ABSTRACT
In 303 ce, the emperor Diocletian initiated a persecution of the Christians in the Roman empire. This chapter introduces the main sources to the Catholic-Donatist schism. It also discusses its origin and outlines its history with an emphasis on confrontation. The Donatist bishop Silvanus had been one of the accusers of the Catholic bishop of Carthage, Caecilian. Silvanus himself was in 320 brought to trial and exiled. Victor's testimony exemplifies the fact that many fourth-century African Christians could have lived much of their lives without giving much thought to the schism or to its consequences. The cliche that 'history is written by the winners' is to some degree confirmed by the preserved sources for the Catholic-Donatist schism. A distinction should be drawn between the origin of Donatism and the origin of the Catholic-Donatist split. The origin of the split was connected to the Great Persecution.
