As to the personal history of Ignatius, almost nothing is known. The principal source of in- formation regarding him is found in the account of his martyrdom, to which the reader is referred. Polycarp alludes to him in his Epistle to the Philippians (chap, ix.), and also to his letters (chap, xiii.). Irenseus quotes a passage from his Epistle to the Romans {^Adv. Hcer., v. 28; Epist. ad Rom., chap, iv.), without, however, naming him. Origen twice refers to him, first in the preface to his Comm. on the Song of Solomon, where he quotes a passage from the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, and again in his Sixth homily on St. Luke, where he quotes from the Epistle to the Ephesians, both times naming the author. It is unnecessary to give later references.