The later persecutions: Decius and Diocletian

Overview

The empire-wide sacrifice edicts, the problem of the lapsed, and the Great Persecution and its end.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What did the edict of Decius require, and when was it issued?

   Model answer

   Decius issued an edict in AD 249 or 250 requiring the inhabitants of the empire to sacrifice to the gods, pour a libation and taste the sacrificial meat before official commissioners. Those who complied received a certificate recording that they had done so.

2. 2

   What is a libellus, and why is it important evidence?

   Model answer

   A libellus was the certificate issued to confirm that a person had sacrificed in the presence of the commissioners. About forty-five examples survive on papyrus from Egypt, and they show how the requirement worked in practice at village level.

3. 3

   What was Decius' likely aim in issuing the edict?

   Model answer

   Decius appears to have wanted a general act of religious loyalty to restore the favour of the gods at a time of military crisis, rather than to destroy Christianity as such. The edict does not name Christians, but they were the group for whom obedience was impossible.

4. 4

   Which leading Christians died in the Decian persecution?

   Model answer

   Fabian, bishop of Rome, was executed in January AD 250, and Babylas of Antioch and Alexander of Jerusalem died in custody. Origen was imprisoned and tortured, and died a few years later from the effects.

5. 5

   How did Cyprian respond to the Decian edict, and why was his decision criticised?

   Model answer

   Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, withdrew into hiding and governed his church by letter throughout the persecution. Some of his own clergy and the Roman church questioned whether a bishop should have left his people, and Cyprian defended the decision as a way of preserving the leadership rather than provoking further violence.

6. 6

   Distinguish the different categories of the lapsed.

   Model answer

   Those who had actually sacrificed were called sacrificati, those who had offered incense thurificati, and those who had obtained a certificate without sacrificing libellatici. In the Great Persecution a further group, the traditores, were those who had handed over the scriptures to be burned.

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