Rufus and Zosimus were disciples of Christ and his apostles, and had also been instrumental in founding and building up the church of God among the Jews and the Gentiles. Especially conspicuous is Rufus, from the greetings of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome, in which he includes Rufus, not merely as a common member of the same, but as a distinguished, yea chosen person, for he says: “Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” Rom. 16:13. This Rufus and the aforementioned Zosimus, both pious and upright Christians, together with many of their fellow-believers, were put to death for the faith, in the city of Philippi in Macedonia. Some write that both were beheaded in the days of of Emperor Trajan, A. D. 109. Compare what A. Mellinus adduces in _Het groot Christen Martelærs-bœk, fol. 19, col. 4_, from _Polycarpo ad Philippens_, with that which J. Gysius has noted in _Hist. Mart., fol. 15, col. 3_. THE ETHIOPIAN OR EUNUCH OF QUEEN CANDACE, WHO WAS BAPTIZED BY PHILIP, PUT TO DEATH FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, IN THE ISLAND OF CAPROBANO, A. D. 110. Immediately after Rufus and Zosimus, A. Mellinus introduces the Ethiopian or eunuch of Queen Candace in Ethiopia, who was converted by Philip to the faith in Jesus Christ, and thereupon baptized, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. It is stated of him, from Jerome, that he preached the Gospel of our Lord in Arabia Felia, and also in a certain island of the Red Sea, called Caprobano (some call it Ceylon), where, it is supposed, he suffered death for the testimony of the truth. See above, _Mellin. ex Hieron. Catal. in Crescente, in 53, cap. Esai._ IGNATIUS, A DISCIPLE OF THE APOSTLE JOHN, DEVOURED BY WILD BEASTS IN A CIRCUS AT ROME, FOR THE TESTIMONY OF THE SON OF GOD, A. D. 111. [Illustration: IGNATIUS DEVOURED BY WILD BEASTS.] Ignatius, a disciple of the apostle John, and a successor of Peter and Evodius, was in the service of the church of Christ at Antioch in Syria. He was a very godfearing man, and faithful and diligent in his ministrations. He was surnamed Theophorus, that is, _The Bearer of God_, apparently because he often bore the name of God and his Savior in his mouth, and led a godly life. He was wont to say frequently: “The life of man is a continual death, unless it be that Christ liveth in us.” Likewise: “The crucified Christ is my only and entire love.” And: “He that allows himself to be called after any other than Christ, is not God.” And again: “As the world hates the Christians, so God loves them.” _A. Mellin., fol. 15, col. 1_, from _Ignat. in Epist. ad Rom. et alibe_. Having learned that the Emperor Trajan, after the victories which he had achieved against the Dacians, Armenians, Assyrians, and other eastern nations, gave thanks at Antioch unto the gods, and offered great sacrifices unto them, as though these victories had proceeded from them. Ignatius, as we are informed by Nicephorus, reproved the Emperor for it, and this openly in the temple.