St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was convicted about the year A.D. no of being a Christian and sentenced to be taken to Rome, there to be thrown to the lions. Accordingly in the custody often Roman soldiers he travelled from Antioch to Smyrna, where he was entertained hospitably by St Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, and the members of his congregation. There too he met sympathetic delegations from most of the Churches belonging to places on his route to Rome. From Smyrna he proceeded to Troas, where he wrote his letter to St Polycarp to thank him for his hospitality and to advise him on his duties as a bishop. The tone of his advice is that of a forthright zealous elder to a much younger man, of whose devotion to God he was well assured, but whose character may have seemed not forcible enough to enable him to master the material and spiritual difficulties that would surely arise.