Telemachus

Monk – Telemachus, martyred for being a peacemaker

The story of St. Telemachus.

St. Telemachus lived in the time of the Gladiators in Rome.
He single-handedly made a difference by witnessing to the truth.
In the arena of 80,000 people gathered to watch a gladiator
match, St. Telemachus was the lone voice that shouted
out to the Caesar to ‘stop the killing in the name of Christ’.
He was run through with a sword by the gladiator, but he
repeated his plea with his dying breath, ‘Stop the killing’.
and after he died there, in his own pool of blood in the middle
of the coloseum, caesar and his wife were so moved by his
convictions, that he left the arena. 80,000 filed out of the
colosseum and the game was never held. Subsequently, the
Ceasar signed a declaration banning all future gladiator
games. Truly one man can make a difference.

Saint Telemachus (also Almachus[1]) was a monk who, according to the Church historian Theodoret[2] , intervened in a gladiator fight in a Roman amphitheatre and was stoned to death by the crowd. The Christian Emperor Honorius however was impressed by the monk’s martyrdom and it spurred him to issue an edict banning gladiator fights. The last known gladiator fight in Rome was on January 1, 404 AD, so this is usually given as the date of Telemachus’ martyrdom.
He is described as being an ascetic who came to Rome from the East. The story is found in the writings of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria, but there is no other evidence of the existence of Telemachus and most mainstream historians do not agree with the Catholic tradition that gladiatorial games ended by an act of Telemachus. If the events did happen as described and directly caused an edict to be issued it would almost certainly have been noted in other sources of the time.
Although the site of Telemachus’ martyrdom is often given as being the Colosseum in Rome, Theodoret does not actually specify where it happened, saying merely that it happened in “the stadium”.
There is also an alternate form of the story, in which, Telemachus stood up in the amphitheatre and told the assembly to stop worshiping idols and offering sacrifices to the gods. Upon hearing this statement, the prefect of the city is said by this source to have ordered the gladiators to kill Telemachus, who promptly did so. [3]

On this day…

• Walk In The Light – 2025
• Passion For The Supremacy Of God – 2025
• Deuteronomy 29 – 2024
• Deuteronomy 28 – 2024
• The Names of Jesus – 2011
• DO YE NOW BELIEVE? – 2008
• It All Belongs To Christ – 2008
• GETTING OURSELVES OUT OF THE WAY – 2008
• FAITH HAPPENS WHEN THINGS ARE TESTED – 2008
• PRAYER CHOICE AND PRAYER CONFLICT – 2007