Letter to the Romans

The Letter to the Romans is the most personal and dramatic of St. Ignatius of Antioch's seven letters. Unlike the letters addressed to churches he has recently encountered, this one is directed ahead to the Christians of Rome, where he expects his journey as a prisoner to end. Ignatius's central request is striking: he asks them not to intervene in a way that would prevent his death. The letter therefore becomes an extended meditation on discipleship, martyrdom, desire for Christ, and freedom from attachment to the present world. Its famous images of becoming God's wheat and being ground by the teeth of wild beasts express Ignatius's hope that his confession in words will be completed in action.

Ignatius writes from Smyrna while being transported under guard from Syria toward Rome. He has not yet reached the Roman church and is concerned that its influence or compassion might secure his release or otherwise interfere with the fate he expects. He therefore sends the letter ahead through Ephesian Christians and asks the Roman believers to pray for his strength rather than for his escape. The closing states that the letter was written on the ninth day before the Kalends of September, though the text itself does not supply a year. Ignatius also asks the Romans to remember the Church in Syria, which he has left behind without his pastoral care.

After greeting the Roman church in unusually elevated language, Ignatius explains his hope of reaching Rome and begs the Christians there not to hinder his martyrdom. He asks for the inward and outward strength to live what he professes. The middle of the letter contains its best-known martyrdom imagery: Ignatius speaks of being food for wild beasts, becoming God's wheat, and preferring death in Christ to rule over the world. He repeatedly contrasts desire for Jesus Christ with desire for the present age. The final chapters renew his plea, ask prayer for the Church in Syria, identify Smyrna as the place of writing, and send greetings through his companions.