Roman Imperial Persecutions of Christians

The Roman imperial persecutions of Christians were a recurring series of state actions against the early Christian church carried out under several Roman emperors between the first and early fourth centuries CE. Ancient and early Christian sources describe distinct episodes under Nero following the fire of Rome in 64 CE, under Domitian late in the first century, under Decius in 250 to 251 CE following an empire wide sacrifice edict, under Valerian from 257 to 260 CE which targeted clergy and church property directly, and under Diocletian and his co emperors beginning in 303 CE, the longest and most severe of the group, ending only with a formal edict of toleration issued in 311. Modern historians differ on the scale and continuity of the earlier episodes, and some question whether a real empire wide persecution under Domitian took place at all, but treat the Diocletianic persecution as the best documented and most consequential for the later church.