The End of the Gladiator

In a recent message entitled "Is There Not a Cost", Ravi Zacharias concluded with this story of the martyrdom of Saint Telemachus:


This is a story of a monk by the name of Telemachus. Telemachus was a dominionative man who lived amongst flowers and nurseries and reclusive settings.

One day the word of God came to him and told him to go to Rome. He did not want to go to Rome, he was not a city man; he despised the noise and the clanging, and the artificiality of city life. He wanted to live in his monastic reclused setting.

But God has strange ways. He raised Moses in a palace in order to use him in a desert, he raised Joseph in a desert in order to use him in a palace. He takes Telemachus out of a reclusive setting in order to use him in Rome.

Telemachus said ‘Okay God, if you want me to go, I’ll go. I don’t know why you want me to go, but I’ll go.”

As he is marching into the streets of Rome, he was quite overwhelmed by its monumental buildings, its spectacular edifices, the statues, marble sculptures and painting of man glorifying himself in self-worship. While walking into Rome he a saw huge crowd elbowing it’s way into the Colosseum. Telemechaus did not know where they were going but he was involuntarily dragged in by them and entered.

To his utter credulity as he sat in the bleachers there, he looked down and saw that what would that was going to entertain these sadistic masses was blood-letting orgies of hatred and sadism, as they were going to see the gladiatorial spectacles and fights; human beings tormenting and butchering one another.

He couldn’t believe it! As soon as the first sign of that violence was shown, in that huge amphitheatrical setting, he rose to his feet and screamed out “In the name of Christ, forebear! In the name of Christ, stop this thing!”

That amphitheatre had the ability to carry even a whisper to a marvellous crescendo of sound, and as he screamed, everybody heard him. He ran down the stairs, vaulted over into the centre arena, all the while shouting “in the name of Christ, stop this thing!”

He became a kind of innocent side show, and one man yelled from the stands, “Run him through!” A muscle-bound gladiator heaved him away, took his spear and thrust it through the body of Telemachus. As he bent over, clutching himself, the blood spilling out of his body and moments away from his death, the crowd now listening carefully, he speaks audibly once more for everyone to hear: “In the name of Christ, stop this thing.”

There was silence; then one man stood up and walked out. Then two; then three; then the thousands until everybody had left the Colosseum; they were gone.

The historian writes this: “Many other factors were brought to bear, but the death of Telemachus crystallised the opposition so that never again was there a gladiatorial fight, ever fought in the Colesseum.”

The entire message by Ravi Zacharias is exceptional and is available on his weekly podcast "Let My People Think".