Apostolic Fatherswriter
Who he was
- An apology addressed to the Emperor Hadrian.
- Eusebius says of Quadratus in his Ecclesisatical History (4,3, 1-2): “When Trajan had reigned for nineteen and a half years Aelius Hadrian succeeded to the sovereignty. To him Quadratus addresses a treatise, composing an apology for our religion because some wicked men were trying to trouble the Christians…From it can be seen the clear proof of his intellect and his apostolic orthodoxy.”
- The words quoted by Eusebius as coming from the mouth of Quadratus are in the one and only fragment extant of his apology.
What he wrote
- Quadratus was the oldest apologist for Christianity.
- He most likely presented his apology to the Emperor during his stay in Asia Minor in 123-124 or 129.
- This Quadratus is not the bishop of Athens as incorrectly identified by St. Jerome.