The epistles of Ignatius.

Counted among the apostolic fathers.

Attributed author(s).
Ignatius.

Text(s) available.
On site:

Useful links.
Ignatius at Early Christian Writings.
Ignatius in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Ignatius and the gospel of Matthew.
Ignatius on the flesh of Christ.

Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in Syria. Three recensions of his epistles, reckoned among the apostolic fathers, are extant. The long recension is generally rejected as including clearly spurious epistles (those to the Tarsians, to the Antiochians, to Hero, a deacon in Antioch, to the Philippians, to Mary of Cassobola, to the virgin Mary, and to John, and those from Mary of Cassobola and from the virgin Mary). The short recension, in Syriac, is an abridgement of the middle recension, and includes the epistles to Polycarp, the Ephesians, and the Romans. It is the middle recension that is most commonly accepted as genuinely Ignatian. The middle recension consists of seven epistles.

Attestation for the epistles: Polycarp to the Philippians 9; 13.1-2; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.28.4 (anonymously quoting chapter 4 of Ignatius to the Romans); Origen, prologue of Song of Songs and Homilies on Luke 4; Eusebius, History of the Church 3.22, 36, 38.

Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 6.1a, on the princes:

Μηδεις πλανασθω. και τα επουρανια και η δοξα των αγγελων και οι αρχοντες ορατοι τε και αορατοι, εαν μη πιστευσωσιν εις το αιμα Χριστου, κακεινοις κρισις εστιν.

Let no one be deceived. Both heavenly things and the glory of angels, and the princes, both visible and invisible, if they do not put faith in the blood of Christ, there is judgment for them.

Manuscripts.

According to Bart Ehrman (on pages 214-215 of volume 1 of the Loeb edition of the apostolic fathers) and Michael Holmes (on pages 84-85 of The Apostolic Fathers) the following manuscripts are extant for those epistles of Ignatius besides that to the Romans:

Medicio-Laurentianus (G), century XI, Greek (middle recension).
Caiensis 395 (L¹), Latin (middle recension plus spurious epistles).
Montacutianus (L²), Latin (middle recension plus spurious epistles, now lost).
Berlin papyrus 10581 (P), century V, Greek (middle recension, contains Smyrnaeans 3.3-12.1).
Various manuscripts (g), Greek (long recension).
Various manuscripts (l), Latin (long recension).
Syriac manuscript (S), edited by W. Cureton (short recension).
Syriac fragments (S^f) of either the middle or the long recension.
Coptic version (C) of the long recension.
Armenian version (A) of the long recension.
Arabic version of the long recension.

The following manuscripts are extant for the epistle to the Romans, which has a separate transmission history:

Parisiensis-Colbertinus (G), century X or XI, Greek.
Caiensis 395 (L¹), Latin.
Montacutianus (L²), Latin (now lost).
Hierosolymitanus (H), century X, Greek.
Sinaiticus 519 (K), century X, Greek.
Taurinensis (T), century XIII, Greek.
Greek text (M) of the epistle as found in the martyrdom of Ignatius.
Syriac text (S^m) of the epistle as found in the martyrdom of Ignatius.
Armenian text (A^m) of the epistle as found in the martyrdom of Ignatius.
Various manuscripts (g), Greek.
Various manuscripts (l), Latin.
Syriac manuscript (S), edited by W. Cureton.
Syriac fragments (S^f).
Coptic version (C).
Armenian version (A).