Foxe's Book of Martyrs contains...
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Foxe's Book of Martyrs contains a remarkable story of the simple monk, Telemachus. Following the victory of Stilicho during the mid-fifth-century, a great Roman gladiatorial combat was planned in the Coliseum as part of the celebration. Part of the incredible spectacle involved large numbers of gladiators fighting to the death. The competition included waves of battle. After each wave the dead were carted off and new sand was distributed to cover the blood before the next "contestants" emerged to do battle. Once battle ensued and an adversary was wounded, the one felling him would look to the crowd with the words "Hoc habet!" ("He has had it!") Those standing then awaited the crowd's decision on whether to complete the killing or not. If the crowd's decision was that the gladiator should die, then the shout emerged, "Recipe ferrum!" ("Receive the steel!") As the competition and killing continued, a poorly clad, robed figure jumped into the arena and tried to restrain two gladiators from killing one another. He turned to the crowd and shouted, "Do not requite God's mercy in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering one another!" The crowd grew angry, "This is no place for preaching -- observe the old customs." Still, he stood separating the gladiators, until inflamed by the crowd, one stepped forward plunging his sword into Telemachus. He was discovered later to be a simple hermit visiting from Asia Minor. His death sobered the crowd. In his death, they saw the cruelty of their pastime and from that day on no other gladiatorial combats were ever held in the Coliseum in Rome.
