The Great Persecution (AD 303–313)

Introduction

• The Great Persecution, commonly known as the Diocletianic Persecution, represents the final, longest, and most systematic attempt by the Roman Empire to eliminate Christianity.
• Unlike earlier persecutions, which were sporadic and local, this campaign was imperial, legal, coordinated, and ideologically driven.
• It was launched under Diocletian and enforced through the machinery of the Tetrarchy, with the explicit goal of destroying Christianity as a public and organised faith.
• For the Coptic Orthodox Church, this persecution holds unique significance.
• So severe and defining was the bloodshed in Egypt that the Church chose AD 284, the year of Diocletian’s accession, as the beginning of its calendar, known as Anno Martyrum – the Era of the Martyrs.
• This decision reflects not exaggeration, but memory shaped by suffering, faithfulness, and witness unto death.
• The persecution under Diocletian was the final persecution of Christianity by the Roman state, the most carefully organised and ideologically motivated.
• Unlike earlier persecutions, it was initiated from the imperial centre, not local mobs, and designed to eliminate Christianity as an institution.
• The goal was not sporadic punishment but the destruction of Scriptures, dissolution of church organisation, removal of clergy, and forcing Christians back into the religious unity of the Empire.
• The Roman state now saw Christianity as a permanent rival ideology and a threat to imperial cohesion and divine protection.
• It lasted roughly ten years (AD 303–313), with intensity varying by region, implemented through four imperial edicts, and targeted churches and places of worship, holy Scriptures, clergy and bishops, and the civil and legal status of Christians.
• It sought not reform, but eradication, and officially ended with the Edict of Milan (AD 313).
• To further contextualize, this era marked a pivotal shift where the Roman Empire's attempts at religious uniformity clashed irreconcilably with Christianity's growing resilience, ultimately paving the way for the faith's triumph under Constantine.
• The persecution's scope extended beyond mere suppression to a philosophical assault on monotheism, reflecting the Empire's desperation to revive pagan traditions amid internal decay.

1. The Nature of the Great Persecution and Its Definition and Scope

• The persecution under Diocletian was the final persecution of Christianity by the Roman state, the most carefully organised and ideologically motivated.
• Unlike earlier persecutions, it was initiated from the imperial centre, not local mobs, and designed to eliminate Christianity as an institution.
• The goal was not sporadic punishment but destruction of Scriptures, dissolution of church organisation, removal of clergy, and forcing Christians back into the religious unity of the Empire.
• Frend stresses that the Roman state now saw Christianity as a permanent rival ideology and a threat to imperial cohesion and divine protection.
• It was the most comprehensive persecution of Christians in Roman history, lasted roughly ten years (AD 303–313), with intensity varying by region, implemented through four imperial edicts, and targeted churches and places of worship, holy Scriptures, clergy and bishops, and the civil and legal status of Christians.
• It sought not reform, but eradication, and officially ended with the Edict of Milan (AD 313).

2. Political and Religious Background, Including Christianity before Diocletian

• Diocletian’s reforms aimed at restoring stability after the third-century crisis and strengthening imperial authority through religion.
• Traditional Roman belief held that the safety of the Empire depended on the favour of the gods and that refusal to sacrifice endangered everyone.
• Christianity was viewed as anti-social, anti-religious, and a denial of the sacred order of Roman life.
• Frend notes that Christianity was no longer marginal: churches existed openly, clergy were organised, and Christian officials served in administration and army.
• Christianity before AD 250 was considered illegal but widely tolerated, with persecutions that were local, short, and often driven by mobs, not emperors, and no empire-wide anti-Christian legislation.
• The third-century turning point saw Decius (AD 250) introduce universal sacrifice, Valerian (AD 257–258) target clergy and confiscate Church property (with martyrs including Cyprian of Carthage), and persecutions end with Gallienus’ Edict of Toleration (AD 260), followed by over 40 years of peace during which the Church expanded rapidly.
• Diocletian believed Roman decline was caused by religious disunity and that the gods must be appeased through uniform worship.
• Christianity was viewed as disloyal, anti-traditional, and a threat to imperial unity.
• Christians became numerous, educated, and socially influential, with large churches built in major cities, including Nicomedia and Alexandria, and Christians serving in the army and civil administration.
• Pagan intellectual opposition intensified, such as Porphyry of Tyre's Against the Christians, and Christianity was increasingly seen as incompatible with Roman identity.
• This background illustrates how Christianity's demographic growth—from a fringe sect to a visible minority—provoked a reactionary pagan revival, influenced by Neoplatonism and imperial cult worship.

