lso of his 'bishops' [218:1]. Clement of Alexandria again, among whose
teachers was one from this very district, and probably of this very
school [218:2], represents him as going about from place to place in the
neighbourhood of Ephesus, appointing bishops and providing in other ways
for the government of the Churches [218:3]. More especially Irenaeus,
who had received his earliest lessons in Christianity from an immediate
disciple of St John, appeals again and again to such a body as
preserving and handing down the correct tradition of the Apostolic
doctrine and practice. He describes these persons in one place as 'the
elders who in Asia associated with John the disciple of the Lord'
[218:4]; in another as 'all the Churches which are in Asia,' specifying
more particularly the 'Church in Ephesus ... the true witness of the
Apostolic tradition' [218:5]; in a third as 'those who saw John face to
face' [218:6], or 'the elders who saw John the disciple of the Lord'
[218:7]; in a fourth as 'the elders who were before us, and who also
were pupils of the Apostles' [218:8]; in a fifth 'as the elders who have
their succession from the Apostles' [218:9]; in a sixth as 'the elders,
disciples of the Apostles' [218:10], with similar expressions elsewhere.
The prominent members of this school in the first age were Polycarp of
Smyrna and Papias of Hierapolis, of whom the former survived beyond the
middle of the century, and the latter probably died not many years
before. In the next generation the most famous names are Melito of
Sardis and Apollinaris of Hierapolis, who flourished in the third
quarter of the century. They again are succeeded by other writers, of
whom the most celebrated was Polycrates of Ephesus, already an old man,
when in the last decade of the century a controversial question obliged
him to take up his pen in defence of the traditions of his Church.

Asia Minor appears to have been far in advance of the other Churches of
Christendom in literary activity, during the second century. This
pre-eminence was due mainly, we may suppose, to the fact already
mentioned, that it had become the second home of the Apostles and
primitive teachers of Christianity. But the productiveness of the
Asiatic Christians in this respect was doubtless stimulated by the
pressure of opposition. This region was the hot-bed of heresies and the
arena of controversy. Nor is it unimportant to observe that the main
subjects of discussion were of su