There is a legend that the emperor Trajan himself, who wintered in Antioch in the year 115, examined the aged Bishop Ignatius in the year 115, with questions such as these:
"Who are you, spirit of evil, who dare disobey my orders and goad others on to their destruction?"
"No one calls Theophorus a spirit of evil," the bishop replied.
"Who is Theophorus?"
"He who bears Christ within him."
"And do we not bear within ourselves the gods who help us against our enemies?"
"You are mistaken when you call gods those who are no better than devils. There is but one God, who created heaven and earth and all that in them is; and one Jesus, made Christ, into whose kingdom I earnestly desire to be admitted."
"Do you mean Him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?"
"Yes, the same, who by His death has crucified both sin and its author, and who has proclaimed that every malice of the devil shall be trodden underfoot by those who bear Him in their hearts."
"Do you then," asked the Emperor, "bear Christ within you?" "Yes," said Ignatius, "for it is written, 'I will dwell in them and will walk with them.’"According to the legend, Trajan ruled that Ignatius should die. He was bound and conveyed to Rome, to be devoured by wild beasts in the Colosseum. From this point on, we are on firm ground, historically speaking, with Ignatius' own letters, seven of which are still extant, to tell us the story. At the seaport of Seleucia they boarded a ship that made many stops along the shores of Asia Minor, instead of proceeding directly to Rome. Some of Ignatius' friends took the direct route west and, reaching Rome before him, awaited his arrival. For a great part of the journey he had as companions a deacon, Philo, and a friend, Agathopus, supposedly the authors of an account of his martyrdom. On shipboard Ignatius was guarded by ten soldiers so brutal that he speaks of them as "ten leopards," and adds that they only grew worse when kindly treated.
Wherever the ship put in, the local Christians sent bishops and priests to meet the venerable bishop, and crowds gathered to receive the benediction of one who was already revered as a martyr.
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