ABSTRACT
The period of the Tetrarchy was a time when, at least among a group of pagan philosophers, conventional identities in the Roman Empire had become unmoored: barbarians were decent people; Egyptians of the proper kind and Romans could be Greeks; only Christians were a group not to be tolerated. This chapter illustrates how the Neo-Platonist' connection between piety and a community's identity was compatible with contemporary Roman jurisprudence. It shows how the Neo-Platonist perceived Christian practice as undercutting the foundations of both Hellenic and barbarian communities. Accordingly, Galerius' edict seems to instantiate the views of both Ulpian and the third-century Neo-Platonist, Porphyry especially, that legislation concerning divine worship constitutes part of the foundation and identity of the polity. Porphyry had voiced his concerns about Christianity's detrimental effect on the Roman polity not long before Diocletian inaugurated the Great Persecution.
