The Apologists · AD 130–180 · External witness
Statius Quadratus
fl. c. 155 (Proconsul of Asia) · Proconsul of Asia · Judge of Polycarp · Smyrna
External witness
Who Statius Quadratus was
Proconsul of Asia at the time of Polycarp’s martyrdom, before whom the aged bishop was brought and urged repeatedly to swear by Caesar’s fortune and revile Christ. His exchange with Polycarp — the threat of the beasts, then of the fire, met with the bishop’s serene refusal — is preserved in the Martyrdom, which dates the event precisely by his proconsulship. The magistrate who ordered the pyre is named so that the day could be fixed; the archive keeps him as the record’s external anchor for its most famous second-century death.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 21 only within Christian literature; the consular fasti are documentary, not attestation.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Statius Quadratus active?
Statius Quadratus is dated fl. c. 155 (Proconsul of Asia) in the archive, which places Statius Quadratus 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 Statius Quadratus?
Statius Quadratus 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 Statius Quadratus from?
The archive associates Statius Quadratus with Smyrna.
Who were Statius Quadratus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Statius Quadratus to 4 other figures, including Polycarp of Smyrna, Germanicus of Smyrna, Herod the Irenarch and Philip the Asiarch. 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 21
c. AD 156…Statius Quadratus being proconsul, but Jesus Christ being King for ever, to whom be glory, honour, majesty, and an eternal throne, from generation to generation. Amen.The church of Smyrna · 21 · 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
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Statius Quadratus.