Diocletian’s Persecution of Christians
Early Christian writings describe Diocletian’s persecution as a violent campaign that began with the church raid in Nicomedia, the burning of the Scriptures, and pressure to sacrifice. Lactantius gives the clearest account, while Dionysius of Alexandria says the suffering began even before the official edict. Cyprian and Tertullian also show how Christians understood persecution as a test that could bring flight, confession, or martyrdom.
80 early-church witnesses · 143 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about diocletian's Persecution of Christians?
Early Christian writings say Diocletian’s persecution began with the destruction of the Nicomedia church, the burning of the Scriptures, and a wider push to force Christians to sacrifice. Lactantius gives the clearest account of the opening violence, and Dionysius of Alexandria says the pressure on believers began even before the imperial edict.
Cyprian and Tertullian treat persecution as a real and expected trial for Christians, not a surprise, and they also describe some believers fleeing, confessing, or falling away under pressure. The picture is broad but not even: the most detailed reporting comes from Lactantius and Dionysius, while other writers mostly give general teaching about suffering, martyrdom, and faithful endurance.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Lactantius says the Nicomedia church was searched, the Scriptures were burned, and the church goods were plundered.
- Dionysius of Alexandria says the persecution started before the imperial edict.
- Cyprian and Tertullian treat persecution as a normal trial for Christians and warn against fear or denial.
Questions Answered by the Sources
What did early Christians say happened when Diocletian persecuted the church?
The strongest witnesses describe a coordinated crackdown that began with the Nicomedia church, included the burning of the Holy Scriptures, and spread into broader pressure against Christians. Lactantius and Cyprian present it as a severe public persecution, not a minor local dispute.
-
Tertullian, De Fuga in Persecutione Direct teaching
2. If, because injustice is not from God, but from the devil, and persecution consists of injustice—for what is more unjust than that the bishops of the true God, and all the followers of the truth, should be treated in the manner of the vilest criminals?—persecution therefore seems to proceed from the devil, by whom the injustice that makes up persecution is carried out, we ought to know this: just as you do not have persecution without the devil's injustice, so you do not have the trial of faith without persecution. The injustice necessary for the trial of faith does not give a warrant for persecution, but supplies an agency. In reality, in reference to the trial of faith, which is the reason for persecution, the will of God goes first. But as the instrument of persecution, which is the way of trial, the injustice of the devil follows. For in other respects too, injustice, in proportion to the enmity it shows against righteousness, gives occasion for attestations of that to which it is opposed as an enemy, so that righteousness may be perfected in injustice, as strength is perfected in weakness. For the weak things of the world have been chosen by God to confound the strong, and
-
Tertullian, De Fuga in Persecutione Direct teaching
...ng floor, the Church, I mean, winnowing the mixed heap of believers and separating the grain of the martyrs from the chaff of the deniers. And this is also the ladder Jacob dreams of, on which some are seen mounting up to higher places, and others going down to lower. So too, persecution may be viewed as a contest. By whom is the conflict proclaimed but by Him by whom the crown and the rewards are offered? You find in Revelation its edict, setting forth the rewards by which He incites to victory, above all those whose distinction it is to conquer in persecution, in very deed contending in their victorious struggle not against flesh and blood, but against spirits of wickedness. So too, you will see that the adjudging of the contest belongs to that same glorious One, as umpire, who calls us to the prize. The one great thing in persecution is the promotion of the glory of God, as He tries and casts away, lays on and takes off. But what concerns the glory of God will surely come to pass by His will. And when is trust in God stronger than when there is a greater fear of Him, and when persecution breaks out? The Church is filled with awe. Then faith is both more zealous in preparation
-
Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
...n they persecute you in this city, flee to another," Matthew 10:23, He is not advising flight as if persecution were an evil thing. Nor is He commanding them to escape death by fleeing, as if they were afraid of it. Instead, He wants us neither to cause evil nor to support it against anyone, whether against ourselves or against the persecutor and murderer. In a sense, He tells us to take care of ourselves. But the person who disobeys is reckless and foolish. If the one who kills a man of God sins against God, then the one who presents himself before the judgment seat also becomes guilty of his own death. The same is true of the person who does not avoid persecution, but boldly offers himself to be captured. As far as he is able, such a person becomes an accomplice in the persecutor's crime. And if he also uses provocation, he is completely guilty, as one who challenges a wild beast. In the same way, if he gives any cause for conflict or punishment or revenge or hostility, he gives an occasion for persecution. Therefore, we are commanded not to hold tightly to anything that belongs to this life. Instead, to the one who takes our cloak, we are to give our coat also. This is not on
-
Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
... and that observance which those same martyrs and confessors command to be kept. Before the fear of persecution has ended, before my return, almost even before the departure of the martyrs, they have communion with the lapsed and offer and give them the Eucharist. Even if the martyrs, in the heat of their glory, should think less carefully about the Scriptures and should desire something excessive, they ought to be warned by the advice of the presbyters and deacons, as was always done in former times.
