# Ignatius, A Disciple Of The Apostle John, Devoured By Wild Beasts In A Circus At Rome, For The Testimony Of The Son Of God, A. D. 111. · Page 1 of 2

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IGNATIUS DEVOURED BY WILD BEASTS.

Ignatius, a disciple of the apostle John, and a
successor of Peter and Evodius, was in the service
of the church of Christ at Antioch in Syria. He
was a very godfearing man, and faithful and diligent
in his ministrations. He was surnamed Theophorus,
that is, The Bearer of God, apparently because
he often bore the name of God and his Savior in his
mouth, and led a godly life. He was wont to say
frequently: “The life of man is a continual death,
unless it be that Christ liveth in us.” Likewise:
“The crucified Christ is my only and entire love.”
And: “He that allows himself to be called after any
other than Christ, is not God.” And again: “As
the world hates the Christians, so God loves them.”
A. Mellin., fol. 15, col. 1, from Ignat. in Epist. ad
Rom. et alibe.

Having learned that the Emperor Trajan, after
the victories which he had achieved against the
Dacians, Armenians, Assyrians, and other eastern
nations, gave thanks at Antioch unto the gods, and
offered great sacrifices unto them, as though these
victories had proceeded from them. Ignatius, as we
are informed by Nicephorus, reproved the Emperor
for it, and this openly in the temple.

The Emperor, exceedingly enraged on this account,
caused Ignatius to be apprehended, yet, for
fear of an uproar, because Ignatius was held in great
respect in Antioch, he did not have him punished
there, but committed him into the hands of ten soldiers,
and sent him bound to Rome, there to have
him punished.

In the meantime his sentence of death was made
known to him—in what manner and where he was
to die; namely, that he should be torn to pieces by
wild beasts at Rome.

On his way thither, he wrote several consolatory
epistles to his friends, the faithful in Christ Jesus;
and also to different churches, as, to those of
Smyrna, Ephesus, Philadelphia, Trallis, Magnesia,
Tarsus, Philippi, and especially to the church of
Christ at Rome; which letter he sent before his
arrival there.

It appears that the thought of being torn to
pieces by the teeth of wild beasts was constantly on
his mind during the journey; yet not as a matter of
dread, but of earnest desire. This he mentions in
his letter to the church at Rome, writing thus:
“Journeying from Syria to Rome, by water and by
land, by day and by night, I fight with wild beasts,
bound between ten leopards, who, the more I stroke,
and show myself friendly to them, the more cruel
and malignant they become. However, through
the cruelties and torments which they daily inflict
upon me, I am more and more exercised and instructed;
nevertheless, I am not justified thereby.
O that I were already with the beasts, which are
ready to devour me! I hope that, ere long, I shall
find them such as I wish them to be, that is, cruel
enough to destroy me speedily. But if they will not
fall upon and tear me, I shall kindly allure them, so
that they will not spare me, as they, have already
spared several Christians, but will quickly tear me
in pieces, and devour me. Forgive me for speaking
thus; I know what I need. Now only I begin to be
a disciple of Christ. I regard neither things visible
nor invisible, at which the world is amazed. It is
sufficient for me if I but become a partaker of
Christ. Let the devil and evil men afflict me with
all manner of pain and torment, with fire, with
cross, with fighting against wild beasts, with scattering
of the members and bones of my body; all
this I esteem very little, if I but enjoy Christ. Only
pray for me, that inward and outward strength be
given me, not only to speak or write this, but also
to perform and endure it, so that I may not only be
called a Christian, but also be found one in truth.”
Ignat. in Epist. ad Rom.

103

Having arrived at Rome, he was delivered by the
soldiers to the governor, together with the letters
of the Emperor, which contained his sentence of
death. He was kept in prison for several days, until
a certain feast-day of the Romans, when the Governor,
according to the order of the Emperor, had
him brought forth into the amphitheatre. First of
all they sought by many torments, to induce him
to blaspheme the name of Christ, and offer sacrifice
to the gods. But when Ignatius did not weaken
in his faith, but was only, the longer, the more
strengthened in refusing to offer heathen sacrifices,
he was forthwith condemned by the Roman Senate,
immediately to be cast before the lions.

![Illustration from Martyrs’ Mirror](/sources/martyrs-mirror/images/i0218.jpg)

## Original source

[Read this passage on Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65855/pg65855-images.html#i0218)

[Edition details](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855)

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