I. Ignatius of Antioch

According to Eusebius of Caesarea (Hist. eccl. III 36) Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, second in succession to Peter (the Disciple), was sent from Syria to Rome to die as a Martyr. On his journey he wrote seven letters to give thanks to the Christian communities that supported him and to exhort them to maintain unity, avoiding heretical tendencies (namely Judaism and Docetism). From Smyrna…