en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decius
1 correction found
Decius' edicts were renewed under Valerian in 253
This date is wrong. Valerian’s persecution began in 257, not 253, with a second edict in 258.
Full reasoning
Valerian did become emperor in 253, but the evidence does not place his anti-Christian edicts in that year. A Cambridge University Press article on Valerian’s persecution says his "sudden shift in religious policy" occurred in 257 and that before then "the church was largely undisturbed." A second source, the Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Valerian, likewise states that "In 257 Valerian issued a rescript" against Christians and that "In 258, by a new ... edict" harsher penalties followed.
So the article’s wording incorrectly moves the renewal of Decius-style persecution forward by about four years: 253 was the year Valerian became emperor, not the year he issued the persecution edicts.
2 sources
- Imperial Religious Policy and Valerian's Persecution of the Church, A.D. 257-260 | Church History | Cambridge Core
One of the most pressing questions concerns the reasons behind Valerian's sudden shift in religious policy in 257. Prior to that time the church was largely undisturbed, but the years 257-258 witnessed a series of increasingly severe imperial edicts directed against Christianity.
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Valerian
In 257 Valerian issued a rescript ... In 258, by a new and absolutely merciless edict, bishops, priests, and deacons were executed immediately.