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Discuss the significance of the persecution which came under the reign of Diocletian.

In the closing decades of the 3rd Century Christians enjoyed favourable conditions and their numbers increased more rapidly than ever before. The Church was getting more and more rich, highly respectable, influential people to join the Church. Due to this Christians now started to become public figures and receive jobs of high authority. The Church was now not only a religious force but a political force to be reckoned with.
From 180AD – 284AD Rome had twenty-five Emperors of which only two died of natural causes. For if they did not please the army they were killed, this of course shows major instability and disorder within the Empire, this was taken advantage of by tribes on the borders of the Empire. The economy was weakening and trade became more localised and less Empire-wide. This was the situation Diocletian had to face when he became Emperor in 284AD.
It is noteworthy that persecution was far from the first priority of Diocletian’s, proven by the fact that it wa...

Posted by: Jason Cashmere

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