Melito of Sardis was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority in early Christianity. Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in Asia due to his personal influence and his literary works, most of which have been lost. A letter of Polycrates of Ephesus to Pope Victor about 194 (Eusebius, Church History V.24) states that “Melito the eunuch [this is interpreted “the virgin”.  Melito may have been the immediate successor of the apostle of the church of Sardis. He was an “Apostolic Father” and very probably knew Polycarp and his disciple Irenaeus.  He became a martyr, probably under Marcus Aurelius, circa a.d.177.