Diocletianic Persecution

E18073

Roman imperial persecution anti-Christian policy religious persecution

The Diocletianic Persecution was the Roman Empire’s last and most severe campaign of repression against Christians, marked by widespread martyrdom, destruction of churches, and attempts to eradicate Christian worship in the early 4th century.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (6)

Surface form	Occurrences
Great Persecution	4
Diocletianic persecution	3
Great Persecution of Christians	3
De Mortibus Persecutorum	1
Diocletian persecution	1
Persecution of Christians under Diocletian	1

Statements (62)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Roman imperial persecution ⓘ anti-Christian policy ⓘ religious persecution ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ surface form: Great Persecution Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ surface form: Great Persecution of Christians
appliesTo	Christianity ⓘ surface form: Christians
carriedOutBy	Roman authorities ⓘ Roman emperors ⓘ
characterizedBy	burning of Christian scriptures ⓘ confiscation of Christian property ⓘ destruction of churches ⓘ forced sacrifices to Roman gods ⓘ imprisonment of clergy ⓘ martyrdom of Christians ⓘ
chronologicalPosition	last major Roman persecution of Christians ⓘ
coInitiatedBy	Constantius Chlorus ⓘ Galerius ⓘ Maximian ⓘ
describedIn	Ecclesiastical History ⓘ surface form: Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History Lactantius ⓘ surface form: Lactantius’ On the Deaths of the Persecutors
endDate	c. 311 ⓘ c. 313 ⓘ
endedBy	Edict of Milan ⓘ Edict of Toleration by Galerius ⓘ
endedByRuler	Constantinus Magnus ⓘ surface form: Constantine the Great Galerius ⓘ Licinius ⓘ
firstEdictContent	ordered destruction of churches and scriptures ⓘ
firstEdictDate	24 February 303 ⓘ
fourthEdictContent	required all inhabitants to sacrifice ⓘ
geographicExtent	Byzantine Empire ⓘ surface form: Eastern Roman Empire Western Roman Empire ⓘ
historicalContext	Late Antiquity ⓘ surface form: late Roman Empire
historicalPeriod	Diocletian's Tetrarchy ⓘ surface form: Tetrarchy
impact	development of hagiographic literature ⓘ growth of martyr cults ⓘ strengthening of Christian identity ⓘ
initiatedBy	Diocletian ⓘ
legalBasis	Diocletianic edicts against Christians ⓘ
lessSevereIn	Great Britain ⓘ surface form: Britain Gaul ⓘ Iberian Peninsula ⓘ surface form: Hispania territories of Constantius Chlorus ⓘ
moreSevereIn	Bithynia ⓘ Eastern provinces ⓘ Egypt ⓘ Palestine ⓘ
notableMartyr	Forty Martyrs of Sebaste ⓘ Saint Agnes of Rome ⓘ Saint Catherine of Alexandria ⓘ Saint George of Lydda ⓘ surface form: Saint George Saint Lucy ⓘ Saint Sebastian ⓘ
numberOfEdicts	4 ⓘ
partOf	Christianization of the Roman Empire ⓘ surface form: Roman–Christian relations
place	Roman Empire ⓘ
precededBy	Decian persecution ⓘ Valerianic persecution ⓘ
religionTargeted	Christianity ⓘ
secondEdictContent	ordered imprisonment of Christian clergy ⓘ
startDate	303 ⓘ
thirdEdictContent	offered amnesty to clergy who sacrificed ⓘ

Referenced by (20)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Diocletianic Persecution → alsoKnownAs → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution

Diocletianic Persecution → alsoKnownAs → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution of Christians

Prisca → associatedWith → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Persecution of Christians under Diocletian

Saint Cassian of Imola → associatedWith → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Diocletianic persecution

Pamphilus of Caesarea → diedDuring → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

St George → diedIn → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Desert Fathers → emergedAfter → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Coptic calendar → epochAssociatedWith → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Diocletian persecution

Saint Agnes of Rome → era → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Saint Vitus → era → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Martyrs of Palestine → historicalContext → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution

Diocletian → knownFor → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution of Christians

Diocletian → launched → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution

Martyrs of Palestine → mainSubject → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Diocletianic persecution

Diocles → notableEvent → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution of Christians

Lactantius → notableWork → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: De Mortibus Persecutorum

Edict of Toleration by Galerius → predecessor → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Edict of Milan → relatedEvent → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

Edict of Toleration by Galerius → relatedEvent → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Persecution

Martyrs of Palestine → timeOfNarrative → Diocletianic Persecution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Diocletianic persecution