Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
E733664
Lactantius' *De Mortibus Persecutorum* is an early 4th-century Christian Latin work that narrates and interprets the fates of Roman emperors who persecuted Christians as divine retribution.
All labels observed (5)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8448774 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum Context triple: [Galeria Valeria, mentionedIn, Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum]
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A.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
The Martyrdom of Polycarp is an early Christian text recounting the arrest, trial, and execution of the bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, serving as one of the oldest and most influential martyrdom narratives in Christian literature.
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B.
Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
Passion of Perpetua and Felicity is an early 3rd-century Christian martyrdom account, notable for its vivid first-person narrative by the young noblewoman Perpetua and its influential role in shaping Christian hagiography and views on martyrdom.
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C.
Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History
Eusebius’s *Ecclesiastical History* is a foundational fourth-century Christian work that chronicles the development of the early Church, its leaders, doctrines, and persecutions from the time of Christ to Eusebius’s own era.
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D.
Chronicle of Eusebius
The Chronicle of Eusebius is an early 4th-century universal history by Eusebius of Caesarea that synchronizes biblical events with ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman chronologies.
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E.
Lactantius
Lactantius was an early 4th-century Christian author and apologist, best known for his work "Divine Institutes" and for serving as an advisor and tutor in the court of Emperor Constantine.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum Target entity description: Lactantius' *De Mortibus Persecutorum* is an early 4th-century Christian Latin work that narrates and interprets the fates of Roman emperors who persecuted Christians as divine retribution.
-
A.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
The Martyrdom of Polycarp is an early Christian text recounting the arrest, trial, and execution of the bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, serving as one of the oldest and most influential martyrdom narratives in Christian literature.
-
B.
Passion of Perpetua and Felicity
Passion of Perpetua and Felicity is an early 3rd-century Christian martyrdom account, notable for its vivid first-person narrative by the young noblewoman Perpetua and its influential role in shaping Christian hagiography and views on martyrdom.
-
C.
Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History
Eusebius’s *Ecclesiastical History* is a foundational fourth-century Christian work that chronicles the development of the early Church, its leaders, doctrines, and persecutions from the time of Christ to Eusebius’s own era.
-
D.
Chronicle of Eusebius
The Chronicle of Eusebius is an early 4th-century universal history by Eusebius of Caesarea that synchronizes biblical events with ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman chronologies.
-
E.
Lactantius
Lactantius was an early 4th-century Christian author and apologist, best known for his work "Divine Institutes" and for serving as an advisor and tutor in the court of Emperor Constantine.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Christian Latin prose work
ⓘ
Christian apologetic work ⓘ late antique historical narrative ⓘ |
| aim | to demonstrate God’s judgment on persecutors of the Church ⓘ |
| alternativeTitle |
De Mortibus Persecutorum Imperatorum
ⓘ
linked to:
Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
|
| approximateDate | c. 313–315 CE ⓘ |
| author | Lactantius ⓘ |
| contains |
account of Constantine’s vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
ⓘ
account of the Edict of Toleration of Galerius ⓘ accounts of imperial edicts against Christians ⓘ |
| dateWritten | early 4th century ⓘ |
| describes |
Roman persecution of Christians
ⓘ
reign of Diocletian ⓘ reign of Galerius ⓘ reign of Licinius ⓘ reign of Maximian ⓘ reign of Maximinus Daia ⓘ rise of Constantine the Great ⓘ |
| focusesOn | deaths of persecuting emperors ⓘ |
| genre |
Christian historiography
ⓘ
persecution narrative ⓘ |
| historicalValue |
important source for the Great Persecution
ⓘ
important source for the Tetrarchy ⓘ |
| influenced | later Christian views of persecuting emperors ⓘ |
| intendedAudience | Christian readers of the early 4th century ⓘ |
| interpretationFramework |
moral causality between persecution and imperial downfall
ⓘ
providential view of history ⓘ |
| keyFigureDescribed |
Constantine the Great
ⓘ
linked to:
Constantine I
Diocletian ⓘ Galerius ⓘ Licinius ⓘ Maximian ⓘ Maximinus Daia ⓘ |
| language | Latin ⓘ |
| literaryForm | prose ⓘ |
| mainTheme |
divine retribution against persecutors of Christians
ⓘ
fates of Roman emperors who persecuted Christians ⓘ |
| narrativeTimeSpan | reign of Decius to reign of Constantine the Great ⓘ |
| perspective |
Christian polemical
ⓘ
pro-Constantinian ⓘ |
| placeOfComposition | Western Roman Empire ⓘ |
| relatedWorkByAuthor | Divinae Institutiones ⓘ |
| religiousTradition | Christianity ⓘ |
| scholarlyDebate | questions about its exact date and historical accuracy ⓘ |
| setting | Roman Empire ⓘ |
| titleTranslation | On the Deaths of the Persecutors ⓘ |
| transmission | preserved in medieval Latin manuscripts ⓘ |
| usedAsSourceBy | modern historians of early Christianity ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum Description of subject: Lactantius' *De Mortibus Persecutorum* is an early 4th-century Christian Latin work that narrates and interprets the fates of Roman emperors who persecuted Christians as divine retribution.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Constantine the Great’s campaign against Maxentius in northern Italy
→
primarySource
→
Lactantius’s De Mortibus Persecutorum
ⓘ
linked to: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
linked to: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
linked to: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
subject linked to:
Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum
linked to: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum