Diocletian Persecution

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The Diocletian Persecution was the last, and most severe, episode of persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. It took place under the Emperor Diocletian.

In the earlier part of Diocletian's reign, according to Christian sources, Galerius had been the instigator of such persecution. However, Diocletian came to embraced the policy of persecution with unequivocal zeal. In 299–300, the failure of a sacrifice to produce favourable omens was blamed on the presence of Christians, and Diocletian ordered that all Christian civil servants or soldiers were to partipate in sacrifices or lose their positions. Some time later, an oracle from Apollo at Didyma was interpreted as calling for the suppression of Christianity.^[1]

On February 24 303, Diocletian's first "Edict against the Christians" was published.^[2] This ordered the destruction of Christian scriptures and places of worship across the Empire, while prohibiting Christians from assembling for worship. Those that refused to surrender their sacred writings faced imprisonment and death. Later that year, after a fire in Nicomedia and insurrections in Syria and Armenia, Diocletian issued two further edicts, one ordering that the Christians of Nicomedia be put to torture and death as punishment for arson, the other ordering that the bishops and teachers of the churches throughout his domains be imprisoned and forced by torture to sacrifice to the gods of Roman paganism. In 304, a fourth edict made the persecution general: not merely the Christian leaders, but all Christians, were to offer sacrifices to the gods, compelled by torture if necessary.

Due to the authority structure of the Roman tetrachy, the persecution was not general throughout the empire. In the eastern part of the empire, Diocletian and Galerius enforced the persecution, as did Maximian in Italy. However, Constantius Chlorus continued to extend toleration to the Christians in his domain, and so the Christians of Gaul and Britain remained relatively unmolested.

According to one estimate, a total of 3,000–3,500 Christians were killed in the persecution,^[3] while many others suffered torture or imprisonment.^[4] The persecution made such an impression on Christians that the Alexandrian church used the start of Diocletian's reign (284) as the epoch for their Era of Martyrs. Among the recorded martyrs, there are Pope Marcellinus, Philomena, Sebastian, Afra, Lucy, Erasmus of Formiae, Florian, George, Agnes, Cessianus, Saint Dujam (bishop of Salona) and others ending with Peter of Alexandria (311). Another effect of the persecution was the escape of one Marinus the Dalmatian to Mount Titano, forming what eventually became the Republic of San Marino.

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. (1979). "The Diocletianic revival", Continuity and Change in Roman Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 235–252, pp. 246–248. ISBN 0-19-814822-4. 
2. ^ Bleckmann, Bruno. (2002–). "Diocletianus". Brill's New Pauly 4: 429–438. Ed. Hubert Cancik and Helmut Schneider. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9004122591.
3. ^ W. H. C. Frend, as cited by Liebeschuetz, pp. 251–252.
4. ^ Liebeschuetz, p. 252.