Melito OF Sakdis, bishop of the place after which he is n;nned, and a writer of considerable eminence, tlourisiicd in the 2d century. So little is known of his personal history that it cannot be determined at what date he was elevated to the episcopacy, though he prob- ably held the bishopric when the controversy arose at Laodicea respecting the observance of Easter, which caused him to write a book on the subject. This took place uucUt Marcus Aurelius, to wliom Melito ijrescnted an Ajiuiot/i/ for ChrLitianifi/, according to Euspltius, in his ( Itroidcon, in A.D. lG9-i70. In tliis a|iology (which, recently re-discovered in a Syriac, translation and ]ilaced in tlic British Museum, was lately | l«(it)| ronilered into English by the celebrated Cureton ) Clirisiianity is de- scribed as a philosophy that hail indeed originated among the barbarians, but had attained to a flourish- ing condition under the Koman emjiire. to tlie benelit of which it greatly redounded. According to a frag- ment preserved by Euscbius, he beseeches the emper- or "to examine the accusations which were brought against the Christians, and to stop the persecution by revoking the edict which he had published against them. lie represents to him that the Roman empire was so far from being injured or weakened by Cliris- iianity that its foundation Avas more firmly cstablislied and its bounds considerably enlarged since that religion
had taken footing in it. He puts him in mind that the Christian religion had been persecuted by none but the worst emperors, such as Nero and Domitian ; that Ha- drian and Antoninus had granted privileges in its favor, and that he hoped from his clemency and goodness that they should obtain the same protection of their lives and property from him." According to the testimony of TertuUian (in a work now lost, but which Jerome cites), Melito was regarded as a prophet by many of his con- temporaries. The Church of Rome commemorates him as a saint April 1. From a passage in Origen, quoted by Theodoret {Quasi, in Genesim, c. 20), ilelito appears to have believed that God possessed a bodily form, and to have written in support of that doctrine. This as- sertion of Origen is supported by the testimony of Gre- nadius of jNIassilia {Lib. Dogm. Eccles. c. 4) ; and Tille- mont, though unwilling to allow this, admits that the early Church may possibly have been withheld from hon- oring his memory by an appointed office on account of this imputation, or else on account of the ascription to him of the book De Transitu Beatce Virr/inis. The sur- names of A sianits and oi' JS a rdensis given him by Jerome designate rather his see than his birthplace. Polycra- tes of I'.phesus, a somewhat later writer, in a letter to Victor, bishop of Rome, calls him Eunuchiis ; yet this is not to be taken in the literal sense, but rather indicates only that he remained faithful to his vow of chastity. As to the particidars of the death of Jlelito, scarcely anything is known. Polj'crates, in a letter addressed to pope Victor (A.D. 19(5), says, "What shall I say of Melito, whose actions were all guided by the operations of the Holy Spirit? who was interred at Sardis, where he waits the resurrection and the judgment." From this it may be inferred that he had died some time pre- vious to the date of this letter at Sardis, the place of his interment. IMelito was especially skilled in the litera- ture of tlie Old Testament, and vas one of the most
' prolific authors of his time. Eusebius furnishes the fol- lowing list of Melito's works: Uipi tov iraaxn Ci'o; Utfji TToXirtiaQ Kai irpoipTjruii' ; Iltpi KVfjiaKi'ig ; Tlipl (pv(jiw(^ aj'^pwTTOV ; lltpl TrXaaiujij; Ilipi inraKoiiQ Triartiog alaBjjrripitiJv ; Uipi xpvxrjt; Kaiawfiaroc ; Uipl Xovrpoij; llipi d\i]$tint:; Ilipi Kriaiujg Kai ytr'taiutq XpitTToi); nepi TrpofJirtiaQ; Iltpl (piXoKti'iaQ ; 'H KXtig; riepi rov SiajSoXon Kai rz/f airoKaXvxptojcj 'lujdpvov; Ilspi ii'awi^tdrov Ofoii; Upvg 'Aimuvlpov (iifiXiSiov ; 'EKXoyai; Ilipi aapKwcnmt; Xpitrrov, against Marcion; Aoyof 4('t; '<> TTfi^oc. Although these works are lost, the testimony of the fathers remains to inform us how highly they were esteemed. Eusebius gives some im- portant fragments of Melito's works; some others are found in the works of different ecclesiastical writers. The best collection of these fragments is found in Routh,
j Reliquiee Sacree (Oxford, 1814, 8vo), i, 109. Dom Pitra
' published several fragments in the Spicilegium Soles- iiiense. Fragments of his works, found preserved in a Syriac translation, are now stored in the library of the British Museum. Cureton has translated some; others have been published in Kitto's Journal of iSacred Lit- eriitiire, vol. xv. A satire against monks was published in France under the title Apocali/psc de Melilon. See ICusebius, I/ist. Eccles. vol. iv; Jerome, De Vir illust.;
I Chronon Paschale; Cave, Hist. lAlteraria, ad ann. 170;
1 Tillemont, Mem. pour serrir a I'/iL^t. rcclts. ii. 407 sq.,
] (;tJ3 s(i. ; Ceillier, A uteurs Sacres, ii, 78 sq. ; Lardner, Credibiliti/, [it. ii, c. 15; Le Clerc, /list. Eccks. duoruin
' prim, so'i-u/or.; Ittig, De Ilwresiarch. sec. ii, c. xi;
j Woog, Di.tsertationes de Melitone (Leips. 174-4-51, 4to) ;
1 Semler, Hist. Eccles. selecta capita swculi, vol. ii, c. 5; Dupiii, Xonrelle Bihliotb'eque des auteur.t eccles. vol. i; Galland, EiU. Patrum, vol. ii, IVoleg. ; Presscnse, Ilis- toire des trois premiers siecks, ii, 2, \>. ll'>(> ; Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Bioff. and Mijtiiol. ii, 1023; Ilerzog,