Questions about Diocletianic Persecution
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When did the Diocletianic Persecution begin and end?
The Diocletianic Persecution began on the 23rd of February 303, when Diocletian ordered the destruction of a Christian church in Nicomedia and published the first edict against Christians. It effectively ended with the Edict of Milan signed by Constantine and Licinius in February 313 and posted at Nicomedia on the 13th of June 313, though the last martyrdoms in the East occurred in early May 311 and persecutions under Maximinus continued until his defeat at the Battle of Tzirallum on the 30th of April 313.
What did the edicts of the Diocletianic Persecution require Christians to do?
The four edicts issued between 303 and 304 progressively escalated in severity. The first required the destruction of Christian scriptures, liturgical books, and places of worship, and stripped Christians of legal rights and civil ranks. The second ordered the arrest of all bishops and priests. The third offered release from prison to clergy who would sacrifice to the Roman gods. The fourth demanded that all persons in the empire, including women and children, gather publicly and offer collective sacrifice or face execution.
Who were the main emperors responsible for the Diocletianic Persecution?
Four co-emperors issued the first edicts: Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius. Galerius was the primary driving force, pressing Diocletian to begin a general persecution in the winter of 302. Constantius, governing Britain and Gaul, barely enforced the edicts. After Diocletian abdicated in 305, Maximinus became the most zealous persecutor in the East, continuing the campaign until his military defeat in 313.
What was the Donatist schism and how did the Diocletianic Persecution cause it?
The Donatist schism was a split in the North African church between those who had surrendered scriptures to Roman authorities (called traditores) and those who refused any compromise with imperial power. When Caecilian, whose own deacon role was associated with suppressing imprisoned Christians, was elected bishop of Carthage in 311, his opponents declared for a rival candidate and formed a dissident movement named after Majorinus's successor, Donatus. The Donatists refused reconciliation with the Catholic Church until after 411.
How did the Edict of Milan end the Diocletianic Persecution?
Constantine and Licinius drafted the terms of what later became known as the Edict of Milan at a meeting in February 313. Licinius posted the document at Nicomedia on the 13th of June 313 after defeating Maximinus. Unlike the earlier Edict of Serdica issued by Galerius in 311, the Edict of Milan offered comprehensive religious freedom to all faiths and went further in accepting Christianity than Galerius's edict had.
Why did the Diocletianic Persecution ultimately fail?
The persecution failed to halt the growth of the Church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire and Christianity had become his favored religion. Most Christians across the empire avoided punishment, enforcement was inconsistent across regions, and the emperors who drove the persecution most forcefully died or were defeated within a decade of the first edict. Constantine's victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 and his open patronage of Christianity accelerated the reversal.