Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/432

Rh 416 P L P L steady progress of the heretical movement, in spite of all opposition, was a cause of deep sorrow to Polycarp, so that in the last years of his life (Iren. ap. Euseb., v. 20) the words were constantly on his lips, &quot; Oh good God, to what times hast thou spared me, that I must suffer such things.&quot; He never allowed himself to engage in discussion with heretics, but as far as possible avoided their presence. Even in early life he had become the head of the church of Smyrna, where he was held in the highest respect. The congregation looked up to him as an apostolic and pro phetic teacher (Jfart., xvi.), and consequently as combin ing in himself all the spiritual gifts which God had con ferred on Christendom. In his old age the members of the congregration vied with each other in providing for his support (ibid., xiii.). How great his reputation was is best shown by the fury of the heathen and the Jews in his martyrdom. He was arrested amidst shouts of &quot; This is the teacher of Asia ; this is the father of the Christians ; this is the destroyer of our gods ; this is the man who has taught so many no longer to sacrifice and no longer to pray to the gods &quot; (ibid., xii.). When sentence was pronounced against him, every creature of the Jewish and heathen rabble hastened to add something to the pile of wood on which he was to be burned (ibid., xiii.). They refused to deliver up his bones to the Christians for burial, for, said the Jews to the mob, &quot;The Christians will now forsake the Crucified, and worship Polycarp&quot; (ibid., xvii.). The sacrifice of Polycarp immediately quenched the fury of the multitude, and the persecution ceased. All these facts prove the great influence which the bishop had in the city. But his reputation extended far beyond the limits of his own diocese. His letter to the church at Philippi shows us how fully his apostolic spirit, his wisdom and justice, must have been recognized even in Macedonia ; otherwise he could not have ventured to interfere in the purely internal affairs of the Philippian church. Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch, begins his letter to him with the words (c. 1) ATToSc^o/Aevds (rov TT)V ev $ea&amp;gt; yvw/xT/v, r/8pa(r- P.CVTJV u&amp;gt;s 7ri -rrerpav aKivrjTOv, wrfpSoaa&amp;gt;, KaTaia&amp;gt;$eis TOV vpocrunrov (rov TOV dyu.wyu.ov, ov avaifJLfjv fv Otoi, and, in spite of his patronizing tone, evidently writes with deep respect. But even the church at Rome were to have an opportunity of making the acquaintance of the venerable bishop. It is one of the most interesting and important incidents in the church history of the 2d century that Polycarp, in the year before his death (when he was above ninety years of age) undertook the journey to Rome in order to visit the bishop Anicetus. 1 Irenaeus, to whom we are indebted for this information (Hser. iii. 3, 4; Ep. ad Victorem, in Eusebius, H.E., v. 24, 16-17), gives as the reason for the journey that differences existed between Asia and Rome, or between Polycarp and Anicetus, &quot; with regard to certain things,&quot; and especially about the time of the Easter festival, which it was desirable to remove. He might easily have told us what these &quot; certain things &quot; were, and given us fuller details of the negotiations between the two great bishops ; for in all probability he was himself in Rome at the time (Mart., Epilog. Mosq.). But unfor tunately all he says is that, with regard to the &quot; certain things,&quot; the two bishops speedily came to an understand- ing, while, as to the time of Easter, each adhered to his 1 Anicetus was bishop from 154 (156) to 166 (167) (see Lipsius, (Jkron. d. Rom. Bischofe, 263.) Those critics who reject Wad- dington s view as to the date of Polycarp s death use this as their principal argument, that according to it there is no room for Polycarp s journey to Pvome. It is certainly remarkable that the journey can just be brought under Waddington s calculations and no more; but, since after all it can be brought under them, no conclusive argument can be drawn from this circumstance. A voyage to Rome at a favour able season of the year was not a very formidable affair, and that Polycarp was still comparatively vigorous is shown by his conduct during the persecution (Mart., v. sq.). own custom without breaking off communication with the other. We learn further that Anicetus, as a mark of special honour, allowed Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in the church (the Eucharist must therefore have still been celebrated at Rome in the Greek tongue), that many Marcionites and Valentinians were converted by Polycarp in Rome (so that his visit must have lasted for a consider able time), and that Polycarp took leave of Anicetus in peace. On his return to Smyrna he enjoyed only about six months of uninterrupted activity. Then, on the occasion of the festive games, there arose, as in so many other instances, an outburst of popular feeling against the Christians, in which Polycarp was to die a martyr s death. From the letter of the church of Smyrna we see with what magnani mity and manliness and true Christian spirit the grey- haired bishop conducted himself. It leaves the most vivid impression of a man of dignity and noble demeanour, and at the same time of humble disposition and compassionate love. Every action he does, every word he speaks, in the prosecution and during the trial is noble and great ; even that quiet irony which we detect in his answer to Marcion does not forsake him (Mart., ix. 2). The proconsul was anxious to save him, and tried to induce him to recant, but he remained steadfast. He was delivered up to the populace, and his body was burned. The Christians present believed that they saw a dove soaring aloft from the burning pile, and it was reported that an odour issued from it like that of costly incense (ibid., xvi. 15). Such legends do not require years for their formation, but only a few hours. By his death Polycarp shielded his con gregation from further persecution. (A. HA.) POLYCLETQS. Two Greek sculptors bore this name. For an account of the works of the elder, a native of Sicyon, see vol. ii. p. 357, and figs. 6, 7. With him is some times confounded his younger kinsman and namesake, pro perly known as Polycletus the Argive. For the most part this younger Polycletus confined himself to statues of athletes who had won prizes at Olympia. In recent exca vations there two bases of statues by him have been found, but no remains of his work. From the fact of his having executed a statue of Zeus Philios, i.e., a combination of Zeus and Dionysus, for the town of Megalopolis, which was founded in 371 B.C., we may assign him to about that date. POLYCRATES, a celebrated Greek tyrant of Samos. was the son of ^Eaces. After distinguishing himself by his liberality towards his poorer fellow-citizens he took advantage of a festival to Hera in order to make himself master of Samos (537 or 536 B.C.). 2 Allied with Amasis, king of Egypt, he prospered greatly, so that his fame went forth through all Greece and Ionia. He had 100 ships and 1000 bowmen. He made war indiscriminately on friend and foe, declaring with grim humour that he gratified his friends more by returning to them their own than by not taking it at all. Many islands fell before him and many cities on the mainland. Amongst the former was Rhenea, which he attached by a chain to the neigh bouring island of Delos, and dedicated to the Delian Apollo. When the Lesbians would have succoured Miletus, he conquered and captured them in a sea-fight and employed them to dig a moat round the walls of his, fortress. According to Herodotus, he was the first within historical times who aimed at the sovereignty of the seas, and his ambitious schemes embraced not only the Greek islands but also Ionia. In magnificence none of the Greek tyrants save those of Syracuse could compare with him. = October 533 to October 532. But codex N of the Armenian ver sion of Eusebius has Abrah. 1480 = 01ymp. 60,4 = Oct. 537 to Oct. 536. The former date, accepted by Clinton, would leave only te:i years for the tyranny of Polycrates, which seems too little.
 * Eusebius gives the date as 1484 (year of Abraham) = 01ymp. 61,4