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146-630: During the Diocletianic Persecution , a number of Christians had, under torture or threat thereof, weakened in their profession of the faith. When persecutions ceased under Constantine the Great , they wanted to be reunited with the church. It became the practice of the penitents to go to the Confessors , who had willingly suffered for the faith and survived, to plead their case and effect their restoration to communion . Over time,

292-438: A religio licita , "on a par with Judaism", and secured Christians' property, among other things. Not all have been so enthusiastic. The 17th-century ecclesiastical historian Tillemont called the edict "insignificant"; likewise, the late 20th-century historian Timothy Barnes cautions that the "novelty or importance of [Galerius'] measure should not be overestimated". Barnes notes that Galerius's legislation only brought to

438-618: A bishop did not aid much, either, as Diocletian's persecution had split the Italian church into competing factions over the issue of apostasy (see Donatism ). The Christians of Italy could easily see that Constantine was more sympathetic to their plight than Maxentius. In the summer of 311, Maxentius mobilized against Constantine while Licinius was occupied with affairs in the East. He declared war on Constantine, vowing to avenge his father's "murder". Constantine, to prevent Maxentius from forming

584-472: A common practice for Christian monarchs . It is standard practice for a religious community of women, whether enclosed or just very large, to have one or several priests serving their spiritual needs, including being their confessor. Diocletianic Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire . In 303,

730-694: A dangerous situation for Maxentius, as Africa was critical to Rome's food supply . Maxentius' eldest son Valerius Romulus died in 309, at the age of about fourteen, was deified and buried in a mausoleum in the Villa of Maxentius at the Via Appia . Nearby, Maxentius also constructed the Circus of Maxentius . After the death of Maximian in 309 or 310, relations with Constantine rapidly deteriorated and Maxentius allied with Maximinus to counter an alliance between Constantine and Licinius. He allegedly tried to secure

876-477: A few days afterward. What followed Marcellinus's act of traditio , if it ever actually happened, is unclear. There appears to have been a break in the episcopal succession since his successor, Marcellus I , was not consecrated until either November or December 308; it was likely not possible to elect a new bishop during the persecution. In the meantime, two factions diverged in the Roman Church, separating

1022-528: A general amnesty in a third edict. Any imprisoned clergyman could be freed so long as he agreed to make a sacrifice to the gods. Diocletian may have been searching for some good publicity with this legislation. He may also have sought to fracture the Christian community by publicizing the fact that its clergy had apostatized. The demand to sacrifice was unacceptable to many of the imprisoned, but wardens often managed to obtain at least nominal compliance. Some of

1168-470: A gradual shift in official attitudes toward religious minorities. In the first fifteen years of his rule, Diocletian purged the army of Christians, condemned Manicheans to death, and surrounded himself with public opponents of Christianity. Diocletian's preference for activist government, combined with his self-image as a restorer of past Roman glory, foreboded the most pervasive persecution in Roman history. In

1314-748: A hostile alliance with Licinius, forged his own alliance with the man over the winter of 311–12 by offering to him his sister Constantia in marriage. Maximinus Daza considered Constantine's arrangement with Licinius an affront to his authority. In response, he sent ambassadors to Rome, offering political recognition to Maxentius in exchange for military support. Two alliances, Maximinus and Maxentius, Constantine and Licinius, lined up against one another. The emperors prepared for war. Maxentius expected an attack along his eastern flank from Licinius and stationed an army in Verona . Constantine had smaller forces than his opponent: with his forces withdrawn from Africa, with

1460-565: A large force of heavily armed Maxentian cavalry, labeled clibanarii or cataphracti in the ancient sources. In the ensuing battle Constantine spread his forces into a line, allowing Maxentius' cavalry to ride into the middle of his forces. As his forces broadly encircled the enemy cavalry, Constantine's own cavalry charged at the sides of the Maxentian cataphracts, beating them with iron-tipped clubs. Many Maxentian cavalrymen were dismounted, while most others were variously incapacitated by

1606-522: A legitimate emperor by his fellow emperors. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius . The latter part of his reign was preoccupied with civil war , allying with Maximinus against Licinius and Constantine . The latter defeated him at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, where Maxentius, with his army in flight, purportedly perished by drowning in

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1752-800: A particularly intransigent, fanatical, and legalistic variety of Christianity. It was Africa that gave the West most of its martyrdoms. Africa had produced martyrs even in the years immediately prior to the Great Persecution. In 298, Maximilian , a soldier in Tebessa , had been tried for refusing to follow military discipline; in Mauretania in 298, the soldier Marcellus refused his army bonus and took off his uniform in public. Once persecutions began, public authorities were eager to assert their authority. Anullinus, proconsul of Africa, expanded on

1898-531: A saintly individual, a "humble" man. Christ's followers, however, he damned as "arrogant". Around 290, Porphyry wrote a fifteen-volume work entitled Against the Christians . In the work, Porphyry expressed his shock at the rapid expansion of Christianity. He also revised his earlier opinions of Jesus, questioning Jesus' exclusion of the rich from the Kingdom of Heaven, and his permissiveness in regards to

2044-411: A show of support for the faith, proclaimed that all inhabitants of the empire must sacrifice to the gods, eat sacrificial meat, and testify to these acts. Christians were obstinate in their non-compliance. Church leaders, like Fabian , bishop of Rome , and Babylas , bishop of Antioch , were arrested, tried and executed, as were certain members of the Christian laity, like Pionius of Smyrna. Origen

2190-463: A shrine near the Palatine Hill had unearthed several items in wooden boxes, which they identified as the imperial regalia , possibly belonging to Maxentius. The items in these boxes, which were wrapped in linen and what appears to be silk , include three complete lances, four javelins, what appears to be a base for standards, and three glass and chalcedony spheres. The most important find

2336-474: A whole. The very capriciousness of official action, however, made the threat of state coercion loom large in the Christian imagination. In the 3rd century, the pattern changed. Emperors became more active, and government officials began to actively pursue Christians rather than merely to respond to the will of the crowd. Christianity also changed. No longer were its practitioners merely "the lower orders fomenting discontent"; some Christians were now rich or from

2482-437: Is increased by the example you set, of veneration for the gods. Surely, men will now understand what power resides in the gods, when you worship them so fervently." Diocletian associated himself with the head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter ; his co-emperor, Maximian, associated himself with Hercules . This connection between god and emperor helped to legitimize the emperors' claims to power and tied imperial government closer to

2628-533: Is known – Constantine's forces defeated Maxentius's troops, who retreated to the Tiber, and in the chaos of the fleeing army trying to cross the river, Maxentius fell into the water and drowned. His body was found the next day and paraded through the city, and later sent to Africa, as a sign that he had surely perished. Maxentius' entire family, including his two orphaned children, were also executed. Studies conducted between 2021 and 2022 have made it possible to identify

