Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The last of the severe persecutions of the Church (AD 303-311) was conducted under the reigns of Emperors Diocletian (245-313) and Galerius (d. 311).
Diocletian ascended to the throne in 284. When the Germans on the Rhine and the Persians in the East threatened his empire, he created two Caesars (dictatorships) in 292.
Galerius, Diocletian’s son-in-law and successor, had risen from the ranks as a common soldier. He was chosen to act as Diocletian’s subordinate and co-rule with him in the East.
Constantius Chlorus was chosen to co-rule in the West with Maximian (d. 310).
Each of the four rulers was strategically placed at a separate capitol — Nicomedia (Turkey), Milan (Italy), Treves (France) and Sirmium (Hungary).
Galerius and Maximian were tyrants, suspicious of anyone not ready to bow before them — especially the Christians, who did not worship the pagan gods.
In the year 303, Galerius convinced Diocletian to issue an edict ordering the destruction of Christian churches, the burning of the sacred Books and the revocation of civil rights of Christians. This was the beginning of The Great Persecution of the Church. It was the tenth, bloodiest and last Roman persecution of the Christians.
Not long after the publication of the first destructive edict, Christians were accused of setting fire to the palace of Diocletian at Nicomedia. He then issued a second edict, which required all bishops, priests and deacons to be imprisoned.
Diocletian’s third edict required all prisoners to sacrifice to the pagan gods. The prisoners were induced by any means, including torture. Scores of Christians throughout the empire, with the exception of Gaul (France) — which was ruled by Constantius Chlorus — were tortured, publicly put to death or sentenced to the mines, considered by many as worse than death.
In the second year of the persecutions, a fourth edict was issued requiring all Christians to offer sacrifice to the gods. As these orders were carried out, the prisons were filled to overflowing. Even the mines could not accommodate the number of prisoners.
After a time, the populace was sickened by the daily slaughter and no longer attended the executions. Tens of thousands of Christians lost their lives during this period, bringing the Church almost to the point of extinction.
“The Father of Church History,” Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea in Palestine (b. about 260; d. before 341 AD), who witnessed numbers of deaths by persecution, related one that took place in the city of Nicomedia:
“In the city named above, the rulers in question brought a certain man into a public place and commanded him to sacrifice. When he refused, he was ordered to be stripped, hoisted up naked, and his whole body torn with loaded whips till he gave in and carried out the command, however unwillingly. When in spite of these torments he remained as obstinate as ever, they next mixed vinegar with salt and poured it over the lacerated parts of his body, where the bones were already exposed. When he treated these agonies too with scorn a lighted brazier was then brought forward, and as if it were edible meat for the table, what was left of his body was consumed by the fire, not all at once, for fear his release should come too soon, but a little at a time; and those who placed him on the pyre were not permitted to stop till after such treatment he should signify his readiness to obey. But he stuck immovably to his determination, and victorious in the midst of his tortures, breathed his last. Such was the martyrdom of one of the imperial servants, a martyrdom worthy of the name he bore — it was Peter.”[1]
Bishop Eusebius devoted an entire book to the martyrs of his native province, The History of the Martyrs of Palestine. The Christians went to their deaths almost to a man with the praises of Christ in their hearts and prayers of forgiveness for their persecutors on their lips. It was this exhibition of love that helped to finally conquered the pagan world.
In May, 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated their thrones. This action left Galerius to rule the empire in the East, and Constantius Chlorus to rule in the West. The persecutions raged under Galerius until his death in 311.
Constantine the Great (AD 280-337), the son of Constantius Chlorus, became the first Christian emperor of Rome. His mother was St. Helena, a woman known for her remarkable virtues, and credited with the recovery of the true cross of Christ in Jerusalem.
After his father’s death in AD 306, Constantine became Western Caesar and then emperor of the West. He ruled Spain, Britain, and Gaul, was commander of the Rhine, and gained the reputation of being a generous ruler and capable soldier.
After the abdication of Galerius in 306, Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius), the son of Maximian and the son-in-law of Galerius, was elected as a rival emperor. As a contender for the throne, he threatened Constantine.
In 312, with a force outnumbered 5-to-1, Constantine marched into Italy and challenged Maxentius’ forces at the Milivian Bridge outside Rome. Constantine won the day and Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River.
