ABSTRACT
In some respects, the Great Persecution – begun in 303 under Diocletian and histhree fellow emperors (Maximian, Galerius and Constantius, the four of them comprising the ‘Tetrarchy’ described on pp. 260-1) and continuing until 311 ce ought not to have been a surprise to the Christians of the empire in the early fourth century. Although they had enjoyed a long peace in which the church had both grown and prospered, that very success caused alarm amongst those most committed to the preservation of traditional values (de Labriolle 1942: 302-15; Barnes 1976a; Lane Fox 1986: 585-95; Judge 1983 ). Most prominent of these were the emperors themselves. Not only did Diocletian assert the value of tradition in his public statements, but he also actively attacked such practitioners of dangerous novelties as the Manichaeans (Mosaicarum et Romanarum Legum Collatio 15.3).