2774-583: The Alps and the Istrian peninsula to the east, and assumed the title of Augustus, which (in his eyes) had become vacant with the surrender of Severus. The joint rule of Maxentius and Maximian in Rome was tested further when Galerius marched to Italy in the summer of 307 with an even larger army. While negotiating with the invader, Maxentius could repeat what he did to Severus, by the promise of large sums of money and

2920-636: The Biblioteca Marciana of Venice , we learn that Maxentius ended the Great Persecution in his territories at least five years in advance of the Edict of Milan: 1- made Christianity a licit religion welcoming the "New Gods" in the Pax Deorum (Epistle 1) 2- abolished the edict of persecution of Diocletian by law (Epistle 1) 3- threatens serious punishments for anyone persisting in the persecution of Christians (Epistle 1) 4- He raged against

3066-582: The Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum and addressed to the proconsul of Africa, Diocletian wrote: We have heard that the Manichaens […] have set up new and hitherto unheard-of sects in opposition to the older creeds so that they might cast out the doctrines vouchsafed to us in the past by the divine favour for the benefit of their own depraved doctrine. They have sprung forth very recently like new and unexpected monstrosities among

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3212-593: The Cottian Alps at the Mont Cenis pass, he first came to Segusium ( Susa , Italy ), a heavily fortified town containing a military garrison, which shut its gates to him. Constantine ordered his forces to set its gates on fire and scale its walls, and took the town quickly. Constantine forbade the plunder of the town and advanced into northern Italy. At the approach to the west of the important city of Augusta Taurinorum ( Turin , Italy), Constantine encountered

3358-685: The Donatists in North Africa and the Melitians in Egypt, persisted long after the persecutions. The Donatists would not be reconciled to the Church until after 411. Some historians consider that, in the centuries that followed the persecutory era, Christians created a "cult of the martyrs" and exaggerated the barbarity of the persecutions. Other historians using texts and archeological evidence from

3504-564: The Martyrs of Abitinae , another group martyred on February 12, 304 in Carthage, and the martyrs of Milevis ( Mila , Algeria). The persecution in Africa encouraged the development of Donatism , a schismatic movement that forbade any compromise with Roman government or traditor bishops (those who had handed scriptures over to secular authorities). One of the key moments in the break with

3650-465: The Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. Ancient sources usually attribute this action to superstition or (if pro-Constantinian) divine providence. Maxentius of course had consulted soothsayers before battle, as was customary practice, and it can be assumed that they reported favourable omens , especially as the day of battle would be his dies imperii , the day of his accession to the throne (which

3796-769: The Tiber river. Maxentius was the last emperor permanently to reside in Rome . He attempted to embellish, restore and improve the ancient capital, carrying out important building works, including the Temple of the Divine Romulus (dedicated to his deceased son), the Basilica of Maxentius , which was completed by Constantine , the villa and the circus of Maxentius. Maxentius was the son of Emperor Maximian and his Syrian wife Eutropia . As his father became emperor in 285, he

3942-475: The emperors Diocletian , Maximian , Galerius , and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain , where only

4088-476: The imperial cult , avoided public office, and publicly criticized ancient traditions. Conversions tore families apart: Justin Martyr tells of a pagan husband who denounced his Christian wife, and Tertullian tells of children disinherited for becoming Christians. Traditional Roman religion was inextricably interwoven into the fabric of Roman society and state, but Christians refused to observe its practices. In

4234-509: The sign of the cross during the ceremonies and were alleged to have disrupted the haruspices ' divination. Diocletian, enraged by this turn of events, declared that all members of the court must make a sacrifice. Diocletian and Galerius also sent letters to the military command, demanding that the entire army perform the sacrifices or else face discharge. Since there are no reports of bloodshed in Lactantius's narrative, Christians in

4380-620: The upper classes . Origen , writing at about 248, tells of "the multitude of people coming in to the faith, even rich men and persons in positions of honour and ladies of high refinement and birth." Official reaction grew firmer. In 202, according to the Historia Augusta , a 4th-century history of dubious reliability, Septimius Severus ( r . 193–211) issued a general rescript forbidding conversion to either Judaism or Christianity. Maximin ( r . 235–238) targeted Christian leaders. Decius ( r . 249–251), demanding

4526-434: The Church. There were many individuals willing to be martyrs and many provincials willing to ignore any persecutory edicts from the emperors as well. Even Constantius was known to have disapproved of persecutory policies. The lower classes demonstrated little of the enthusiasm they had shown for earlier persecutions. They no longer believed the slanderous accusations that were popular in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Perhaps, as

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4672-530: The Donatist sect in Africa, reaffirming its strategic alliance with the Church of Rome (Epistle 2) The Diocletianic Persecutions extended from 303 to 311 in all territories of the Empire, except at this point those under the jurisdiction of Maxentius  – the Roman empire's last, largest, and bloodiest official persecution of Christianity. Constantine came to power in 311 after defeating Maxentius at

4818-474: The East rights Christians already possessed in Italy and Africa. In Gaul, Spain, and Britain, moreover, Christians already had far more than Galerius was offering to Eastern Christians. Other late 20th-century historians, like Graeme Clark and David S. Potter, assert that for all its hedging, Galerius's issuance of the edict was a landmark event in the histories of Christianity and the Roman empire. Galerius's law

4964-505: The Establishment". Hierocles thought Christian beliefs absurd. If Christians applied their principles consistently, he argued, they would pray to Apollonius of Tyana instead of Jesus. Hierocles considered that Apollonius's miracles had been far more impressive and Apollonius never had the temerity to call himself "God". He thought the scriptures were full of "lies and contradictions" and Peter and Paul had peddled falsehoods. In

5110-471: The Milvian bridge, where Maxentius drowned. Maxentius was a prolific builder, whose achievements were overshadowed by Constantine's issue of a damnatio memoriae against him. Many buildings in Rome that are commonly associated with Constantine, such as the great basilica in the forum Romanum , were in fact built by Maxentius. In December 2006, Italian archaeologists announced that an excavation under

5256-570: The Persian war, Galerius might have wished to compensate for a previous humiliation at Antioch, when Diocletian had forced him to walk at the front of the imperial caravan, rather than inside it. His resentment fed his discontent with official policies of tolerance; from 302 on, he probably urged Diocletian to enact a general law against the Christians. Since Diocletian was already surrounded by an anti-Christian clique of counsellors, these suggestions must have carried great force. Affairs quieted after

5402-528: The Persians as with the poison of a malignant (serpent) … We order that the authors and leaders of these sects be subjected to severe punishment, and, together with their abominable writings, burnt in the flames. We direct their followers, if they continue recalcitrant, shall suffer capital punishment, and their goods be forfeited to the imperial treasury. And if those who have gone over to that hitherto unheard-of, scandalous and wholly infamous creed, or to that of