3. The Role of the Tetrarchy and Religious Ideology

• The persecution must be understood within the Tetrarchic system.
• Diocletian ruled with Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius.
• Galerius is presented by Frend as the most aggressively anti-Christian figure and a driving force behind persecution in the East.
• Imperial policy varied by region: severe enforcement in the East and limited or reluctant enforcement in the West.
• Diocletian introduced the Tetrarchy (AD 293): Diocletian (East – Jupiter), Maximian (West – Hercules), and Galerius and Constantius as Caesars.
• Christianity was viewed as disloyal, anti-traditional, and a threat to imperial unity.
• Merging these, the Tetrarchy's structure allowed for decentralized enforcement, which explains regional variances, and Galerius's personal zeal—stemming from his rural pagan upbringing—amplified the ideological crusade against what was perceived as a foreign superstition undermining Roman mos maiorum (ancestral customs).

4. Growing Hostility toward Christianity (AD 284–302) and The Road to Persecution (AD 302)

• Christians became numerous, educated, and socially influential.
• Large churches were built in major cities, including Nicomedia and Alexandria.
• Christians served in the army and civil administration.
• Pagan intellectual opposition intensified, such as Porphyry of Tyre's Against the Christians.
• Christianity was increasingly seen as incompatible with Roman identity.
• The military purge saw Christian soldiers forced to sacrifice or be dismissed.
• The Oracle of Apollo at Didyma was consulted, with Christians blamed for divine silence.
• Galerius pushed Diocletian toward full persecution.
• Adding insight, this period of hostility was exacerbated by omens, such as failed sacrifices at imperial ceremonies, which pagans attributed to Christian presence, fueling a narrative of divine displeasure.

5. The First Edict (AD 303) and The Persecution Unfolds: An Integrated Timeline

• The first edict (AD 303) ordered destruction of churches, burning of Christian Scriptures, and removal of Christian legal rights.
• Christians were reduced to social outcasts and second-class subjects.
• Frend emphasises this was an attack on Christian identity, not just people.
• The focus on Scriptures shows Roman awareness that Christianity was a religion of a book.
• Integrating the timeline:
  • AD 303 – The Storm Breaks: 23 February 303: First edict issued, Church of Nicomedia destroyed, Scriptures burned, Christian worship outlawed. Arrests of clergy began. First martyrs recorded, including Eutius.
  • AD 303–304 – Escalation: Second edict: All bishops and clergy imprisoned. Third edict: Clergy released only if they sacrificed, leading to apostasy and internal division. Fourth edict (AD 304): Universal sacrifice demanded, refusal punished by death, mutilation, or exile to mines.
• To add, the first edict's timing coincided with the Terminalia festival, symbolically ending the old religious order, and its legalistic approach reflected Diocletian's bureaucratic reforms.

6. Escalation of Policy, The Fourth Edict and Universal Sacrifice

• When the first edict failed, further measures were introduced.
• Clergy were targeted because they held communities together and preserved teaching and discipline.
• Arrests of bishops and priests became widespread.
• Prisons filled rapidly, especially in Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor.
• The persecution reached its peak when all Christians were ordered to sacrifice.
• This represented a direct challenge to personal conscience and a test of loyalty to the Roman gods.
• Frend highlights this stage produced the greatest number of martyrs, especially among ordinary believers.
• Amalgamating, the escalation from institutional to personal attacks underscores the state's realization that Christianity's roots lay in individual conviction, not just hierarchy.

7. Methods of Enforcement

• Enforcement included public trials, torture to force compliance, and forced labour in mines.
• Imprisonment was harsh and prolonged, often lethal in itself.
• Martyrdom was not always immediate: many died slowly through suffering.
• The Roman state preferred apostasy over execution, with death occurring when persuasion failed.
• Adding, methods like the rack, scourging, and exposure to wild beasts were drawn from standard Roman penal practices, but applied systematically to coerce recantation.

