Christianity and the Roman Empire: From Nero to Theodosius

In this classic work Paul Allard asks, Why did the Christians suffer two and a half centuries of suspicion and official repression? Several emperors persecuted the Christians: Nero, Domitian, Marcus Aurelius, Sulpicius Severus, Decius, Valerian, and especially Diocletian, who unleashed the great persecution from 303 to 312. Diocletian s Persecution Edict stated that all churches throughout the empire were to be destroyed and all sacred books burned. Many Christians lost their social rank and privileges, while Christian slaves could not be freed. In some places, the Christians were tortured, beheaded, exiled, or sent to the beasts. But the Church found defenders in the second century apologists, such as Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, and Tertullian, who argued that the persecutions were illegal and unjust. Tertullian s statement became axiomatic: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians.