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DOI: 10.1177/0014524606072683 The Martyrdom of PolycarpUniversity of Edinburgh The Martyrdom of Polycarp, if it were indeed authentic and datable to the mid-second century, would give us an important glimpse of developing attitudes to martyrdom in this period, and also offer corroboration of Irenaeus' claim to be in touch with apostolic teaching. A brief examination of the cases for and against this dating and the work's genuineness shows that, despite a number of odd features, especially the failure of Polycarp's trial to follow established Roman legal practice, there is still no compelling reason not to see it as a unified work, nor to date it any later than 156.1
Key Words: Polycarp Apostolic Fathers martyrdom second century Smyrna
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