8. Regional Differences, Including Egypt and the Coptic Experience

• The persecution was not uniform.
• In the West: Constantius largely ignored the edicts, with few martyrs.
• In the East: Enforcement was relentless, with Egypt becoming the epicentre.
• Frend repeatedly stresses Egypt produced unparalleled numbers of martyrs, and the scale deeply shaped later Christian memory.
• Egypt experienced systematic arrests, mass executions, and long-term imprisonments.
• Christian communities were devastated but not destroyed.
• Frend links the later strength of Egyptian Christianity to the discipline forged under persecution.
• Martyrdom became a central spiritual ideal and a living theology of victory through suffering.
• Egypt suffered more intensely and consistently than almost any other region, with mass executions recorded in Alexandria, Upper Egypt, and the Thebaid.
• Martyrdoms occurred daily in some periods, and entire Christian villages were devastated.
• Famous Coptic Martyrs of the Great Persecution:
  • Saint Demiana (early 4th century): Refused emperor’s command to worship idols, martyred with 40 virgins, one of the most venerated Coptic saints.
  • Saint Mina: Roman soldier who openly confessed Christ, tortured and beheaded, became one of the most beloved saints in Egypt.
  • Peter of Alexandria († AD 311): 17th Pope of Alexandria, executed shortly before the Edict of Toleration, known as Seal of the Martyrs.
  • Saint Catherine of Alexandria: Philosopher and confessor of the faith, martyred after refuting pagan philosophers.
  • Saint Maurice and the Theban Legion: Entire legion of Christian soldiers from Egypt, martyred for refusing to kill fellow Christians.
• Because of these events, the Coptic Church begins its calendar in AD 284, naming it The Era of the Martyrs, a living testimony that suffering was transformed into glory.

9. Other Regions during the Timeline

• West (Britain & Gaul): Under Constantius Chlorus: Minimal enforcement, churches mostly spared.
• Italy, Spain, North Africa: Severe enforcement under Maximian, confiscation of Church property, martyrdoms led to Donatist schism.
• East (AD 305–311): Galerius and Maximinus Daia intensified persecution, Christians condemned to mines, mutilation common punishment.
• These differences highlight the Tetrarchy's autonomy, with Constantius's leniency possibly influenced by his Christian-leaning court, foreshadowing his son Constantine's policies.

10. Theological Impact on the Church

• The persecution forced Christians to confront fear, apostasy, and forgiveness.
• Divisions emerged between martyrs and confessors, and the faithful and the lapsed.
• Frend shows that these tensions shaped later schisms, especially in North Africa and Egypt.
• The persecution tested church unity, authority of bishops, and meaning of repentance.
• Adding, this impact fostered rigorous penitential systems and veneration of martyrs as intercessors, influencing early monasticism in Egypt.

11. Failure of the Roman Policy and Turning Point: AD 311–313

• Despite its severity, the persecution failed because Christianity could not be uprooted and martyrdom strengthened commitment.
• Frend notes a paradox: the more the state attacked, the more the Church clarified its identity.
• Pagan religion failed to inspire the same loyalty or the same willingness to suffer.
• The persecution failed completely, and Christianity emerged more united, more respected, and more widespread.
• Martyrdom strengthened faith rather than destroying it.
• AD 311 – Edict of Toleration (Galerius): Issued on Galerius’ deathbed, ended official persecution in the East, allowed Christians to exist legally, did not restore property. Acknowledged the failure of persecution, allowed Christians to exist legally and to pray for the Empire. Frend emphasises this was not a Christian victory yet but an admission of defeat by pagan power.
• AD 311–313 – Maximinus’ Resistance: Ignored the edict, continued executions, especially in Egypt and Syria.
• AD 313 – Edict of Milan: Issued by Constantine and Licinius, granted full religious freedom, restoration of Church property, and legal equality for Christianity.
• The persecution effectively ended by imperial exhaustion and political change.
• Christianity emerged weakened externally but strengthened internally.
• Frend sees this period as the final testing of the pre-Constantinian Church.

12. Outcomes and Legacy, Including Frend’s Central Conclusion

• The Great Persecution was the last serious attempt of pagan Rome to destroy Christianity by force.
• It failed because faith could not be coerced and conscience could not be legislated.
• The Church survived not through power but through suffering and endurance.
• The persecution failed completely, and Christianity emerged more united, more respected, and more widespread.
• Martyrdom strengthened faith rather than destroying it.
• Long-term impact: Christianity became legal (313), favoured (324), and state religion (380s, Theodosius I).
• Diocletian is remembered as the archetypal persecutor.
• For the Coptic Church: Martyrdom became identity, theology, and memory.
• “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (Revelation 2:10, NIV)
• To add a broader legacy note, this persecution's failure accelerated the Christianization of the Empire, influencing medieval hagiography and modern understandings of religious freedom.

this are summery of chapter XV of W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965).

to read more detalied  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution