Irenaeus Commended to Rome

The same martyrs also commended Irenaeus, who was already then a presbyter of the church at Lyons, to the bishop of Rome we have mentioned, bearing abundant witness to the man, as their words show. They run like this: [a] “We pray, father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God, again and always. We have urged our brother and companion Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in regard, since he is zealous for the covenant of Christ. For if we knew that rank secured righteousness for anyone, we would have commended him among the first as a presbyter of the church, which is what he is.” [b]

Why should we copy out the list of the martyrs given in that letter — separately those who died by beheading, those thrown to the beasts to be devoured, and again those who fell asleep in prison — or the number of the confessors still surviving at that time? Anyone who wishes can easily learn all of this in full by taking up the document itself, which, as I said, has been entered in our Collection of Martyrdoms. Such were the events under Antoninus. [c]