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Apostle2nd century

Apostle Quadratus of the Seventy

Also known as Codratus of Athens

One of the Seventy who preached at Athens and Magnesia, served as Bishop of Athens, and is remembered as an early Christian apologist and martyr.

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Apostle Quadratus of the Seventy, Bishop of Athens

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Life

Quadratus, also called Codratus, is numbered among the Seventy Apostles and is remembered as one of the earliest Christian apologists. According to the synaxarion he preached at Athens and at Magnesia, an eastern peninsula of Thessaly, and served as Bishop of Athens, drawing many from paganism to faith in Christ.

He is best known for an Apologia composed in defense of Christianity and addressed to the emperor Hadrian. Tradition holds that his preaching provoked violent hostility, that he survived a stoning, and that he died in prison from starvation, after which his body was buried in Magnesia. He is commemorated on September 21 and again on January 4 with the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 3

O Holy Apostle Quadratus
pray to our merciful God
that He may grant to our souls
remission of our transgressions.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide
  1. Early 2nd centuryBishop of AthensCounted among the Seventy, Quadratus preached at Athens and at Magnesia in Thessaly and served as Bishop of Athens. By one account preserved through Dionysius of Corinth, he took up the see after the martyrdom of Publius.
  2. c. 124-126Apologia to HadrianHe composed a written defense of Christianity and submitted it to the emperor Hadrian. Tradition associates the work with a subsequent decree of Hadrian that no one should be convicted without just cause, easing the persecution of Christians.
  3. c. 129-130Imprisonment and reposeAn enraged crowd is said to have attacked him with stones, from which he was preserved alive; he was then imprisoned and died of starvation. His body was buried in Magnesia.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Apologia

Quadratus is regarded as one of the earliest Christian apologists. Only a single fragment of his Apologia survives, preserved by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, which argues that the works of the Savior were real and enduring, instancing those who had been healed of their diseases and those who had been raised from the dead, some of whom were said to have survived to later times.

Eusebius praised the work for its intellect and its faithfulness to apostolic teaching. Some accounts identify Quadratus the apologist with Quadratus of the Seventy who served as Bishop of Athens, though sources note chronological difficulties in reconciling the two figures.

Relics & Shrines

By tradition his holy body was buried in Magnesia, the place associated with the close of his life. In the episcopal succession of Athens he is held to have been followed by Leonidas.

Member ofReadHide
The Seventy Apostles
Commemorated together · Jan 4
Companions1 figureShowHide
Early apologist of Athens, whose defense of the faith the ancient witnesses associate with his own.
Saint Aristidesthe Philosopher of Athens
Related Saints2 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

By one tradition his predecessor in the see of Athens, after whose martyrdom Quadratus took up the episcopate.
Hieromartyr PubliusBishop of Athens
Held in the episcopal succession of Athens to have followed Quadratus.
Hieromartyr LeonidasBishop of Athens

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints