In the closing days of 403 AD, an elderly monk emerged from the wilderness and walked into the Roman Colosseum. Unarmed and unafraid...and brought an end to Gladiatorial Combat

His name was St. Telemachus

From the lonely caves of the Ganos Mountains to the thunder of John Chrysostom's preaching, from demonic opposition in the wilderness to the blood-soaked sands of Rome, this episode follows the remarkable life and martyrdom of the Desert Father whose death has long been remembered as the final blow against the gladiatorial games.

This is the story of a man who believed that the Gospel advances not by the shedding of another's blood, but by the faithful willingness to lay down one's own.

Sources include:

• Theodoret of Cyrus
• Sozomen
• John Chrysostom
• Augustine of Hippo
• Athanasius'  ...