Diocletianic Persecution

Biographical Details:

  • Reigned from AD 284-305
  • Persecution from AD 303-311

Diocletianic Persecution:

The Diocletianic or Great Persecution of Christians, which lasted from 303 to 311 AD, was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Initiated by Emperor Diocletian, who ruled alongside co-emperors Maximian, Constantius Chlorus, and Galerius, the persecution aimed to restore traditional Roman religious practices and eliminate Christianity, which was seen as a threat to imperial unity.  While Diocletian was initially reluctant to embark on an empire-wide persecution of Christians, Galerius, who was a staunch pagan and advocate for maintaining traditional Roman religious practices, strongly pushed for it. He influenced Diocletian to issue a series of edicts aimed at eradicating Christianity from the empire.

In 303 AD, Diocletian issued the first of four edicts against Christians, which demanded the destruction of Christian churches, the burning of scriptures, and the prohibition of Christian worship. Christians were also forbidden from holding any public office or positions of authority. The key targets of this piece of legislation were senior Christian clerics and Christians’ property, just as they had been during Valerian’s persecution.  Christians were subjected to torture, forced sacrifices to Roman gods, and execution.

A second edict was published that ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all bishops and priests. The only logical reason for Diocletian to issue a second edict is that he felt it 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. -(Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 8.6.8–9).

In anticipation of the upcoming twentieth anniversary of his reign, Diocletian declared 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 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 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. (Eusebius, De Martyribus Palestinae (S), praef. 2; (S) 1.3–4; (L) 1.5b; and Historia Ecclesiastica 8.2.5).

In 304, 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.  Although Diocletian initiated the persecution, Galerius was more extreme in his hostility toward Christians and sought to intensify the measures. After Diocletian retired in 305 AD and Galerius became the Augustus of the eastern empire, the persecutions grew more intense in the regions under his control. Galerius pushed for more severe punishments, including execution, for Christians who refused to comply with pagan sacrifices.

In a surprising turn of events, Galerius issued the Edict of Toleration in 311 AD, just before his death. Galerius had become gravely ill and it is said that he feared that his illness was divine punishment for his treatment of Christians. In addition, the empire was facing political and social instability, and continued religious persecution only added to the unrest. Despite years of persecution, Christianity had not been eradicated, and in some regions, it had even grown stronger.  This edict ended the persecution of Christians and allowed them to practice their religion openly. 

Unfortunately this period resulted in the death of many Christians; some of  notable martyrs from this period include:

  • St. George (died 23 April 303)-  an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity.  According to tradition, he was a soldier in the Roman army. Of Cappadocian origin, he became a member of the Praetorian Guard for Emperor Diocletian, but was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith.  As one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalized in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.
  • St. Agnes of Rome (291-340 AD)- A young 12 year old girl who was martyred for her faith. Her father urged her to deny God, but she refused, and she was dragged naked through the streets to a brothel, then tried and sentenced to death. She was eventually beheaded, after attempts for her to be burnt at the stake failed. A few days after her death, her foster-sister Emerentiana was found praying by her tomb, and was stoned to death.  
  • St. Sebastian (255-288 AD)- An officer in the Roman army who was executed for his Christian beliefs. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this did not kill him. He was, according to tradition, rescued and healed by Irene of Rome. In all versions of the story, shortly after his recovery he went to Diocletian to warn him about his sins, and as a result was clubbed to death.
  • St. Lucy (284-304 AD)- was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. She is one of eight women (including the Virgin Mary) explicitly commemorated by Catholics in the Canon of the Mass.  The oldest record of her story comes from the fifth-century Acts of the Martyrs. Various accounts agree that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian, and she was executed in Syracuse, Sicily, in 304 AD.  The oldest archaeological evidence comes from the Greek inscriptions from the Catacombs of St. John in Syracuse.
  • Felix and Adauctus (died 303 AD). According to the ActsFelix, a Roman priest, was brought by the prefect Dracus to the temples of Serapis, Mercury, and Diana to offer sacrifice. But at the prayer of the saint the idols fell shattered to the ground. He was then led to execution. On the way an unknown person joined him, professed himself a Christian, and also received the crown of martyrdom. The Christians gave him the name Adauctus (the Latin word for “added”). They were both beheaded.

  • St. Peter I of Alexandria
  • St. Methodius of Olympus
  • The Four Crowned Martyrs; According to the Passion of Saint Sebastian, the four saints -Severus, Severian, Carpophorus, and Victorinus- were soldiers who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian. The bodies of the martyrs were buried in the cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro on the fourth mile of the Via Labicana by Pope Miltiades and Saint Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the church).

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