Rufus and Zosimus The holy, glorious and right-victorious
martyrs Rufus and Zosimus were companions of St. Ignatius of
Antioch during his journey as a prisoner to Rome where they all
were martyred early in the second century. Rufus and Zosimus are
commemorated on December 18. Rufus and Zosimus were early
apostles who lived in Antioch and were caught up in the
persecutions of Christians under the Roman emperor Trajan. As
Bishop Igantius' companions on the trip to Rome during the first
decade of the second century they stopped at Smyrna in Asia
Minor at the time St. Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna.
Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. After the
party of Ss. Ignastius, Ruffus, and Zosimus left Smyrna, they
continued through Philippi, in ancient Macedonia, on to Rome, as
recorded in Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians. Polycarp's
epistle and other early writings allude to their efforts of
spreading the faith in Asia Minor in the same mission field that
Ignatius traversed. They were held up as e