-
Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
Argument.— When, in the Urgency of a New Persecution, Certain of the Lapsed Had Confessed Christ, and So, Before They Went Away into Exile, Sought for Peace, Caldonius Consults Cyprian as to Whether Peace Should Be Granted Them.
-
Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness
For those who first, when the persecution grew warm, leaped forth, standing around the judgment-seat, and beholding the holy martyrs who were hastening to the prize of their high calling, Philippians 3:14 then, fired with a holy zeal, gave themselves up to this, using much boldness, and especially when they saw those who were drawn aside and lapsed, on their account they were roused mightily within, and, as it were by some inward voice, impelled to war down and subdue the adversary who was exulting;
-
Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...nd. It was as if they were trying by force to seize the peace that had been promised to them by the martyrs and confessors. About this too, I wrote twice to the clergy, and ordered that my letters be read to them. I said that, for the time being, in order to lessen their violence in any way, if any who had received a certificate from the martyrs were near death, after making confession and receiving the laying on of hands for repentance, they should be sent to the Lord with the peace promised to them by the martyrs. In this, I did not lay down a law for them, or rashly make myself the author of this direction. Rather, it seemed proper both that honor should be paid to the martyrs, and that the violence of those who were eager to throw everything into disorder should be restrained. Besides this, I had read your letter, which you recently sent here to my clergy through Crementius the subdeacon. In it, you said that help should be given to those who, after their fall, were seized with sickness and penitently desired communion. So I thought it right to follow your judgment, lest our actions, which ought to be united and in agreement in all things, should differ in any way. As for th
-
Tertullian, De Fuga in Persecutione Supporting witness
... despise him for being what he is, a denier? For what does that extortioner say? "Give me money," clearly so that he may not deliver him up, since he is trying to sell you nothing except that which he is going to give you for money. When you put it into his hands, it certainly means that you do not want to be delivered up. But not delivered up, when you were to be held up to public ridicule? While, then, in not wanting to be delivered up, you are unwilling to be exposed in this way, by that unwillingness you have denied that you are what you were unwilling to have made public that you are. "No," you say, "while I am unwilling to be publicly exposed as what I am, I have acknowledged that I am what I am unwilling to be publicly exposed as being," that is, a Christian. Can Christ, therefore, claim that you, as a witness for Him, have steadfastly shown Him forth? The man who buys himself off does nothing in that way. Before one person it might perhaps be said, "You have confessed Him." But because of your unwillingness to confess Him before many, you have denied Him. A man's very safety will declare that he has fallen while escaping persecution. Therefore he has fallen whose desire
-
Peter of Alexandria, Canonical Epistle Supporting witness
But if any have endured much violence and the strong pressure of necessity, receiving into their mouths iron and chains, and for their good affection towards the faith have bravely borne the burning of their hands that against their will had been put to the profane sacrifice, as from their prison the thrice-blessed martyrs have written to me respecting those in Libya, and others their fellow-ministers;
Common Questions
What started Diocletian’s persecution of Christians?
Lactantius says it began with a raid on the church in Nicomedia, where the Scriptures were burned and the church was plundered.
Did persecution begin only after Diocletian’s edict?
No. Dionysius of Alexandria says the persecution with them began before the imperial edict, by a whole year.
How did early Christians think believers should respond?
Tertullian, Cyprian, and other writers treat persecution as a real test and speak of endurance, confession, and martyrdom.
Source Index for Diocletian's Persecution of Christians
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 143 ranked source links for deeper study.
Source index 143 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 included
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
-
Justin Martyr, Other Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin
-
Clement of Rome, Connection to Acts 5:41
Bible Passages 63 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.