5548-416: The Persians, are persons who hold public office, or are of any rank or of superior social status, you will see to it that their estates are confiscated and the offenders sent to the (quarry) at Phaeno or the mines at Proconnesus. And in order that this plague of iniquity shall be completely extirpated from this our most happy age, let your devotion hasten to carry out our orders and commands. The Christians of

5694-505: The Rhine frontiers without negative consequences. It was against the recommendations of his advisers and generals, against popular expectation, that Constantine anticipated Maxentius, and struck first. As early as weather permitted, late in the spring of 312, Constantine crossed the Alps with a quarter of his army, a force equivalent to something less than forty thousand men. Having crossed

5840-558: The Tetrarchic system. On hearing the news, Maximinus mobilized against Licinius and seized Asia Minor before meeting Licinius on the Bosphorus to arrange terms for peace. In the meantime, Maxentius fortified northern Italy against potential invasions and sent a small army to Africa under the command of his praetorian prefect Rufius Volusianus which defeated and executed the usurper Domitius Alexander in 310 or 311. Maxentius used

5986-565: The Tetrarchy as a system of government. Constantine, son of Constantius, and Maxentius , son of Maximian, had been overlooked in the Diocletianic succession, offending the parents and angering the sons. Constantine, against Galerius's will, succeeded his father on July 25, 306. He immediately ended any ongoing persecutions and offered Christians full restitution of what they had lost under the persecution. This declaration gave Constantine

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6132-477: The authority of Maximian, many soldiers of Galerius defected to him. Galerius was forced to withdraw, plundering Italy on his way. Some time during the invasion, Severus was put to death by Maxentius, probably at Tres Tabernae near Rome (the exact circumstances of his death are not certain). After the failed campaign of Galerius, Maxentius' reign over Italy and Africa was firmly established. Beginning in 307, he tried to arrange friendly contacts with Constantine and in

6278-545: The authority of local government officials. At Bithynia–Pontus in 111, it was Pliny; at Smyrna in 156 and Scilli near Carthage in 180, it was the proconsul ; at Lyon in 177, it was the provincial governor . When Emperor Nero executed Christians for their alleged involvement in the fire of 64 , it was a purely local affair; it did not spread beyond the city limits of Rome. These early persecutions were certainly violent, but they were sporadic, brief and limited in extent. They were of limited threat to Christianity as

6424-571: The beginnings of the army purge in Palestine, while Lactantius describes events at court. Woods asserts that the relevant passage in Eusebius's Chronicon was corrupted in the translation to Latin and that Eusebius's text originally located the beginnings of the army persecution at a fort in Betthorus (El-Lejjun, Jordan). Eusebius, Lactantius, and Constantine each allege that Galerius was

6570-507: The blows. Constantine then commanded his foot soldiers to advance against the surviving Maxentian infantry, cutting them down as they fled. Victory, the panegyrist who speaks of the events declares, came easily. Turin refused to give refuge to the retreating forces of Maxentius. It opened its gates to Constantine instead. Other cities of the north Italian plain, recognizing Constantine's quick and clement victories, sent him embassies of congratulation for his victory. He moved on to Milan, where he

6716-420: The bureaucracy and military would be sufficient to appease the gods, while Galerius pushed for their extermination. The two men sought to resolve their dispute by sending a messenger to consult the oracle of Apollo at Didyma . Porphyry may also have been present at this meeting. Upon returning, the messenger told the court that "the just on earth" hindered Apollo's ability to speak. These "just", Diocletian

6862-487: The capital that the emperors tried to subject the Roman population to the capitation tax , like every other city of the empire, and wanted to dissolve the remnants of the Praetorian Guard which were still stationed at Rome, riots broke out. A group of officers of the city's garrisons ( Zosimus calls them Marcellianus, Marcellus and Lucianus) turned to Maxentius to accept the imperial purple, probably judging that

7008-484: The city, and Caecilian , his deacon, for reasons that remain obscure. In 311, Caecilian was elected bishop of Carthage. His opponents charged that his traditio made him unworthy of the office and declared itself for another candidate, Majorinus . Many others in Africa, including the Abitinians, also supported Majorinus against Caecilian. Majorinus's successor Donatus would give the dissident movement its name. By

7154-478: The clergy sacrificed willingly; others did so on pain of torture. Wardens were eager to be rid of the clergy in their midst. Eusebius, in his Martyrs of Palestine , records the case of one man who after being brought to an altar, had his hands seized and made to complete a sacrificial offering. The clergyman was told that his act of sacrifice had been recognized and was summarily dismissed. Others were told they had sacrificed even when they had done nothing. In 304,

7300-461: The conditions they ought to observe. Consequently, in accord with our indulgence, they ought to pray to their god for our health and the safety of the state, so that the state may be kept safe on all sides, and they may be able to live safely and securely in their own homes. Galerius's words reinforce the Tetrarchy's theological basis for the persecution; the acts did nothing more than attempt to enforce traditional civic and religious practices, even if

7446-622: The conspirators turned to Maximian as well, who had retired to a palace in Lucania , but he declined to resume power for the time being. Maxentius managed to be recognized as emperor in central and southern Italy, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily , and the African provinces. Northern Italy remained under the control of the western Augustus Valerius Severus , who resided in Mediolanum ( Milan ). Maxentius refrained from using

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7592-485: The cost of their own lives, and there were some cases where the scriptures were not in the end destroyed. Christians were also deprived of the right to petition the courts, making them potential subjects for judicial torture; Christians could not respond to actions brought against them in court; Christian senators , equestrians , decurions , veterans, and soldiers were deprived of their ranks; and Christian imperial freedmen were re-enslaved. Diocletian requested that

7738-600: The demons residing in pigs' bodies . Like Hierocles, he unfavorably compared Jesus to Apollonius of Tyana. Porphyry held that Christians blasphemed by worshiping a human being rather than the Supreme God and behaved treasonably in forsaking the traditional Roman cult. "To what sort of penalties might we not justly subject people," Porphyry asked, "who are fugitives from their fathers' customs?" Pagan priests, too, were interested in suppressing any threat to traditional religion. They believed their ceremonies were hindered by

7884-552: The devotees, now few and infrequent, cry aloud, 'The gods are neglected, and in the temples there is now a very thin attendance. Former ceremonies are exposed to derision, and the time-honoured rites of institutions once sacred have sunk before the superstitions of new religions.' At the conclusion of the Persian wars in 299, co-emperors Diocletian and Galerius traveled from Persia to Syrian Antioch ( Antakya ). The Christian rhetor Lactantius records that at Antioch some time in 299,

