Martyrdom of Saint Blandina
A stained glass window by Alexandre Mauvernay depicts Saint Blandina, one of the martyrs of Lyon.
Early Persecutions in the Roman Empire
Several persecutions of Christians occurred during the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211). Traditionally, Severus has been blamed due to a decree forbidding conversions to Judaism and Christianity. However, this decree is known only from the Augustan History, a source mixing fact and fiction. Early church historian Eusebius described Severus as a persecutor, but Christian apologist Tertullian claimed Severus was well disposed towards Christians, employing a Christian as his personal physician and intervening to protect some high-born Christians from mobs.
Eusebius’s view likely stems from the fact that persecutions happened during Severus’s reign—such as the martyrs of Madaura and Perpetua and Felicity in Africa—but these were probably local events, not empire-wide campaigns ordered by Severus.
Persecutions After Severus
Other persecutions occurred before Emperor Decius’s reign, but fewer accounts exist after 215, possibly due to reduced hostility or gaps in sources. One notable persecution was under Maximinus the Thracian (r. 235–238). According to Eusebius, Maximinus persecuted church leaders in 235, exiling Hippolytus and Pope Pontian to Sardinia. However, some evidence suggests this persecution was local to Cappadocia and Pontus, not an empire-wide edict.
Punishments of Christians
Christians who refused to recant by honoring Roman gods faced severe penalties. Roman citizens were either exiled or executed by beheading, while slaves, foreigners, and lower classes were often killed by wild beasts as public spectacles. Various animals were used, but there is no evidence Christians were executed in the Colosseum in Rome.
The Decian Persecution (250 AD)
In 250, Emperor Decius issued an edict (text now lost) requiring everyone in the empire—except Jews—to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods before a magistrate and obtain a certificate called a libellus. This decree aimed to restore traditional Roman values and was not specifically targeted at Christians.
Some certificates still survive, like one from Egypt, reading:
“To those in charge of the sacrifices of the village Theadelphia… I have poured libations and sacrificed and tasted the offerings… I ask you to certify this…”
While the governor Pliny in 112 had required suspected Christians to curse Christ, there is no mention of Christ or Christianity in Decius’s certificates. However, this was the first imperial edict forcing Christians across the empire to choose between their faith and their lives.
Several prominent Christians, including Pope Fabian, Babylas of Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem, died refusing to perform sacrifices. The total number executed is unknown. Many Christians apostatized, while others, like Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, went into hiding. Though enforced for only about eighteen months, the edict traumatized many Christian communities.
Most churches eventually readmitted those who lapsed, but some African dioceses refused, leading to the Donatist schism, as Donatists rejected those who had obtained certificates.
Persecutions Under Valerian (253–260)
Valerian became emperor in 253 but spent much of his reign fighting the Persians. He sent two letters to the Senate ordering Christians to perform sacrifices and forbidding Christian meetings in cemeteries. In 258, he commanded that bishops and high-ranking Christians be executed, senators and equestrians lose titles and property if they refused sacrifice, and matrons be banished or have property confiscated if they did not apostatize. Civil servants refusing to sacrifice were to be enslaved.
These measures show that Christians had risen to high ranks within the empire, indicating Decius’s earlier efforts had limited lasting impact.
Among those executed were Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and Sixtus II, Bishop of Rome, with his deacons, including Saint Lawrence. Cyprian’s trial before the proconsul Galerius Maximus on 14 September 258 survives, highlighting that Rome viewed Christianity as a criminal association rather than a religion.
When Valerian’s son Gallienus became emperor in 260, he revoked these laws, starting a period known as the “Little Peace of the Church.”
Diocletian and Galerius (284–313)
Diocletian’s accession in 284 began a gradual hardening against Christians. Early in his rule, he purged Christians from the army and condemned Manicheans to death. In 302, Galerius urged Diocletian to start a general persecution. After consulting the oracle of Apollo, a general persecution was launched on 24 February 303.
Persecution support was not uniform; Constantius was reluctant and did not enforce anti-Christian edicts in his domain. His son Constantine, who became emperor in 306, restored Christians’ legal status, returned confiscated property, and, with the Bishop of Rome, helped re-establish the Church. In 306, the usurper Maxentius promised religious tolerance in Italy.
Galerius ended persecution in the East in 311, but Maximinus renewed it in Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor. Constantine and Licinius signed the Edict of Milan in 313, granting Christianity broad acceptance and ending persecutions in the East.
