The Apologists · AD 130–180 · External witness
Nicetes of Smyrna
fl. c. 155 (death unrecorded) · Civic notable of Smyrna · Father of the irenarch Herod · Smyrna
External witness
Who Nicetes of Smyrna was
Father of Herod the irenarch and brother of the Christian Alce — a divided household the Martyrdom of Polycarp records without comment. He rode out with his son to coax the old bishop into the saving formula (“What harm is there in saying, Lord Caesar, and sacrificing?”), and after the burning it was Nicetes who urged the governor not to release Polycarp's body, “lest they abandon the crucified one and begin to worship this man.” The persecution seen from inside one Smyrnaean family: the magistrate son, the pleading father, the believing sister.
Martyrdom of Polycarp only.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Nicetes active?
Nicetes of Smyrna is dated fl. c. 155 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Nicetes 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 Nicetes?
Nicetes of Smyrna is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from The church of Smyrna. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Nicetes from?
The archive associates Nicetes of Smyrna with Smyrna.
Who were Nicetes’ contemporaries?
The archive links Nicetes of Smyrna to 3 other figures, including Herod the Irenarch, Alce of Smyrna and Polycarp of Smyrna. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 8, 17
c. AD 156Nicetes, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, importuned the governor not to give up the body, ‘lest,’ said he, ‘they abandon the crucified one and begin to worship this man.’The church of Smyrna · 17 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
- 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 Nicetes.