The question whether Lucian the satirist, in lines 169-170 of his de Morte Peregrini, was thinking of Ignatius or even had direct knowledge of his letters is a point on which one hesitates to decide. Funk (Pair, apostol. i. pp. Ix-lxi) and Reville {Origines de I'&piscopat, Paris, 1S95, p. 448 f.) incline to an affir- mative view, while Harnack {Ueberlieferung, p. 79) remains doubtful.
Smyrn. iii. 3-xii. 1 is preserved in the Papyrus- kodex 10581 (5th cent.) of Berlin (see C. Schmidt and W. Schubart, Altchristl. Texte, Berlin, 1910, pp. 3-12). The Greek text of all the authentic letters except the Epistle to the Romans is given in the Codex Laurentianus, Ivii. 7 (1 1th cent. ), fol. 242-252, which was used by Vossius for the editio princeps. The MS G. V. 14 (16th cent. ) in the Casanate Library is a copy of the Laurentianus. The letter to the Romans is given in the Paris gr. 1491 (10th cent.), which was used by Ruinart. The separation of the Letter to the Romans from the six other authentic letters is perhaps due to the fact that the first collection of Ignatius' letters was made in Asia — witness what Polycarp says in his Philip- pic(ns—a,nd thus did not contain the Epistle to the Romans (so Harnack, Ueberlieferung, p. 76).
The Latin version published by Ussher (Oxford, 1644) was the work of Robert Grosseteste, bishop
598
IGN"ATIUS
IGNATIUS
of Lincoln (13th cent.) ; it was translated from an excellent Greek MS now lost, and is an extremely close rendering of the original. Ussher had at his disposal two Latin MSS— one the lost Codex Montacutianus and the other the existing Codex Caiensis, 395 of Cambridge (15th cent.). Grosse- teste's version comprises the first six authentic letters and the MartyriuTn Colbertinum, including the Letter to the Romans.
We also possess the seven letters in an Armenian translation possibly dating from the 5th cent., and some fragments of a Syriac transla- tion which formed the basis for the Armenian rendering. Lightfoot and Harnack think that the Syriac collection of Eph., Magn., and Rom. in an abridged form published by Cureton is an excerpt from this Syriac translation of the seven authentic letters.
3. Ecclesiastical position.— (1) Church organiza- tion.— If one had to prove that the Christianity of the beginning of the 2nd cent, was a city-religion one would find ample material in the letters of Ignatius. The visible unity is the Church, and each church bears the name of the city where it is established : ' the church which is in Ephesus of Asia,' 'the church which is in Magnesia on the Maeander,' ' the holy church which is in Tralles of Asia,' ' the church of God the Father and of Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia,' 'the church of God the Father and of Jesus Christ the Beloved . . . which is in Smyrna of Asia'— so Ignatius styles the churches in the inscriptions of his letters.
The Church of Antioch is called 'the church which is in Antioch of Syria' (Philad. x. 1, Smyrn. xi. 1), but it is also spoken of as • the church which is in Syria' (Magn. xiv., Eph. xxi. 2, Rom. ix. 1). Ignatius calls himself ' bishop from Syria ' (Rom. ii. 2). This has been taken as an indication that Ignatius was bishop not only of Antioch but of the whole province of Syria, Syria being understood as including several lesser churches and several lesser bishops (K. Liibeck, Reiehseiriteilung tmd kirchliche Hierarchie des Oriejiis, Munster,' 1901, p. 43 ; Harnack, Mission und Aiisbreitung , Leipzig, 1902, i. 384). The text of Philad. x. 2, which speaks of 'the churches which are nearest' (al iyyiffTo. iKKKrialai), does not say which city they are near; they may be churches of Asia or even of Cilicia (H. de Genouillac, L'Eglise chrUienne au temps de saint Ignace d'Antioche, Paris, 1907, p. 67 f . ). Even if it were proved that Syria contained other churches than Antioch, e.g. the churches of Aparaia or Beroea, the bishop of Antioch might still have considered himself emphatically the bishop of Syria, without being in any sense a metropolitan. To speak of a metropolitan bishop in the time of Ignatius is an anachronism.
The Christian community bearing the name of the church of such and such a city is not a purely mystical body, but a visible unity having frequent assemblies. ' Let meetings (a-vvayuyai) be lield more frequently,' Ignatius writes to Polycarp (iv. 2, 3). • Seek out all men by name. . . . Let slaves not desire to be set free at the public cost' (d7r6 TovKOLvou iXevdepouffdai ; note the expression rb k»iv6v, a synonym for the local church [Philad. i. 1]. If the community can buy out slaves, it must iiave a common purse). In the Letter to the STnyrna'ans (vi. 2), the heretics are reproached for acting contrary to the Spirit of God : ' Tliey have no care for love (d7d7rr;s), none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the afflicted, none for tlie prisoner, none for the hungry or thirsty.' In these words we have a r6suin6 of the gospel of love, and an indication of the practical assistance rendered by every Cliristian community to those in need. Ignatius begs Polycjarp to call together the faithful