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Saint Telemachus
Roman saint and martyr
SaintFull write-upPre-congregation
Feast: 1 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
301
Died
404
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
At Rome, Saint Telemachus, who, opposing the gladiatorial shows, was killed by the gladiators themselves on the order of Alypius, prefect of Rome, and so was numbered among the victorious martyrs.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 1 January as a martyr killed by gladiators at Rome for opposing the gladiatorial shows.
Sources
- Roman Martyrology, 1 January (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q1115667 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Saint Telemachus (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.