Imperial persecutions
- When
- 64–313 AD
- Where
- Roman empire
- Kind
- Persecution
Intermittent rather than constant, worst under Decius and Diocletian, and ended by the Edict of Milan.
Persecution was intermittent, local and legally ambiguous far more often than it was systematic. Trajan's rescript to Pliny around 112 set the pattern for a century and a half: Christians were not to be sought out, but were to be punished if accused and unrepentant. The empire-wide persecutions came late — Decius in 250 required everyone to sacrifice and produce a certificate, and Diocletian's from 303 was the most severe. What they left behind was the question of what to do with those who had complied, which caused two schisms of its own. The Edict of Milan ended it in 313.
Who stands here
- Ignatius of Antioch
c. 35–c. 108
Taken to Rome to die in the arena
- Polycarp of Smyrna
c. 69–c. 155
Burned at Smyrna in old age
- Justin Martyr
c. 100–c. 165
Denounced, tried and beheaded at Rome
- Perpetua and Felicity
c. 182–203
Killed in the arena at Carthage
- Cyprian of Carthage
c. 210–258
Beheaded at Carthage; his episcopate turned on what to do with those who had complied
- Antony of Egypt
c. 251–356
Came out of the desert to encourage those on trial
Either side of it
The whole timeline, from the apostolic communities to the present.