Eusebius of Caesarea — Church History 15

1. At this time, when the greatest persecutions were exciting Asia, Polycarp ended his life by martyrdom . But I consider it most important that his death, a written account of which is still extant, should be recorded in this history.

2. There is a letter, written in the name of the church over which he himself presided, to the parishes in Pontus , which relates the events that befell him, in the following words:

3. The church of God which dwells in Philomelium , and to all the parishes of the holy Catholic Church in every place; mercy and peace and love from God the Father be multiplied. We write unto you, brethren, an account of what happened to those that suffered martyrdom and to the blessed Polycarp , who put an end to the persecution , having, as it were, sealed it by his martyrdom .

4. After these words, before giving the account of Polycarp , they record the events which befell the rest of the martyrs , and describe the great firmness which they exhibited in the midst of their pains. For they say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view; and then laid upon sea-shells and certain pointed spits, and subjected to every species of punishment and of torture, and finally thrown as food to wild beasts.