
14
He
was brought across the great roads of southern Asia Minor in the custody of ten Roman
soldiers, whom he likens to "savage leopards."
15
He expects the end of the journey in
Rome to have one certain outcome: death.
Yet, there is a difficulty concerning certain details of his arrest. Since Ignatius is on his
way to Rome for execution, this would suggest that he is a Roman citizen, for a citizens
right to trial by the emperor was, at this stage in Roman history, a firmly established
right.
16
But if he is a citizen, some modern scholars have asked why does he say he is
expecting to meet "fire, cross, beast-fighting"
17
when he gets to Rome, since it has been
believed that these forms of punishment were not used in the execution of citizens at this
time?
18
In general, Roman punishment was measured to fit the social status of the
criminal rather than the nature of the crime. In the words of Ramsey MacMullen:
"everything depended on status."
19
Thus, beheading or the opportunity to commit suicide
were the major forms of execution for those upper class citizens of the Empire who had
committed a capital offence. But others, those of the lower classes, would be exposed to a
whole range of horrific violence, including burning, being forced to drink molten lead,
being crucified, being beaten to death, and being mauled to death by dogs and ferocious
13
For the date, see Trevett, Study of Ignatius of Antioch, 3-9. Schoedel suggests that Ignatius
martyrdom might conceivably be placed as late as 135, though he opts for a date before the death of the
Emperor Trajan in 117 AD: "Polycarp of Smyrna and Ignatius of Antioch" in Haase and Temporini eds.,
Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt, II/27.1:274, 347-349.
14
Romans 10.2. Polycarp, in his sole surviving letter, mentions the names of two of these prisoners,
Zosimus and Rufus: Philippians 9.1.
15
Romans 5.1. This is the earliest occurrence of the word
in Greek. See D. B. Saddington,
"St Ignatius, Leopards, and the Roman Army", Journal of Theological Studies, 38 (1987), 411.
16
F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Rev. ed.; Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1988), 453-
454 and 454, n.11. Cp. Pliny, Letters 10.96.3-4, who also mentions sending imprisoned Christians to Rome
for trial.
17
Romans 5.3 (trans. Staniforth, Early Christian Writings, 87).
18
Trevett, Study of Ignatius of Antioch, 5.
19
"Judicial Savagery in the Roman Empire", Chiron, 16 (1986), 147.