Talk:Saint Telemachus

Untitled
I understand Gibbons referred to Telemachus in his treatise The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Folk tales as facts?
There is but one source to the tale about Telemachus -- Theodoret -- so there is no founding or base to the tale in this article, which is a false embroidery of the facts Theodoret reports. In fact, the story told here is contradicted by Theodoret all along the way.

Theodoret do not say it happened in the colosseum, do not give a date and says that Telemachus was killed by the spactators, not the gladiators, there is no mention of three days for the decree, etc.

In short, this one either should be corrected, or reassigned to the folk tales or myth section.

Ori 192.115.133.141 18:04, 20 August 2005 (UTC)


 * Done. --82.47.248.116 17:44, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

The false statement of facts was reinserted in the revision of 22:09, 28 August 2008. This article needs the attention of a more experienced editor. For now I am simply removing the flagrant misrepresentation of the cited source. The source cited is now online via Google Books, so I have added a link. The curious can find an alternate translation of Theodoret's history at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203.iv.viii.v.xxvi.html - Timothy Gaskell 70.249.35.108 (talk) 04:30, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Material for merging
The following material is from Telemicus and looks like it should sit in this article. I don't know the subject well enough to do so, so copy it here for someone to pick up at some point.

Kcordina Talk 10:41, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Telemicus by William Barclay tells the story of Telemicus, a monk who lived outside the city of Rome. He was a man of the country and lived a quiet life but something, maybe the call of God, brought him to Rome, which was for the most part considered a Christian city. Yet thousands of people still attended the games in the Colosseum watching the fights of the gladiators. Telemicus was carried along by the crowd to the Colosseum, where perhaps 80,000 people gathered, looking for the weekly bloodletting. Telemicus was horrified. "Are we not all men created in God's image? These who were fighting must stop." Telemicus left the stands, leaped from his seat, sprung to the arena, and thrust himself between the two gladiators. His word cried out "in the name of Christ stop this thing"! They cast him aside. He came back; he cried out again and again "in the name of Christ stop this thing" they cast him aside. He came back; they cast him aside "in the name of Christ stop this thing". Finally, the commander's order rang out. A sword flashed and Telemicus was dead. A hush fell upon the people in the arena. Gradually, the people began to realize what had happened and slowly, one by one, they began to leave. A holy man had given his life to affirm the worth of every human being. The usual blood was not seen that day for something truly ramarkable had happened that day to the city of Rome, for there was never another gladiatorial contest held in Rome because one man, Telemicus.

Address incorrect versions of story?
A widely circulated version of this story is that Telemachus was killed by one of the gladiators and the crowd left in horror. (See the Telemicus story above) I think it might be a good idea to include this in the article and explain that it is inconsistent with Theodoret's account. Other thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.52.48.229 (talk • contribs) 10:59, 9 May 2007
 * I agree, as long you (or whoever) can find proper citation for that alternative story, it would be worthwhile to note the different interpretations. Alekjds talk 02:49, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I am adding some facts along this vein to the end of the article. This may not fit perfectly smoothly with the structure of the article, but it will give readers information - Timothy Gaskell 70.246.94.205 (talk) 17:58, 9 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Does the citation of Butler's Lives of the Saints:New Full Edition apply to paragraphs 2-3? If so I have obscured this fact by inserting more information of variants of the story. If not a citation is needed. - Timothy Gaskell 70.244.206.89 (talk) 02:19, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I have not succeeded in finding the cited edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints, so I have added Citation Needed tags to the material that may or may not be from it. - Timothy Gaskell 70.244.200.183 (talk) 16:28, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

Another source
Probably not the most reliable of sources, but I have a guide book from Rome, and it says that Telemachus was a monk who put himself between the gladiators at a match at the Colosseum and that "the spectators hurled insults and ultimately stones". Yet another obscure source to muddy the waters with the idea that he was killed by stoning. (it does also state that this was the end of the gladiator fights, so a confirmation of a sort) HiFlyChick (talk) 12:41, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Merger proposal
It seems that the article Almachius can be merged into this article (already suggested on the talk page there). This webpage states 4 names for the same saint: Saint Telemachus, Almachio, Almachius, and Almachus. I suggest redirects from the latter three names to Saint Telemachus. --ChoG (talk) 15:18, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

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Wrong emperor
There is, as mentioned by other commenters on this page, only one source for the story, Theodoret V.26; and as Hodgkin points out (Italy and Her Invaders, 2d (rev.) ed., I.728 f.), the presence of Honorius fixes the date to 404.

24.136.4.218 (talk) 14:46, 6 January 2020 (UTC)