The Martyrdom of Polycarp is one of the works of the Apostolic Fathers, and as such is one of the very few eyewitness writings from the actual age of the persecutions. The work details Polycarp's death at the age of 86 years old, at the hands of the Romans, in the 2nd century AD. It is among the first recorded Acts of the Martyrs.
Though the author of the "Martyrdom of Polycarp" is unknown, the story is recorded by Eusebius, who claims to have received it through a letter addressed to the Church of Philomelium by the Church of Smyrna.
Some scholars have challenged the authenticity and dating of the account. Although her argument has not been widely accepted, Italian scholar Silvia Ronchey argued in Indagine sul martirio di San Policarpo that the text is a late 3rd century composition. More recently Candida Moss argued in an article 'On the Dating of Polycarp' in Early Christianity that the account is not an eyewitness report and that the Martyrdom of Polycarp was written in the early 3rd century.
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