On the Deaths of the Persecutors (Latin: De Mortibus Persecutorum) is a pamphlet written by the Christian author Lactantius. It concerns itself primarily with the authors of the early fourth-century Great Persecution— Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, Severus and Maximinus—and God's judgment on them.
Lactantius dedicates the work to Donatus, a Christian who had been tortured nine times under three magistrates: the praetorian prefect Flaccinus, Sossianus Hierocles, and Priscillianus, successive governors of Bithynia. [notes 1] After torture, Donatus remained in prison until freed under the terms of Galerius' edict of toleration in spring 311. [2] Lactantius addresses Donatus in the opening passage of the work: The Lord has heard your prayers and the prayers of your brethren. [3] For God has made new emperors rise up to enforce His justice, and destroyed the men who insulted and blasphemed Him; [4] the churches destroyed by the persecutors' wrath have been rebuilt, stronger than before, and peace and tranquility reign again. [5] Thus God has taught a lesson to humanity: that there is but one God, who will, in time, judge all. [6] So that, Lactantius writes, his audience should learn these lessons, he will relate in narrative form God's judgment on the persecutors. [7]
Lactantius begins his account with a brief survey of the fates of earlier persecutors, including Nero, Domitian, Decius, Valerian, and Aurelian (de Mortibus 2–5). Following this, he moves on to his contemporaries, and offers a polemical description of their character, family, and policies of Diocletian, Galerius, and Maximian (de Mortibus 7–11). He describes the events and edicts constituting the Great Persecution (de Mortibus 12–16, 21–22) combined with a political history of the period: the last years of rule and retirements of Diocletian and Maximian, the accession and character of their successors (de Mortibus 17–20), Constantine's flight from Nicomedia and accession to the imperial college (de Mortibus 24–25), the rebellion of Maxentius (de Mortbius 26–27), Maximian's failed attempts to claim the imperial title and execution under Constantine (de Mortibus 28–30)...
...to de Mortibus 52.
The text of On the Deaths survives in a single eleventh-century manuscript, the Codex Paris. 2627 (ol. Colbertinus 1297). [8]
On the Deaths of the Persecutors (Latin: De Mortibus Persecutorum) is a pamphlet written by the Christian author Lactantius. It concerns itself primarily with the authors of the early fourth-century Great Persecution— Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, Severus and Maximinus—and God's judgment on them.
Lactantius dedicates the work to Donatus, a Christian who had been tortured nine times under three magistrates: the praetorian prefect Flaccinus, Sossianus Hierocles, and Priscillianus, successive governors of Bithynia. [notes 1] After torture, Donatus remained in prison until freed under the terms of Galerius' edict of toleration in spring 311. [2] Lactantius addresses Donatus in the opening passage of the work: The Lord has heard your prayers and the prayers of your brethren. [3] For God has made new emperors rise up to enforce His justice, and destroyed the men who insulted and blasphemed Him; [4] the churches destroyed by the persecutors' wrath have been rebuilt, stronger than before, and peace and tranquility reign again. [5] Thus God has taught a lesson to humanity: that there is but one God, who will, in time, judge all. [6] So that, Lactantius writes, his audience should learn these lessons, he will relate in narrative form God's judgment on the persecutors. [7]
Lactantius begins his account with a brief survey of the fates of earlier persecutors, including Nero, Domitian, Decius, Valerian, and Aurelian (de Mortibus 2–5). Following this, he moves on to his contemporaries, and offers a polemical description of their character, family, and policies of Diocletian, Galerius, and Maximian (de Mortibus 7–11). He describes the events and edicts constituting the Great Persecution (de Mortibus 12–16, 21–22) combined with a political history of the period: the last years of rule and retirements of Diocletian and Maximian, the accession and character of their successors (de Mortibus 17–20), Constantine's flight from Nicomedia and accession to the imperial college (de Mortibus 24–25), the rebellion of Maxentius (de Mortbius 26–27), Maximian's failed attempts to claim the imperial title and execution under Constantine (de Mortibus 28–30)...
...to de Mortibus 52.
The text of On the Deaths survives in a single eleventh-century manuscript, the Codex Paris. 2627 (ol. Colbertinus 1297). [8]