8030-401: The document the " Edict of Milan ". We thought it fit to commend these things most fully to your care that you may know that we have given to those Christians free and unrestricted opportunity of religious worship. When you see that this has been granted to them by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for

8176-666: The early 4th century, an unidentified philosopher published a pamphlet attacking the Christians. This philosopher, who might have been a pupil of the Neoplatonist Iamblichus , dined repeatedly at the imperial court. Diocletian was surrounded by an anti-Christian clique. Porphyry was somewhat restrained in his criticism of Christianity, at least in his early works, On the Return of the Soul and Philosophy from Oracles . He had few complaints about Jesus, whom he praised as

8322-401: The edict be pursued "without bloodshed", against Galerius's demands that all those refusing to sacrifice be burned alive. In spite of Diocletian's request, local judges often enforced executions during the persecution, as capital punishment was among their discretionary powers. Galerius's recommendation—burning alive—became a common method of executing Christians in the East. After

8468-631: The edict in Africa. Africa's political elite were insistent that the persecution be fulfilled, and Africa's Christians, especially in Numidia, were equally insistent on resisting them. For the Numidians, to hand over scriptures was an act of terrible apostasy. Africa had long been home to the Church of the Martyrs —in Africa, martyrs held more religious authority than the clergy —and harbored

8614-510: The edict was posted in Nicomedia, a man named Eutius tore it down and ripped it up, shouting "Here are your Gothic and Sarmatian triumphs!" He was arrested for treason, tortured, and burned alive soon after, becoming the edict's first martyr. The provisions of the edict were known and enforced in Palestine by March or April (just before Easter), and it was in use by local officials in North Africa by May or June. The earliest martyr at Caesarea

8760-450: The edict, deciding that in addition to the destruction of the Christians' scriptures and churches the government should compel Christians to sacrifice to the gods. Governor Valerius Florus enforced the same policy in Numidia during the summer or autumn of 303, when he called for "days of incense burning"; Christians would sacrifice or they would lose their lives. In addition to those already listed, African martyrs also include Saturninus and

8906-418: The edicts were thoroughly nontraditional. Galerius does nothing to violate the spirit of the persecution—Christians are still admonished for their nonconformity and foolish practices—Galerius never admits that he did anything wrong. Certain early 20th-century historians have declared that Galerius's edict definitively nullified the old "legal formula" non licet esse Christianos , made Christianity

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9052-479: The emperor, especially the sceptre, which is very elaborate. It's not an item you would let someone else have." Panella notes that the insignia were likely hidden by Maxentius' supporters in an attempt to preserve the emperor's memory after he was defeated at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Constantine. The items have been restored and are on temporary display at the Museo Nazionale Romano at

9198-441: The emperors were engaged in sacrifice and divination in an attempt to predict the future. The haruspices , diviners of omens from sacrificed animals, were unable to read the sacrificed animals and failed to do so after repeated trials. The master haruspex eventually declared that this failure was the result of interruptions in the process caused by profane men. Certain Christians in the imperial household had been observed making

9344-482: The empire (and especially in the East) after 260, when Gallienus brought peace to the Church. The data to calculate the figures are nearly non-existent, but historian and sociologist Keith Hopkins has given crude and tentative estimates for the Christian population in the 3rd century. Hopkins estimates that the Christian community grew from a population of 1.1 million in 250 to a population of 6 million by 300, about 10% of

9490-523: The empire were vulnerable to the same line of thinking. Diocletian was in Antioch in the autumn of 302, when the next instance of persecution occurred. The deacon Romanus visited a court while preliminary sacrifices were taking place and interrupted the ceremonies, denouncing the act in a loud voice. He was arrested and sentenced to be set aflame, but Diocletian overruled the decision and decided that Romanus should have his tongue removed instead. Romanus

9636-453: The empire's "moral fabric"—and the elimination of religious minorities—was simply one step in that process. The unique position of the Christians and Jews of the empire became increasingly apparent. The Jews had earned imperial toleration on account of the great antiquity of their faith. They had been exempted from Decius's persecution and continued to enjoy freedom from persecution under Tetrarchic government. Because their faith

9782-543: The empire's total population. Christians even expanded into the countryside, where they had never been numerous before. Churches in the later 3rd century were no longer as inconspicuous as they had been in the first and second. Large churches were prominent in certain major cities throughout the empire. The church in Nicomedia even sat on a hill overlooking the imperial palace. These new churches probably represented not only absolute growth in Christian population, but also

9928-510: The empire. But Christians tried to retain the scriptures as far as possible, though, according to de Ste Croix, "it appears that giving them up...was not regarded as a sin" in the East; sufficient numbers of them must have been successfully saved, as is evident from the representative findings of "early biblical papyri" in the stream of the transmission of the text during this period. Christians might have given up apocryphal or pseudepigraphal works, or even refused to surrender their scriptures at

10074-526: The extent of the persecution in Constantius's domain, though all portray it as quite limited. Lactantius states that the destruction of church buildings was the worst thing that came to pass. Eusebius explicitly denies that any churches were destroyed in both his Ecclesiastical History and his Life of Constantine , but lists Gaul as an area suffering from the effects of the persecution in his Martyrs of Palestine . A group of bishops declared that "Gaul

10220-399: The faith were "countless" (μυρίοι) in number. At first, the new Tetrarchy seemed even more vigorous than the first. Maximinus in particular was eager to persecute. In 306 and 309, he published his own edicts demanding universal sacrifice. Eusebius accuses Galerius of pressing on with the persecution as well. In the West, however, what remained after the Diocletianic settlement had weakened

10366-403: The figures, although reliant on collections of acta that are incomplete and only partially reliable, point to a heavier persecution under Diocletian than under Galerius. The historian Simon Corcoran , in a passage on the origins of the early persecution edicts, criticizes Davies' over-reliance on these "dubious martyr acts" and dismisses his conclusions. The sources are inconsistent regarding

10512-565: The first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors (Galerius with the Edict of Serdica in 311) at different times, but Constantine and Licinius ' Edict of Milan in 313 has traditionally marked the end of the persecution. Christians had been subject to intermittent local discrimination in the empire, but emperors prior to Diocletian were reluctant to issue general laws against

10658-477: The first time in the history of the empire) to declare himself emperor. On October 28, 306, Maxentius convinced the Praetorian Guard to support him, mutiny, and invest him with the purple robes of the emperor. Maxentius did not permit religious freedom for Christians in the realm or the restitution of confiscated property. The Great Persecution continued until 311 when Constantine arrived at Rome's gates and defeated Maxentius with an army only half as big. Maxentius

10804-402: The former Caesares Constantius and Galerius became Augusti . Although two sons of emperors – Constantine and Maxentius – were available, they were passed over for the new tetrarchy , and Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daza were appointed Caesars. Lactantius ' Epitome states that Galerius hated Maxentius and used his influence with Diocletian to see that Maxentius was ignored in

10950-639: The fourth edict ordered all persons, men, women, and children, to gather in a public space and offer a collective sacrifice. If they refused, they were to be executed. The precise date of the edict is unknown, but it was probably issued in either January or February 304 and was being applied in the Balkans in March. The edict was in use in Thessalonica in April 304 and in Palestine soon after. This last edict

11096-433: The gods, or to the god of the Christians. Considering the observation of our own mild clemency and eternal custom, by which we are accustomed to grant clemency to all people, we have decided to extend our most speedy indulgence to these people as well, so that Christians may once more establish their own meeting places, so long as they do not act in a disorderly way. We are about to send another letter to our officials detailing

11242-577: The governor of Bithynia–Pontus , was sent long lists of denunciations of Christians by anonymous citizens, which Emperor Trajan advised him to ignore. In Lyon in 177, it was only the intervention of civil authorities that stopped a pagan mob from dragging Christians from their houses and beating them to death. To the followers of the traditional cults, Christians were odd creatures: not quite Roman but not quite barbarian either. Their practices were deeply threatening to traditional mores . Christians rejected public festivals, refused to take part in

11388-457: The historian Timothy Barnes has suggested, the long-established Church had become another accepted part of their lives. Within the highest ranks of the imperial administration, however, there were men who were ideologically opposed to the toleration of Christians, like the philosopher Porphyry of Tyre and Sossianus Hierocles , governor of Bithynia . To E.R. Dodds , the works of these men demonstrated "the alliance of pagan intellectuals with

11534-402: The imperial household must have survived the event. Eusebius of Caesarea , a contemporary ecclesiastical historian, tells a similar story: commanders were told to give their troops the choice of sacrifice or loss of rank. These terms were strong—a soldier would lose his career in the military, his state pension and his personal savings—but not fatal. According to Eusebius, the purge

11680-475: The imperial mantle in 253. Though he was at first thought of as "exceptionally friendly" towards the Christians, his actions soon showed otherwise. In July 257, he issued a persecutory edict. As punishment for following the Christian faith, Christians were to face exile or condemnation to the mines. In August 258, he issued a second edict, making the punishment death. This persecution stalled in June 260, when Valerian

11826-462: The increasing affluence of the Christian community. In some areas where Christians were influential, such as North Africa and Egypt, traditional deities were losing credibility. It is unknown how much support there was for persecution within the aristocracy. After Gallienus's peace, Christians reached high ranks in Roman government. Diocletian even appointed several Christians to those positions, and his wife and daughter may have been sympathetic to

11972-523: The initial persecution. Diocletian remained in Antioch for the following three years. He visited Egypt once, over the winter of 301–302, where he began the grain dole in Alexandria. In Egypt, some Manicheans , followers of the prophet Mani , were denounced in the presence of the proconsul of Africa. On March 31, 302, in an official edict called the De Maleficiis et Manichaeis compiled in

12118-403: The lapsed (Christians who had complied with the edicts to ensure their own safety) and the rigorists (those who would not compromise with secular authority). These two groups clashed in street fights and riots, eventually leading to murders. It is said that Marcellus, a rigorist, purged all mention of Marcellinus from church records and removed his name from the official list of bishops. Marcellus

12264-518: The lowest-ranking emperor, Galerius was always listed last in imperial documents. Until the end of the Persian war in 299, he had not even had a major palace. Lactantius states that Galerius hungered for a higher position in the imperial hierarchy. Galerius's mother, Romula, was bitterly anti-Christian, for she had been a pagan priestess in Dacia , and loathed the Christians for avoiding her festivals. Newly prestigious and influential after his victories in

12410-401: The mainline Church occurred in Carthage in 304. The Christians from Abitinae had been brought to the city and imprisoned. Friends and relatives of the prisoners came to visit but encountered resistance from a local mob. The group was harassed, beaten, and whipped; the food they had brought for their imprisoned friends was scattered on the ground. The mob had been sent by Mensurius , the bishop of

12556-441: The majority of his army went over to Maxentius and received a large amount of money. When Maximian himself finally left his retreat and returned to Rome to assume the imperial office once again and support his son, Severus with the rest of his army retreated to Ravenna . Shortly after, he surrendered to Maximian, who promised that his life would be spared. After the defeat of Severus, Maxentius took possession of northern Italy up to

12702-587: The manuscript tradition of Maxentius' epistles, which have undergone numerous interpolations and attempts of forgery to adapt the texts to a pro-Constantinian hagiographic narrative (Passio of Saint Catherine). A comparison with Roman law, legal papyri and the primary sources such as Diocletian's Senateconsult and edict of persecution has allowed an integrated critical reconstruction of the original texts, which perfectly mirrors what Eusebius of Caesarea, Optatus of Milevi and Saint Augustine report about Maxentius' pro-Christian policy. According to these new documents found in

12848-477: The matter and secured the appointment of loyal friends to the imperial office. In this "Second Tetrarchy", it seems that only the Eastern emperors, Galerius and Maximinus, continued with the persecution. As they left office, Diocletian and Maximian probably imagined Christianity to be in its last throes. Churches had been destroyed, the Church leadership and hierarchy had been snapped, and the army and civil service had been purged. Eusebius declares that apostates from

12994-527: The new consul of the year, algonside his son Romulus . In the conference of Carnuntum , in the autumn of that same year, Maxentius was once again denied recognition as legitimate emperor, and Licinius was appointed Augustus with the task of regaining the lost domains. Late in 308, Domitius Alexander was acclaimed emperor in Carthage , and the African provinces seceded from Maxentian rule. This produced

13140-416: The official recognition which was granted to Constantine would not be withheld from Maxentius, son of an emperor as well. Maxentius accepted the honour, promised donations to the city's troops, and was publicly acclaimed emperor on 28 October 306. The usurpation obviously went largely without bloodshed (Zosimus names only one victim); the prefect of Rome went over to Maxentius and retained his office. Apparently

13286-486: The opinion of historian John Curran. Within forty years, Donatists began spreading rumors that Marcellinus had been a traditor and that he had even sacrificed to the pagan gods. The tale was embroidered in the 5th-century forgery the " Council of Sinuessa ", and the vita Marcelli of the Liber Pontificalis . The latter work states that the bishop had indeed apostatized but redeemed himself through martyrdom

13432-406: The opportunity to portray himself as a possible liberator of oppressed Christians everywhere. Maxentius, meanwhile, had seized power in Rome on October 28, 306, and soon brought toleration to all Christians within his realm. Galerius made two attempts to unseat Maxentius but failed both times. During the first campaign against Maxentius, Severus was captured, imprisoned, and executed. In the East,

13578-504: The opportunity to seize the wealth of his supporters, and to bring large amounts of grain to Rome. He also strengthened his support among the Christians of Italy by allowing them to elect a new Bishop of Rome , Eusebius . Maxentius was far from secure, his early support dissolving into open protest; by 312, he was a man barely tolerated. Without the revenues of the empire, Maxentius was forced to resume taxation in Italy to support his army and his building projects in Rome. The election of

13724-499: The other arrangements that we are always making for the benefit and utility of the state, we have heretofore wished to repair all things in accordance with the laws and public discipline of the Romans, and to ensure that even the Christians, who abandoned the practice of their ancestors, should return to good sense. Indeed, for some reason or other, such self-indulgence assailed and idiocy possessed those Christians, that they did not follow

13870-583: The period assert that this position is in error. Christian accounts were criticized during the Enlightenment and afterwards, most notably by Edward Gibbon . This can be attributed to the political anticlerical and secular tenor of that period. Modern historians, such as G. E. M. de Ste. Croix , have attempted to determine whether Christian sources exaggerated the scope of the Diocletianic persecution, but disagreements continue. From its first appearance to its legalization under Constantine , Christianity

14016-471: The persecution in the East in 311, but it was resumed in Egypt , Palestine , and Asia Minor by his successor, Maximinus . Constantine and Licinius, Severus's successor, signed the Edict of Milan in 313, which offered a more comprehensive acceptance of Christianity than Galerius's edict had provided. Licinius ousted Maximinus in 313, bringing an end to persecution in the East. The persecution failed to check

14162-522: The persecution was officially discontinued on April 30, 311, although martyrdoms in Gaza continued until May 4. The Edict of Serdica , also called Edict of Toleration by Galerius, was issued in 311 in Serdica ( Sofia , Bulgaria) Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity in the East. Galerius issued this proclamation to end hostilities while on his deathbed, which gave Christians

14308-618: The persecution was only lightly enforced; in Maximian's realm (Italy, Spain, and Africa), it was firmly enforced; and in the East, under Diocletian (Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine and Egypt) and Galerius (Greece and the Balkans), its provisions were pursued with more fervor than anywhere else. For the Eastern provinces, Peter Davies tabulated the total number of martyrdoms for an article in the Journal of Theological Studies . Davies argues that

14454-598: The persecution, after all, had been the project of the Eastern emperors, not the Western ones. After Constantine succeeded his father in 306, he urged the recovery of Church property lost in the persecution and legislated full freedom for all Christians in his domain. While the persecution under Constantius was relatively light, there is no doubt about the force of the persecution in Maximian's domain. Its effects are recorded at Rome, Sicily, Spain, and in Africa —indeed, Maximian encouraged particularly strict enforcement of

14600-521: The persecution, but how he died is disputed among historians: Eusebius wrote in his Historia Ecclesiastica that Marcellinus was "brought away by the persecution", an obscure phrase that may refer to his martyrdom or to the fact that he fled the city. Others assert that Marcellinus was a traditor . Marcellinus appears in the 4th-century Church's depositio episcoporum but not its feriale , or calendar of feasts, where all Marcellinus's predecessors from Fabian had been listed—a "glaring" absence, in

14746-527: The power of central government to effect major change in morals and society made him unusual. Most earlier emperors tended to be quite cautious in their administrative policies, preferring to work within existing structures rather than overhauling them. Diocletian, by contrast, was willing to reform every aspect of public life to satisfy his goals. Under his rule, coinage, taxation, architecture, law and history were all radically reconstructed to reflect his authoritarian and traditionalist ideology. The reformation of

14892-507: The practices of the ancients, which their own ancestors had, perhaps, instituted, but according to their own will and as it pleased them, they made laws for themselves that they observed, and gathered various peoples in diverse areas. Then when our order was issued stating that they should return themselves to the practices of the ancients, many were subjected to peril, and many were even killed. Many more persevered in their way of life, and we saw that they neither offered proper worship and cult to

15038-515: The praetorian and Imperial Horse Guard, and with the troops he had taken from Severus, Maxentius had an army equal to approximately 100,000 soldiers to use against his opponents in the north. Many of these he used to garrison fortified towns across the region, keeping most stationed with him in Verona. Against this, Constantine could only bring a force of between twenty-five and forty thousand men. The bulk of his troops simply could not be withdrawn from

15184-461: The presence of Christians, who were thought to cloud the sight of oracles and stall the gods' recognition of their sacrifices. The Christian Arnobius , writing during Diocletian's reign, attributes financial concerns to provisioners of pagan services: The augurs, the dream interpreters, the soothsayers, the prophets, and the priestlings, ever vain...fearing that their own arts be brought to nought, and that they may extort but scanty contributions from

15330-399: The prime impetus for the military purge, and its prime beneficiary. Diocletian, for all his religious conservatism, still had tendencies towards religious tolerance. Galerius, by contrast, was a devoted and passionate pagan. According to Christian sources, he was consistently the main advocate of such persecution. He was also eager to exploit this position to his own political advantage. As

15476-452: The privileged discussion at the emperor's private religion ceremony that Lactantius had access to. Since it was Galerius's army that would have been purged—Diocletian had left his in Egypt to quell continuing unrest—Antiochenes would understandably have believed Galerius to be its instigator. The historian David Woods argues instead that Eusebius and Lactantius are referring to different events. Eusebius, according to Woods, describes

15622-438: The province of Raetia north of the Alps, thereby dividing the realms of Constantine and Licinius (reported by Zosimus); the plan was not carried out, as Constantine acted first. In 310, Maxentius lost Istria to Licinius, who could not continue the campaign. By the middle of 310 Galerius had become too ill to involve himself in imperial politics and he died soon after 30 April 311. Galerius' death destabilized what remained of

15768-484: The race of the Persians—a nation still hostile to us—and have made their way into our empire, where they are committing many outrages, disturbing the tranquility of our people and even inflicting grave damage to the civic communities. We have cause to fear that with the passage of time they will endeavour, as usually happens, to infect the modest and tranquil of an innocent nature with the damnable customs and perverse laws of

15914-492: The religious group. In the 250s, under the reigns of Decius and Valerian , Roman subjects including Christians were compelled to sacrifice to Roman gods or face imprisonment and execution, but there is no evidence that these edicts were specifically intended to attack Christianity. After Gallienus 's accession in 260, these laws went into abeyance. Diocletian's assumption of power in 284 did not mark an immediate reversal of imperial inattention to Christianity, but it did herald

