WAS a holy solitary of the East, but being excited by the ardors of a
pious zeal in his desert, and pierced with grief that the impious
diversion of gladiators should cause the damnation of so many unhappy
souls, and involve whole cities and provinces in sin; he travelled to
Rome, resolved, as far as in him lay, to put a stop to this crying evil.
While the gladiators were massacring each other in the amphitheatre, he
ran in among them; but as a recompense for his kind remonstrance, and
entreating them to desist, he was beaten down to the ground, and torn in
pieces, on the 1st of January, 404. His zeal had its desired success;
for the effusion of his blood effected what till that time many emperors
had found impracticable. Constantine, Constantius, Julian, and
Theodosius the elder, had, to no purpose, published several edicts
against those impious scenes of blood. But Honorius took occasion from
the martyrdom of this saint, to enforce their entire abolition. His name
occurs in the true martyrology of Bede, in the Roman and others. See
Theodoret, Hist. l. 5, c. 62, t. 3, p. 740.[1]
Footnotes:
1. The martyrologies of Bede, Ado, Usuard, &c. mention St. Almachus, M.
put to death at Rome, for boldly opposing the heathenish
superstitions on the octave of our Lord's nativity. Ado adds, that
he was slain by the gladiators at the command of Alypius, prefect of
Rome. A prefect of this name is mentioned in the reign of
Theodosius, the father of Honorius. This name, the place, day, and
cause seeming to agree, Baronius, (Annot. In Martyr. Rom.) Bolland,
and Baillet, doubt not but this martyr is the same with St.
Telemachus, mentioned by Theodoret. Chatelain, canon of the
cathedral at Paris, (Notes sur le Martyr. Rom. p. 8,) and Benedict
XIV., (in Festo Circumcis. T. 10, p. 18.) think they ought to be
distinguished, and that Almachus suffered long before Telemachus.
Wake, (on Enthusiasm,) Geddes, &c. pretend the name to have been a
mistake for Almanachum; but are convicted by Chatelain of several
unpardonable blunders, and of being utterly unacquainted with
ancient MSS. of this kind, and the manner of writing them. Scaliger
and Salmasius tell us that the word Almanach is of Arabic
extraction. La Crosse observes, (Bibl. Univ. T. 11,) that it occurs
in Porphyry, (apud Eus. Praef. Evang. l. 3, c. 4,) who says that
horoscopes are found [Greek: en tois almenichiaxois], where it seems
of Egyptian origin. But whatever be the meaning of that term in
Porphyry, Du Cange, after the strictest search, assures us that the
barbarous word Almanach is never met with in any MS. Calendars or
Ephemerides. Menage (Origine de la Langue Francoise V. Almanach)
shows most probably that the word is originally Persian, with the
Arabic article prefixed. It seems to have been first used by the
Armenians to signify a calendar, ib.