Ignatius of Antioch — two letters (Smyrnaeans and Romans) as early second-century evidence for Peter's martyrdom and bodily resurrection conviction

Ignatius (authentic letters only, early second century) in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans writes: Jesus after the resurrection said to Peter and his friends "Take hold of me, touch me and see that I am not a bodyless ghost" — they touched him, felt his body and breath, and as a result "they despised death itself and proved its victors." Ignatius uses the resurrection appearance to Peter as the basis for explaining why the disciples were willing to die. His Letter to the Romans also euphemistically references the deaths of Peter and Paul, and expresses Ignatius's own hope to be martyred.