ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the idea of martyrdom that shaped Christian thought for the next two centuries. There were enough Christians in the large eastern cosmopolitan cities that they came into conflict with their neighbors and Roman authorities. It will introduce the earliest influential martyrs – Ignatius, Polycarp, and Justin. It will also consider the Romans’ position as they try to find a legal basis for trials of Christians, and it will also see Christians wrestling with the idea of “voluntary martyrdom.”
