The emperor Valerian resumed state action against Christians in two escalating edicts. The first, in 257, forbade Christian assembly and access to burial places and sent bishops and other clergy into exile. A second, harsher edict in 258 ordered the immediate execution of bishops, priests and deacons, the degradation and eventual execution of Christians of senatorial and equestrian rank who refused to sacrifice, confiscation of property and exile for high-ranking Christian women, and forced labor on the imperial estates for Christians in the emperor's own household. The persecution ended in 260 when Valerian's son and successor Gallienus issued a rescript restoring confiscated church property and formally tolerating Christian worship, the first such imperial protection Christianity had received.
Facts
Status
Official RecognitionSourced to the subject's own accountNot formally recognized by any body 1 Recognition BasisSourced to the subject's own accountNo modern state or international body issues recognition determinations for events of antiquity; the persecution is documented by ancient Christian writers and modern historians, and its principal victims, including Sixtus II, Lawrence and Cyprian, are commemorated liturgically as martyrs within Christian tradition rather than through any secular process. 1 Legal StatusSourced to the subject's own accountTwo edicts of escalating severity: the 257 edict banned Christian assembly and burial-place access and exiled clergy; the 258 edict ordered immediate execution for clergy, and for lay Christians of rank, degradation and confiscation of property to be followed by execution if they persisted in refusing sacrifice after a second warning, with lesser-ranked Christians in state service sent in chains to forced labor. 1 The Event
When It HappenedSourced to the subject's own account257 CE, Valerian's first edict against Christian clergy and assembly, through his harsher second edict of 258, to 260, when his successor Gallienus issued a rescript of toleration restoring confiscated church property. 1 PeriodSourced to the subject's own account Victim GroupSourced to the subject's own accountChristian clergy first and most severely, bishops, priests and deacons; the 258 edict extended targeted penalties to Christian laity of senatorial and equestrian rank and to Christians serving in the imperial household specifically. 1 Perpetrator RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountThe Roman imperial government under Valerian, ended by his own son and successor Gallienus, who reversed the policy on taking power in 260. 1 Origins
Defining MomentPope Sixtus II, bishop of Rome, was beheaded on 6 August 258 together with six of his deacons; his best known deacon, Lawrence of Rome, was martyred four days later, on 10 August. Cyprian of Carthage, who had gone into hiding during the earlier Decian persecution rather than be captured, was tried under Valerian's second edict and beheaded on 14 September 258. 2 Consequences
What It SettledSourced to the subject's own accountGallienus's 260 rescript restored church property confiscated under his father's edicts and extended formal toleration to Christian worship, generally regarded as the first legal protection the Roman state extended to Christianity, opening a roughly four-decade span of relative peace, sometimes called the Little Peace of the Church, that lasted until Diocletian's persecution began in 303. 1 Open Questions
Death Toll AssessmentNo ancient source gives an aggregate figure for deaths across the roughly three years of enforcement. Only named individual executions survive in the record, Sixtus II and six of his deacons, Lawrence of Rome, and Cyprian of Carthage among them; the edicts' own emphasis on rank-based penalties for laity, degradation and confiscation before execution, means many affected Christians are recorded as punished short of death, further complicating any attempt at a single toll figure.
A genuine silence in the record rather than a disputed number: the surviving accounts name individual clergy executions in detail but no ancient or modern historian consulted has reconstructed a running total across the wider laity the 258 edict also targeted. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Cyprian, who had gone into hiding during the earlier Decian persecution, was captured, tried and beheaded under this persecution on 14 September 258.
Conducted By
No individual-person entity exists on this atlas for Valerian; the edicts and their enforcement were the Roman imperial state's own act, reversed by his successor Gallienus in 260.
Persecuted Group
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
What Was the True Death Toll of the Valerian Persecution?
The surviving record names individual clergy executions in detail, including Sixtus II, Lawrence and Cyprian, but the 258 edict's own rank-based penalty structure for laity, degradation and confiscation short of death for many, means no ancient or modern historian consulted has reconstructed an aggregate death total across the whole three years of enforcement.
What would resolve this A systematic collation of the named martyrologies and surviving contemporary correspondence, including Cyprian's own letters, across the persecution's three years, of the kind that could establish a documented floor even without a claim to completeness for the wider laity the second edict also targeted.
Roman imperial history; early Christian source criticismPersecution of Christians in the Roman Empire (Wikipedia)
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