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Libellus from the Decian persecution 250 AD certifying that the holder has sacrificed to the Roman gods. The edict ordered that everyone in the Empire, with the exception of Jews, must sacrifice and burn incense to the gods and to the well-being of the Emperor in the presence of a Roman magistrate, and get a written certificate, called a libellus, that this had been done, signed by the ...
Martyrs in the Decian persecution (A.D. 250) at Alexandria in Egypt. The Greeks commemorate them together, to the number of sixteen, on this day; but so far as can be ascertained, they are identical with others of the same name registered in the Roman Martyrology on various days; SS.
A. N. Sherwin-White records that serious discussion of the reasons for Roman persecution of Christians began in 1890 when it produced "20 years of controversy" and three main opinions: first, there was the theory held by most French and Belgian scholars that "there was a general enactment, precisely formulated and valid for the whole empire, which forbade the practice of the Christian religion.
The Decian persecution was the first organized persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and served as the basis for the Diocletianic Persecution, the last major persecution of Christians in the Empire. [20] [21]
The Decian persecution was a grave blow to the Church. [34] At Carthage, there was mass apostasy (renunciation of the faith). [35] At Smyrna, the bishop Euctemon sacrificed and encouraged others to do the same. [36] Because the Church was largely urban, it should have been easy to identify, isolate and destroy the Church hierarchy. This did not ...
Not long afterwards, the entire community was put to an unwanted test. Christians in North Africa had not suffered persecution for many years; the Church was assured and lax. In early 250, the Decian persecution began. [11] Emperor Decius issued an edict, the text of which is lost, ordering sacrifices to the gods to be made throughout the ...
Historian Geoffrey de Ste. Croix says, "If with most scholars we date the martyrdom of Pionius to the Decian persecution (250 AD), following the Passio Pionii, we cannot reckon Pionius a volunteer even though after being arrested he wrapped chains around his own neck and those of his two companions (Pass.Pion.2.3-4), since Pionius and the ...
The reign of the emperor Diocletian (284−305) marked the final widespread persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. The most intense period of violence came after Diocletian issued an edict in 303 more strictly enforcing adherence to the traditional religious practices of Rome in conjunction with the Imperial cult .