The Apologists · AD 130–180
Telesphorus of Rome
d. c. 136 · Bishop of Rome · Martyr · Rome
The Apologists
Who Telesphorus of Rome was
Eighth bishop of Rome and the one whom the earliest sources unanimously call a martyr — “who also suffered martyrdom gloriously,” in Irenaeus’s phrase, quoted approvingly by Eusebius. A Greek by his name, he governed the Roman church for some eleven years under Hadrian and Antoninus Pius and figures in the second-century Easter discussions as one who kept the older Roman usage. His is the only Roman episcopal martyrdom of the sub-apostolic age that antiquity attests without hesitation.
Also listed in the bishops of Rome and martyrs.
Common questions
When did Telesphorus die?
Telesphorus of Rome is dated d. c. 136 in the archive, which places Telesphorus in the Apologists (AD 130–180). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Telesphorus?
Telesphorus of Rome is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Irenaeus of Lyon and The chronographer of 354. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Telesphorus from?
The archive associates Telesphorus of Rome with Rome.
Who were Telesphorus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Telesphorus of Rome to 2 other figures, including Xystus I (Sixtus I) of Rome and Hyginus of Rome. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History IV.10; Irenaeus, Against Heresies III.3.3
c. AD 180…Telesphorus, who also suffered martyrdom gloriously.Irenaeus of Lyon · III.3.3 · source text
Irenaeus to Victor, via Ecclesiastical History V.24 (the presbyters before Soter)
c. AD 190We mean Anicetus, and Pius, and Hyginus, and Telesphorus, and Xystus.Irenaeus of Lyon · Ecclesiastical History V.24 · source text
Liberian Catalogue (Chronography of 354)
c. AD 354Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Telesphorus.
- 1Rome