Saint Telemachus
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| Saint Telemachus | |
|---|---|
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| Hermit and Martyr | |
| Born | unknown, Eastern Roman Empire |
| Died | 1 January 404 (or 391[1]), Rome, Italy |
| Feast | 1 January |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Telemachus (also Almachus[1]) was a monk who, according to Catholic tradition, 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. [2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Jones, Terry. Telemachus. Patron Saints Index. Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
- ^ Burns, Paul. Butler's Lives of the Saints:New Full Edition. Collegeville, MN:The Liturgical Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8146-2377-8.
