E00488: Polykrates, bishop of Ephesos, writing in Greek to Victor, bishop of Rome, in the late 2nd c., and quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History, cites the apostles and martyrs resting in the provinces of Asia as proof of the legitimacy of the traditions of the local churches: *Philip (the Apostle, S00109) at Hierapolis; *John (the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042) at Ephesos; *Polykarpos/Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004) and *Thraseas (bishop of Eumeneia, martyred at Smyrna, S00271), both at Smyrna; *Sagaris (bishop and martyr of Laodicea, S00272) at Laodicea; *Papirios (S00274); *Meliton (eunuch of Sardis, S00273) at Sardis. Written in Ephesos (western Asia Minor); quoted by Eusebius in Palestine, 311/325.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.24.1-7
(quoting Polykrates of Ephesos, late 2nd c.)

(1.) ... τῶν δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐπισκόπων τὸ πάλαι πρότερον αὐτοῖς παραδοθὲν διαφυλάττειν ἔθος χρῆναι διισχυριζομένων ἡγεῖτο Πολυκράτης· ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ᾗ πρὸς Βίκτορα καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίαν διετυπώσατο γραφῇ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ἐλθοῦσαν παράδοσιν ἐκτίθεται διὰ τούτων· (2.) «ἡμεῖς οὖν ἀρᾳδιούργητον ἄγομεν τὴν ἡμέραν, μήτε προστιθέντες μήτε ἀφαιρούμενοι. καὶ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν μεγάλα στοιχεῖα κεκοίμηται· ἅτινα ἀναστήσεται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου, ἐν ᾗ ἔρχεται μετὰ δόξης ἐξ οὐρανῶν καὶ ἀναζητήσει πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, Φίλιππον τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων, ὃς κεκοίμηται ἐν Ἱεραπόλει καὶ δύο θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ γεγηρακυῖαι παρθένοι καὶ ἡ ἑτέρα αὐτοῦ θυγάτηρ ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι πολιτευσαμένη ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ἀναπαύεται· (3). ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος τοῦ κυρίου ἀναπεσών, ὃς ἐγενήθη ἱερεὺς τὸ πέταλον πεφορεκὼς καὶ μάρτυς καὶ διδάσκαλος· (4.)οὗτος ἐν Ἐφέσῳ κεκοίμηται, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Πολύκαρπος ἐν Σμύρνῃ, καὶ ἐπίσκοπος καὶ μάρτυς· καὶ Θρασέας καὶ ἐπίσκοπος καὶ μάρτυς ἀπὸ Εὐμενείας, ὃς ἐν Σμύρνῃ κεκοίμηται. (5.) τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν Σάγαριν ἐπίσκοπον καὶ μάρτυρα, ὃς ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ κεκοίμηται, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Παπίριον τὸν μακάριον καὶ Μελίτωνα τὸν εὐνοῦχον, τὸν ἐν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι πάντα πολιτευσάμενον, ὃς κεῖται ἐν Σάρδεσιν περιμένων τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπισκοπὴν ἐν ᾗ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστήσεται; (6.) οὗτοι πάντες ἐτήρησαν τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης τοῦ πάσχα κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, μηδὲν παρεκβαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν κανὸνα τῆς πίστεως ἀκολουθοῦντες· ἔτι δὲ κἀγὼ ὁ μικρότερος πάντων ὑμῶν Πολυκράτης, κατὰ παράδοσιν τῶν συγγενῶν μου, οἷς καὶ παρηκολούθησά τισιν αὐτῶν. ἑπτὰ μὲν ἦσαν συγγενεῖς μου ἐπίσκοποι, ἐγὼ δὲ ὄγδοος· καὶ πάντοτε τὴν ἡμέραν ἤγαγον οἱ συγγενεῖς μου ὅταν ὁ λαὸς ἤρνυεν τὴν ζύμην. (7.) ἐγὼ οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἑξήκοντα πέντε ἔτη ἔχων ἐν κυρίῳ καὶ συμβεβληκὼς τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀδελφοῖς καὶ πᾶσαν ἁγίαν γραφὴν διεληλυθώς, οὐ πτύρομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς καταπλησσομένοις· οἱ γὰρ ἐμοῦ μείζονες εἰρήκασι ‘πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις.»

'(1.) ... Now Polykratēs led the bishops in Asia in their claim that it was necessary to keep the custom which had been handed down to them of old. In a letter he addressed to Victor and to the Church of Rome, he expounded himself the tradition which had come to him as follows:
(2.) "We therefore keep the day unaltered, neither adding nor taking away. Because indeed great figures sleep in Asia, who will rise on the day of the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and seek out all the saints: Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps in Hierapolis, and two of his daughters who grew old as virgins; another daughter of his, who lived in the Holy Spirit, rests at Ephesos. (3.) Moreover, John, who lay on the Lord’s breast, and who was a priest wearing the breastplate, and a martyr, and teacher – (4.) he sleeps at Ephesos. And Polycarp at Smyrna, both bishop and martyr. And Thraseas, both bishop and martyr from Eumeneia, who sleeps in Smyrna. (5.) And what about Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who sleeps at Laodicaea? And also the blessed Papirios, and Melitōn the abstinent who lived entirely in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, waiting for the visitation from heaven, when he will rise from the dead? (6.) All these kept the fourteenth day of the Pascha according to the gospel, never swerving, but abiding by the rule of the faith. And even so do I, Polykratēs, the least of you all, abide by the tradition of my predecessors, which I indeed heard from some of them in person. There have been seven bishops on my lineage and I am the eighth of them, and my predecessors always kept the day, when the people put away the leaven. (7.) Therefore, brethren, I, with my sixty-five years in the Lord, having conversed with brethren from around the world, and having studied the entire Holy Scripture, do not fear threats. Indeed, people greater than me have said, One must obey God rather than men [= Acts 5:29]."'

Text: Schwartz et al. 1999. Translation: Efthymios Rizos, using Lake, Oulton and Lawlor 1926.