Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was a Roman Christian author born in the region of Numidia, which corresponds to modern-day Tunisia. He hailed from Punic or Berber origins before his family converted to Christianity.
Lactantius converted to Christianity while living in Nicomedia and resigned his post before Emperor Diocletian issued his first Edict against Christians on the 24th of February 303. This timing suggests he foresaw the coming purge of Christians from the immediate staff of the Roman administration.
Emperor Constantine appointed the elderly Lactantius as Latin tutor to his son Crispus around 309 or 310 when the young prince was between ten and fifteen years old. Lactantius followed Crispus to Trier in 317 and gained direct influence over early imperial Christian policy until Crispus was put to death by order of his father in 326.
The Divine Institutes written between 303 and 311 represents the first systematic exposition of Christian theology in Latin designed to establish the reasonableness and truth of Christianity to pagan critics. It became one of the first books printed in Italy with a dated imprint and remains a key text for understanding early fourth-century thought.
Lactantius took a premillennialist view regarding the end times and held that the second coming would precede a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. He quoted the Sibyls extensively and used prophetic exegesis to support his arguments against traditional Roman religion despite modern scholars considering the Sibylline Oracles to be pseudepigrapha.
De mortibus persecutorum was first printed in 1465 by Germans Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim at the Abbey of Subiaco as the fourth book ever printed in Italy. This chronicle serves as a valuable primary source for events recorded during the late Roman Empire detailing the fates of emperors like Diocletian, Galerius, and Maxentius who persecuted Christians.