Polycrates of Ephesus

Polykrates (* 125 ; † around 196) was Bishop of Ephesus ; His term of office probably began in the year 161 and lasted until the year of his death, which is placed in the year 192 or 196 depending on the source.

He came from a Christian family, because according to his self-testimony, seven bishops have already emerged from this family before him. No doubt he had known Polycarp and Irenaeus too.

The most important sources for the life of Polycrates are Eusebius of Caesarea , who wrote it in his Hist. Eccl. V. 24,6 describes, as well as the church father Jerome in De viris illustribus 45. Only one letter from Polycrates himself has survived, from which both Eusebius and Hieronymus quote at the places mentioned.

Individual evidence

^ Peter Kirby: Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus. www.earlychristianwritings.com, accessed July 11, 2017
^ Josef Pichler: Ephesus as a place of early Christian life. Perspectives on an ancient hotspot. Friedrich Pustet, 2017, ISBN 978-3-79177094-9 , p. 13.

personal data
SURNAME	Polycrates of Ephesus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Polycrates
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bishop of Ephesus
DATE OF BIRTH	125
DATE OF DEATH	around 196

[1] Peter Kirby: Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus. www.earlychristianwritings.com, accessed July 11, 2017

[2] Josef Pichler: Ephesus as a place of early Christian life. Perspectives on an ancient hotspot. Friedrich Pustet, 2017, ISBN 978-3-79177094-9 , p. 13.