Decian persecution

E98640

The Decian persecution was a mid-3rd-century Roman imperial campaign under Emperor Decius that sought to enforce universal pagan sacrifice and led to widespread, systematic persecution of Christians.

AI illustration

How this image was made

AI-generated illustration of Decian persecution

This AI-generated illustration was produced by black-forest-labs/FLUX.2-dev (1024x1024) from a prompt written by openai/gpt-oss-120b from the entity's label + description.

Prompt

Generate an image of the Decian persecution (The Decian persecution was a mid-3rd-century Roman imperial campaign under Emperor Decius that sought to enforce universal pagan sacrifice and led to widespread, systematic persecution of Christians.)

All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
Decian persecution canonical 11
Persecution of Decius 2
Decian persecution of Christians 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (70)

Predicate Object
instanceOf 3rd-century event ⓘ
Roman imperial policy ⓘ
persecution of Christians ⓘ
religious persecution ⓘ
aim enforce universal pagan sacrifice ⓘ
revive traditional Roman religious practices ⓘ
secure public loyalty to the emperor ⓘ
appliesToJurisdiction all provinces of the Roman Empire ⓘ
country Roman Empire ⓘ
documentedIn Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History ⓘ
letters of Cyprian of Carthage ⓘ
various surviving libelli from Egypt ⓘ
endCause accession of Trebonianus Gallus ⓘ
death of Emperor Decius in battle against the Goths ⓘ
endTime 251 ⓘ
June 251 ⓘ
followedBy Valerianic persecution ⓘ
follows local and sporadic persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire ⓘ
hasCause crisis of the Third Century ⓘ
desire to restore traditional Roman religion ⓘ
imperial concern for unity and loyalty to the Roman state ⓘ
hasEffect apostasy of some Christians under pressure ⓘ
creation of the category of lapsi in Christian communities ⓘ
development of Christian penitential discipline ⓘ
martyrdom of many Christians ⓘ
strengthening of episcopal authority in dealing with lapsi ⓘ
tensions and schisms within Christian communities ⓘ
widespread persecution of Christians ⓘ
historicalPeriod Crisis of the Third Century ⓘ
implementedBy Emperor Decius ⓘ
Roman provincial governors ⓘ
local municipal authorities ⓘ
legalBasis Decian edict on universal sacrifice ⓘ
location Alexandria ⓘ
Antioch ⓘ
Asia Minor ⓘ
Carthage ⓘ
Egypt ⓘ
Rome ⓘ
mainTarget Christian clergy ⓘ
Christian laity ⓘ
Christians ⓘ
linked to: Christianity
method execution of some Christians ⓘ
imprisonment of non-compliant Christians ⓘ
issuance of libelli as proof of sacrifice ⓘ
requirement to sacrifice to the Roman gods ⓘ
torture of Christian resisters ⓘ
namedAfter Emperor Decius ⓘ
notableFeature administrative rather than purely local initiative ⓘ
creation of a large number of Christian martyrs ⓘ
first empire-wide persecution of Christians ⓘ
focus on compelling sacrifice rather than seeking executions ⓘ
major test of Christian allegiance to their faith ⓘ
trigger for later theological debates on apostasy and penance ⓘ
use of certificates of sacrifice (libelli) ⓘ
variation in severity between provinces ⓘ
notableVictim Alexander of Jerusalem ⓘ
Babylas of Antioch ⓘ
Pionius of Smyrna ⓘ
Pope Fabian ⓘ
many unnamed Christian martyrs ⓘ
opposedBy Christian bishops ⓘ
Christian martyrs ⓘ
partOf history of Christianity in the Roman Empire ⓘ
history of religious persecution ⓘ
precededBy persecution of Christians under Emperor Maximinus Thrax ⓘ
religiousContext Roman paganism ⓘ
early Christianity ⓘ
startTime 249 ⓘ
late 249 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (15)

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

Diocletianic Persecution → precededBy → Decian persecution ⓘ
Cyprian of Carthage → associatedWithEvent → Decian persecution ⓘ
Nayrouz → historicalReference → Era of the Martyrs ⓘ
linked to: Decian persecution
Saint Agatha → associatedWith → Decian persecution ⓘ
Pope Fabian → diedDuring → Persecution of Decius ⓘ
linked to: Decian persecution
Pionius of Smyrna → persecutedUnder → Decian persecution ⓘ
Pionius of Smyrna → associatedEvent → Decian persecution of Christians ⓘ
linked to: Decian persecution
Letters of Cyprian of Carthage → historicalContext → Decian persecution ⓘ
subject linked to: letters of Cyprian of Carthage
De lapsis → addressesEvent → Decian persecution ⓘ
Valerian persecution → follows → Decian persecution ⓘ
Novatianism → historicalContext → Decian persecution ⓘ
Pope Cornelius → papacyDuring → Persecution of Decius ⓘ
linked to: Decian persecution
Novatianist churches → emergedInContextOf → Decian persecution ⓘ