E02987: Gildas, in his treatise On the Destruction of Britain, refers to the martyrdom of *Ignatios (bishop of Antioch, martyred at Rome, S00649), and quotes one of his letters. Written in Latin in Britain, c. 480/c. 550.

Gildas, On the Destruction of Britain 74

Quis vestrum, ut sanctus martyr Ignatius Antiochiae urbis episcopus, post admirabiles in Christo actus ob testimonium eius leonum molis Romae confractus est? Cuius verba cum ad passionem duceretur audientes, si aliquando vultus vestri rubore confusi sunt, non solum in comparatione eius vos non putabitis sacerdotes, sed ne mediocres quidem Christianos esse. Ait enim in epistola, quam ad Romanam ecclesiam misit: 'A Syria usque Romam cum bestiis terra marique depugno, die ac nocte conexus et colligatus decem leopardis, militibus dico ad custodiam datis, qui ex beneficiis nostris saeviores fiunt. Sed ego eorum nequitiis magis erudior, nec tamen in hoc iustificatus sum. O salutares bestias, quae praeparantur mihi, quando venient? Quando emittentur? Quando eis frui licebit carnibus meis? Quas ego exopto acriores parari et invitabo ad devorationem mei, et deprecabor ne forte, ut in nonnullis fecerunt, timeant attingere corpus meum: quin immo, et si cunctabuntur, ego vim faciam, ego me ingeram. Date, quaeso, veniam, ego novi quid expediat mihi: nunc incipio esse Christi discipulus. Facessat invidia vel humani affectus, vel nequitiae spiritalis, ut in Iesum Christum adipisci merear. Ignes, cruces, bestiae, dispersiones ossium discerptionesque membrorum ac totius corporis poenae et omnia in me unum supplicia diaboli arte quaesita compleantur, dummodo Iesum Christum merear adipisci'.

'Which of you, like the holy martyr Ignatius, bishop of the city of Antioch, after remarkable deeds in the name of Christ, paid for his witness by being crunched in the molars of lions at Rome? When you hear his words as he was led to his martyrdom, supposing that you ever blush, you will think yourselves by comparison not even middling Christians, let alone priests. For in the letter that he sent to the Roman church he says: "From Syria to Rome, I have been fighting with beasts on land and sea: night and day I am bound to ten leopards, by which I mean the soldiers set to guard me, who are the more savage because of what I do for them. Rather, I am being educated by their wickedness. Yet I am not justified by this. When, when will there come forth the beasts that are being made ready for my salvation? When will they be let loose? When will they be allowed to enjoy my flesh? I pray that they may be the fiercer for their preparation. I shall encourage them to devour me, beg them not to be afraid, as they have been in some cases, of touching my body. In fact, if they hold back I shall attack, I shall rush at them. Forgive me, I beg of you: I know where my profit lies. It is now that I am beginning to be the disciple of Christ. An end to envy, whether of human feeling or spiritual wickedness, so I may attain to Jesus Christ. Let there be fulfilled fires, crucifixions, beasts, scattering of bones and tearing of limbs, punishments for my whole body, every kind of torment invented for me alone by the devil's art: so long as I deserve to attain to Jesus Christ."'

Text and translation: Winterbottom 1978.