16060-582: The rights to exist freely under the law and to peaceable assembly. Persecution was everywhere at an end. Lactantius preserves the Latin text of this pronouncement, describing it as an edict. Eusebius provides a Greek translation of the pronouncement. His version includes imperial titles and an address to provincials, suggesting that the proclamation is, in fact, an imperial letter. The document seems to have been promulgated only in Galerius's provinces. Among all

16206-480: The rise of the Church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored religion. Although the persecution resulted in death, torture, imprisonment, or dislocation for many Christians, most of the empire's Christians avoided punishment. The persecution did, however, cause many churches to split between those who had complied with imperial authority (the traditores ), and those who had remained "pure". Certain schisms, like those of

16352-484: The sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases; this regulation is made that we may not seem to detract from any dignity or any religion. The enforcement of the persecutory edicts was inconsistent. Since the Tetrarchs were more or less sovereign in their own realms, they had a good deal of control over persecutory policy. In Constantius's realm (Britain and Gaul)

16498-484: The succession; perhaps Diocletian also thought Maxentius was not qualified for the military duties of the imperial office. Maxentius retired to an estate some miles from Rome . When Constantius died in 306, his son Constantine was crowned emperor on July 25 and subsequently accepted by Galerius into the Tetrarchy as Caesar . This set the precedent for Maxentius' accession later in the same year. When rumours reached

16644-464: The summer of 303, following a series of rebellions in Melitene ( Malatya , Turkey) and Syria, a second edict was published, ordering the arrest and imprisonment of all bishops and priests. In the judgment of historian Roger Rees, there was no logical necessity for this second edict; that Diocletian issued one indicates that he was either unaware the first edict was being carried out, or that he felt it

16790-514: The summer of that year, Maximian travelled to Gaul , where Constantine married his daughter Fausta and was in turn appointed Augustus by the senior emperor. Constantine tried to avoid breaking with Galerius and did not openly support Maxentius during the invasion. In 308, probably April, Maximian tried to depose his son in an assembly of soldiers in Rome; surprisingly to him, the present troops remained faithful to his son and he had to flee to Constantine. In 20 April, Maxentius proclaimed himself as

16936-535: The supremacy of Roman law over local law. Its preamble insists that it is every emperor's duty to enforce the sacred precepts of Roman law, for "the immortal gods themselves will favour and be at peace with the Roman name...if we have seen to it that all subject to our rule entirely lead a pious, religious, peaceable and chaste life in every respect". These principles, if given their full extension, would logically require Roman emperors to enforce conformity in religion. Christian communities grew quickly in many parts of

17082-574: The time Constantine took over the province, the African Church was deeply divided. The Donatists would not be reconciled to the Catholic Church until after 411. Maximian probably seized the Christian property in Rome quite easily—Roman cemeteries were noticeable, and Christian meeting places could have been easily found out. Senior churchmen would have been similarly prominent. The bishop of Rome Marcellinus died in 304, during

17228-520: The titles Augustus or Caesar at first and styled himself princeps invictus ("undefeated prince"), in the hope of obtaining recognition of his reign by the senior emperor Galerius. However, the latter refused to do so. Apart from his alleged antipathy towards Maxentius, Galerius probably wanted to deter others from following the examples of Constantine and Maxentius and declaring themselves emperors. Constantine firmly controlled his father's army and territories, and Galerius could pretend that his accession

17374-423: The traditional Roman cult. Unlike Aurelian ( r . 270–275), Diocletian did not foster any new cult of his own. He preferred the older Olympian gods . Nonetheless, Diocletian did wish to inspire a general religious revival. As the panegyrist to Maximian declared: "You have heaped the gods with altars and statues, temples and offerings, which you dedicated with your own name and your own image, whose sanctity

17520-410: The traditional cult. Diocletian did not insist on exclusive worship of Jupiter and Hercules, which would have been a drastic change in the pagan tradition. For example, Elagabalus had tried fostering his own god and no others and had failed dramatically. Diocletian built temples for Isis and Sarapis at Rome and a temple to Sol in Italy. He did, however, favor gods who provided for the safety of

17666-522: The whole empire instead of the local deities of the provinces. In Africa, Diocletian's revival focused on Jupiter, Hercules, Mercury, Apollo and the imperial cult. The cult of Saturn, the Romanized Baal-hamon , was neglected. In imperial iconography Jupiter and Hercules were pervasive. The same pattern of favoritism affected Egypt as well. Native Egyptian deities saw no revival, nor was the sacred hieroglyphic script used. Unity in worship

17812-420: The winter of 302, Galerius urged Diocletian to begin a general persecution of the Christians. Diocletian was wary and asked the oracle at Didyma for guidance. The oracle's reply was read as an endorsement of Galerius's position, and a general persecution was called on February 23, 303. Persecutory policies varied in intensity across the empire. Whereas Galerius and Diocletian were avid persecutors, Constantius

17958-451: The word came to denote any priest who had been granted the authority to hear confessions . Historically, priests were sometimes tested by officers of the church called examiners , before being granted this authority. An individual may have a regular confessor, sometimes called a "spiritual advisor" or "spiritual father", to whom they turn for confidential and disinterested advice, especially on spiritual matters. Historically, this has been

18104-414: The words of Tacitus , Christians showed "hatred of the human race" ( odium generis humani ). Among the more credulous, Christians were thought to use black magic in pursuit of revolutionary aims and to practise incest and cannibalism . Nonetheless, for the first two centuries of the Christian era, no emperor issued general laws against the faith or its Church. These persecutions were carried out under

18250-482: Was 28 October 306). What else may have motivated him is open to speculation. The armies of Maxentius and Constantine met north of the city, some distance outside the walls, beyond the Tiber river on the Via Flaminia . Christian tradition, especially Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea , claims that Constantine fought under the labarum in that battle, revealed to him in a dream. Of the battle itself, not much

18396-504: Was a sceptre of a flower holding a blue-green globe, which is believed to have belonged to the Emperor himself because of its intricate workmanship, and has been dated to his rule. These are the only known imperial insignia so far recovered, which hitherto had only been known from representations on coins and in relief sculptures. Clementina Panella, the archaeologist who made the discovery, states that "These artifacts clearly belonged to

18542-466: Was an illegal religion in the eyes of the Roman state. For the first two centuries of its existence, Christianity and its practitioners were unpopular with the people at large. Christians were always suspect, members of a "secret society" who communicated with a private code and who shied away from the public sphere. It was popular hostility—the anger of the crowd—which drove the earliest persecutions, not official action. Around 112, Pliny ,

18688-410: Was banished from the city and died in exile on January 16, 309. The persecution was firmly enforced until Maximian's abdication in 305 but started to wane when Constantius (who seemed not to have been enthusiast about it) succeeded as august. After Constantius's death, Maxentius took advantage of Galerius's unpopularity in Italy (Galerius had introduced taxation for the city and countryside of Rome for

