The Martyrium Polycarpi records the arrest, trial, and execution of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (Polycarp of Smyrna). As a correspondent of Ignatius of Antioch (Ignatius, Epistles of) and former student of John the evangelist (Evangelists), Polycarp is viewed by ecclesiastical and scholarly tradition as one of the linchpin figures of the 2nd century CE. The account of his death, likewise, is treated as a foundational document in the history of martyrdom (Martyrs…