Eusebius of Nicomedia, Bishop of Bithynia, Turkey (d. AD 341), a personal friend of Constantine, wrote that the emperor had his resolve strengthened by a heavenly vision. Constantine saw in the sky “a trophy in the shape of a dazzling cross in front of the sun and with it a motto saying ‘With this sign thou shalt conquer.’”[2] Accordingly, the sign of the Cross was placed on the standards of Constantine’s army and painted on the shields of his soldiers, though most of them were pagans. Believing that his victory was due to the protection of Christ, Constantine granted toleration and favor to the Christians by issuing the Edict of Milan (313), which granted freedom of religion to all his subjects.
Of the 249 years from the first persecution under Nero (64) to the year 313, when Constantine established lasting peace, it is calculated Christians suffered persecution about 129 years and enjoyed a certain degree of toleration about 120 years.[3] There is no way to know for certain, but it has been estimated that as many as one million Christian men, women and children perished in martyrdom during that period.
The Edict of Milan marked the end of the Christian persecutions and brought the Church out of the catacombs. Great churches were built in Rome, including the basilicas of St. Peter’s on Vatican hill at the site of St. Peter’s martyrdom and grave, and St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls at the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom. When Constantine moved his capitol to the Greek city of Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople in his own honor, it became a major Christian center. Eusebius baptized Constantine only a few days before the emperor’s death in Nicomedia, on May 22, 337.
Although Constantine was considered a wise and able ruler, his memory is dishonored by the execution of his oldest son, Crispus, in 326. It seems that Fausta, the wife of Constantine, falsely accused her stepson, a married man, of seducing virgins — and of trying to seduce her as well. Constantine had his son executed.
Helena went to Constantine with evidence of her grandson’s innocence. Constantine, horrified at what he had done, executed Fausta or drove her to suicide. Fausta was boiled alive in her bath.[4]
The Christian Church has undoubtedly been the most powerful and significant agent of ancient and modern civilization. During the first few centuries of Christianity, the Church existed in the midst of an advanced state of material civilization. Poetry, oratory, philosophy, painting, sculpture, architecture and whatever was calculated to please the senses were all in a very high state of development. But morally and socially the world was enveloped in the darkness of paganism and superstition.
The primary object of the wealthy and corrupt governing classes of pagan Rome and Greece during the first three centuries of the Christian era was to please, excite and gratify their senses. Whatever stood in the way of sensual gratification was swept aside. The state was father, master and the only fount of glory and honor. Personal ambition, respect and honor were overshadowed by an individuality absorbed in national power and greatness. Although the Roman civilization was remarkable in many respects, many among the elite class of Roman citizens were objects of unmitigated selfishness and unbridled sensuality, unrestrained by any appreciation of the dignity of man or of simple justice, humanity or moral sense.
It was to reform, convert and save such a world that the Redeemer became incarnate upon the earth. It was in the midst of these pagan wolves that the Lamb of God first began his holy mission. As His disciples and their successors struggled during the first three hundred years, they preached and prayed and adored the living God in the midst of the cruelest persecutions, with pagan swords continually at their throats, often sealing their faith with their blood.
In such a society, it required the continual presence and influence of the Almighty to introduce and establish the religion of Christ. Opposed as it was to the entire social, moral and religious system of the age, clashing with the prejudices, selfishness, licentiousness and pride of the people, Christianity was resisted with deadly hostility at every step. Jesus, the Apostles and their successors were regarded as enemies of the state. They had come to overthrow the pagans’ cherished philosophies and superstitions, to disorganize and change the entire moral, social and religious condition and to substitute the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
The elements of opposition were numerous, powerful and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Without the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit, there would not have been any hope of successful introduction and establishment of Christianity. This same blessed influence has remained with the same Church, sustained it, nourished it and blessed it to the present. While false teachers and false prophets abound, the Catholic Church has ever remained where Jesus, her founder, planted her: upon the rock of truth — indestructible, immutable and permanent.
[1] Eusebius, The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, (New York: New York University Press, 1966), pp. 333-334.
[2] Ricciotti, Giuseppe, Age of the Martyrs: Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine, (New York: Barnes & Noble. 1992) 163.
[3] “Martyr” Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IX (New York: The Gilmary Society, 1907) 738.
[4] Barnes, Timothy D., Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1981), pp. 219-221.