18834-427: Was broadly successful, but Eusebius is confused about the technicalities of the event, and his characterization of the overall size of the apostasy is ambiguous. Eusebius also attributes the initiative for the purge to Galerius, rather than Diocletian. Modern scholar Peter Davies surmises that Eusebius is referring to the same event as Lactantius, but that he heard of the event through public rumors and knew nothing of

18980-416: Was captured in battle. His son Gallienus ( r . 260–268), ended the persecution and inaugurated nearly 40 years of freedom from official sanctions, praised by Eusebius as the " little peace of the Church ". The peace was undisturbed, save for occasional, isolated persecutions, until Diocletian became emperor. Diocletian, acclaimed emperor on November 20, 284, was a religious conservative, faithful to

19126-564: Was central to Diocletian's religious policies. Diocletian, like Augustus and Trajan before him, styled himself a "restorer". He urged the public to see his reign and his governing system, the Tetrarchy (rule by four emperors), as a renewal of traditional Roman values and, after the anarchic third century , a return to the "Golden Age of Rome". As such, he reinforced the long-standing Roman preference for ancient customs and Imperial opposition to independent societies. The Diocletianic regime's activist stance, however, and Diocletian's belief in

19272-419: Was executed on June 7, and the edict was in force at Cirta from May 19. In Gaul and Britain Constantius did not enforce this edict, but in the East progressively harsher legislation was devised; the edict was firmly enforced in Maximian's domain until his abdication in 305, but persecutions later began to wane when Constantius succeeded Maximian and were officially halted when Maxentius took power in 306. In

19418-546: Was executed on November 18, 303. The boldness of this Christian displeased Diocletian, and he left the city and made for Nicomedia to spend the winter, accompanied by Galerius. Throughout these years the moral and religious didacticism of the emperors was reaching a fevered pitch; at the behest of an oracle, it was to hit its peak. According to Lactantius, Diocletian and Galerius entered into an argument over what imperial policy towards Christians should be while at Nicomedia in 302. Diocletian argued that forbidding Christians from

19564-422: Was immune" ( immunis est Gallia ) from the persecutions under Constantius. The death of Saint Alban , the first British Christian martyr, was once dated to this era, but most now assign it to the reign of Septimius Severus . The second, third and fourth edicts seem not to have been enforced in the West at all. It is possible that Constantius's relatively tolerant policies were the result of Tetrarchic jealousies;

19710-477: Was informed by members of the court, could only refer to the Christians of the empire. At the behest of his court, Diocletian acceded to demands for a universal persecution. On February 23, 303, Diocletian ordered that the newly built Christian church at Nicomedia be razed, its scriptures burned , and its treasures seized. February 23 was the feast of the Terminalia , for Terminus , the god of boundaries. It

19856-439: Was met with open gates and jubilant rejoicing. He resided there until the middle of the summer of 312 before moving on. It was expected that Maxentius would try the same strategy as against Severus and Galerius earlier; that is, remaining in the well-defended city of Rome, and sit out a siege which would cost his enemy much more. For somewhat uncertain reasons, he abandoned this plan, however, and offered battle to Constantine near

20002-440: Was new and unfamiliar and not typically identified with Judaism by this time, Christians had no such excuse. Moreover, Christians had been distancing themselves from their Jewish heritage for their entire history. Persecution was not the only outlet of the Tetrarchy's moral fervor. In 295, either Diocletian or his caesar (subordinate emperor) Galerius issued an edict from Damascus forbidding incestuous marriages and affirming

20148-606: Was not effective for long in Maximinus's district. Within seven months of Galerius's proclamation, Maximinus resumed persecution, which continued until 313, shortly before his death. At a meeting between Licinius and Constantine in Milan in February 313, the two emperors drafted the terms of a universal peace. The terms of this peace were posted by the victorious Licinius at Nicomedia on June 13, 313. Later ages have taken to calling

20294-507: Was not enforced at all in the domains of Constantius and was applied in the domains of Maximian until his abdication in 305. In the East, it remained applicable until the issue of the Edict of Milan by Constantine and Licinius in 313. Diocletian and Maximian resigned on May 1, 305. Constantius and Galerius became augusti (senior emperors), while two new emperors, Severus and Maximinus , became caesars (junior emperors). According to Lactantius, Galerius had forced Diocletian's hand in

20440-486: Was not working as quickly as he wanted it to. Following the publication of the second edict, prisons began to fill—the underdeveloped prison system of the time could not handle the deacons, lectors, priests, bishops, and exorcists forced upon it. Eusebius writes that the edict netted so many priests that ordinary criminals were crowded out and had to be released. In anticipation of the upcoming twentieth anniversary of his reign on November 20, 303, Diocletian declared

20586-528: Was part of the regular succession in the tetrarchy , but neither was the case with Maxentius: he would be the fifth emperor, and he had only few troops at his command. Galerius reckoned that it would be not too difficult to quell the usurpation, and early in 307, the Augustus Severus marched on Rome with a large army. The majority of this army consisted of soldiers who had fought under Maxentius' father Maximian for years, and as Severus reached Rome,

20732-438: Was regarded as the crown prince who would eventually follow his father on the throne. He seems not to have served, however, in any important military or administrative position during the reign of Diocletian and his father. The exact date of his marriage to Valeria Maximilla , daughter of Galerius , is unknown. He had two sons, Valerius Romulus (ca. 295 – 309) and an unknown one. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and

20878-519: Was such a tyrant that the Romans would not open the gates for his defeated, retreating army, but opened them only for the conqueror Constantine. Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius ( c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa , and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome , he was not recognized as

21024-440: Was the day they would terminate Christianity. The next day, Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians" was published. The key targets of this piece of legislation were senior Christian clerics and Christians' property, just as they had been during Valerian's persecution. The edict prohibited Christians from assembling for worship and ordered the destruction of their scriptures, liturgical books, and places of worship across

21170-653: Was tortured during the persecution and died about a year after from the resulting injuries. The Decian persecution was a grave blow to the Church. At Carthage, there was mass apostasy (renunciation of the faith). At Smyrna, the bishop Euctemon sacrificed and encouraged others to do the same. Because the Church was largely urban, it should have been easy to identify, isolate and destroy the Church hierarchy. This did not happen. In June 251, Decius died in battle, leaving his persecution incomplete. His persecutions were not followed up for another six years, allowing some Church functions to resume. Valerian , Decius's friend, took up

21316-429: Was unenthusiastic. Later persecutory edicts, including the calls for universal sacrifice, were not applied in his domain. His son, Constantine, on taking the imperial office in 306, restored Christians to full legal equality and returned property that had been confiscated during the persecution. In Italy in 306, the usurper Maxentius ousted Maximian's successor Severus , promising full religious toleration. Galerius ended

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