Diocletianic Persecution
In 303, the Emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians’ legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at different times, but Constantine and Licinius’ Edict of...
