Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome
?–136 CE · Rome
Telesphorus, traditionally counted as the eighth pope, is notable because Irenaeus—writing in the later second century—specifically records that he died a martyr, making his martyrdom among the best-attested of the early bishops of Rome. Tradition describes him as of Greek origin and a former ascetic, though these details are not firmly documented. He is associated with early debates over the dating of Easter, a controversy that would recur for generations. The Liber Pontificalis credits him with liturgical customs such as Christmas observances, but these attributions are unreliable. His reign falls in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, a comparatively stable period for the Roman community.
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RomeרומאItaly
We know they were here, but the specifics of what they did at this stop aren’t recorded yet in our corpus.
Rome in this era
Governed by the Roman emperors from the Antonines through the Tetrarchy, Rome housed a bishop's see of growing prestige, was the scene of periodic persecutions, and saw theologians such as Justin Martyr debate and die for the faith in the second century.
About Rome
Rome, on the Tiber in central Italy, grew from an Iron Age settlement into the capital of the Roman Republic and then of an empire that by the 1st century CE ruled the whole Mediterranean. Its Jewish community, attested from the 2nd century BCE, is among the oldest in Europe. Christian tradition holds that the apostles Peter and Paul died there, and the city became the seat of the popes. After the Western Empire ended in 476 it passed to Gothic kings, to Byzantium and then to papal rule as capital of the Papal States, until it became the capital of unified Italy in 1871. Vatican City, independent since 1929, lies within it.
In Rome at the same time
Valentinus, Hyginus, Bishop of Rome, Sixtus I, Bishop of Rome
Across the traditions, in Rome at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Valentinus, Hyginus, Bishop of Rome, Sixtus I, Bishop of Rome
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.