Aftermath
Despite the severity of persecutions, Christianity grew. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler, and Christianity became his favored religion. Most Christians escaped punishment, but divisions arose between those who complied with imperial demands (the lapsi) and those who resisted.
Schisms like the Donatists in North Africa and Melitians in Egypt lasted for decades, with Donatists reconciled only after 411. Accounts of extreme brutality during the persecutions were later questioned, especially during the Enlightenment. Modern historians like G. E. M. de Ste. Croix have sought to assess whether Christian sources exaggerated the scope of Diocletian’s persecution.
See also: Christian martyrs“Faithful Unto Death” by Herbert Schmalz
Early Christian Martyrdom and Attitudes Toward It
The earliest Christian martyrs, tortured and killed by Roman officials enforcing worship of the gods, became so renowned among fellow Christians that some actively sought martyrdom. A group in Asia even presented themselves to the governor, openly declaring their faith and demanding execution. After executing a few, the governor grew exasperated and told them, “You wretches, if you want to die, you have cliffs to leap from and ropes to hang by.” This reaction reflected a common Roman attitude.
Because of this, Church authorities began to distinguish clearly between solicited martyrdom—when someone sought death—and the traditional kind that resulted from actual persecution. For example, at a Spanish council around the 3rd to 4th century, bishops denied the crown of martyrdom to those who died attacking pagan temples. Ramsey MacMullen called such provocations “too blatant,” and Drake cites this as evidence that Christians sometimes resorted to violence.
Estimating Martyred Dead in the Great Persecution
The total number of Christians martyred during the Great Persecution mainly comes from Eusebius of Caesarea’s Martyrs of Palestine, the only significant source covering a province’s martyrdoms. Ancient writers generally did not think statistically, and population sizes in sources are often metaphorical or opinion rather than accurate data.
During the Great Persecution, Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea Maritima, the capital of Roman Palestine. Since only provincial governors could enforce capital punishment—and they usually stayed at the capital—most martyrdoms likely occurred under his jurisdiction, making his account potentially comprehensive for the province.
Edward Gibbon was the first to estimate total martyrs by extrapolating from Eusebius’s numbers, adjusting for years and the province’s share of the Roman Empire. Later historians use similar methods.
Eusebius’ Intent and Historical Debate
Geoffrey de Ste Croix argued Eusebius intended to give a full account of martyrs in his province, citing Eusebius’s statements summarizing martyrdoms in Caesarea and Palestine over specific periods. Timothy Barnes disagrees, suggesting Eusebius aimed only to preserve memories of martyrs he personally knew, not provide a comprehensive provincial report. The Martyrs preface supports this, stating Eusebius wanted to record local conflicts and those personally known for general instruction.
The text also mentions unnamed companions of martyrs not included in tally counts based on the Martyrs.
More About Ancient Rome
Rome’s culture spanned about 1,000 years. It grew from a small agricultural community, defined by a narrow ethnicity, into a vast, multilingual, and multicultural empire covering lands that today belong to 13 modern nations.
According to biblical imagery, Rome came “out of the earth” — a fitting metaphor for its origins deep within the Italian peninsula.
It was Emperor Justinian who elevated the Pope and the Papacy to head all churches.
Roman Empire Origins and Characteristics
The Roman Empire emerged after Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC. Following years of civil war, Augustus became Caesar’s successor and Rome’s first emperor in 27 BC.
Augustus (63 BC–14 AD) ruled during the Pax Romana, a two-century period of relative peace. He was a capable reformer and organizer with absolute power, suffering only one major defeat in 9 AD at the Teutoburg Forest against Germanic tribes.
One key feature of the Empire was its vastness. It stretched from Scotland to the Arabian desert and Morocco to the Black Sea, with the Mediterranean Sea effectively becoming a Roman lake. The empire’s territory was so extensive Augustus chose not to expand further.
Roman infrastructure was excellent, with a sophisticated road network and a military-run postal system. Industry and commerce thrived, and goods moved efficiently by ship. Literature and art, heavily inspired by Greece, flourished as well.
After the Pax Romana, the empire declined. The rise of Christianity troubled Rome. Some emperors, like Commodus, were cruel and incompetent. Barbarian tribes increasingly pressured the empire’s borders. Rome finally fell in 476 AD.
