The Apologists · AD 130–180
Anicetus of Rome
d. c. 168 · Bishop of Rome · Rome
The Apologists
Who Anicetus of Rome was
Eleventh bishop of Rome, who received the aged Polycarp of Smyrna when he came to confer over the date of Easter. The two could not agree — Rome kept Sunday, Asia the fourteenth of Nisan — yet “they communed together,” Irenaeus recalled, and Anicetus yielded the eucharist to Polycarp in his own church as a mark of honour. It is the classic early instance of unity preserved across a real difference of practice.
Also listed in the bishops of Rome.
Common questions
When did Anicetus die?
Anicetus of Rome is dated d. c. 168 in the archive, which places Anicetus in the Apologists (AD 130–180). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Anicetus?
Anicetus of Rome is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Hegesippus and Irenaeus of Lyon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Anicetus from?
The archive associates Anicetus of Rome with Rome.
Who were Anicetus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Anicetus of Rome to 3 other figures, including Pius I of Rome, Soter of Rome and Polycarp of Smyrna. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Hegesippus, via Ecclesiastical History IV.22 ('I remained with Anicetus')
c. AD 175And when I had come to Rome I remained there until Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus.Hegesippus · Ecclesiastical History IV.22 · source text
Against Heresies III.3.3
c. AD 180Irenaeus to Victor, via Eusebius V.24
c. AD 180…neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp… nor Polycarp Anicetus… but though matters were in this shape, they communed together, and Anicetus conceded the administration of the eucharist in the church to Polycarp, manifestly as a mark of respect.Irenaeus of Lyon · V.24 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Anicetus.
- 1Rome