Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor for decades in the first half of the second century. Ignatius wrote to him on his way to Rome, and Irenaeus recalled hearing him as a boy describe his conversations with John and with others who had seen the Lord.

His own letter to the Philippians survives. In old age he visited Rome to discuss the date of Easter with Bishop Anicetus. The Martyrdom of Polycarp, preserved in part by Eusebius, describes his death at Smyrna, probably around 155–160, after he declared that he had served Christ for eighty-six years.