The Diocletian Persecution was the last, and most severe, episode of persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Many Christians have experienced persecution from both non-Christians and from other Christians during the history of Christianity. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ...

The persecution began in 303 when Diocletian issued an edict ordering that the meeting-places of Christians be demolished, their sacred books burned, and the Christians themselves stripped of civil rights and honors. Those that refused to surrender their sacred writings faced imprisonment and death. Events Diocletian launched the last major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire; Hierocles was said to have been the instigator of the fierce persecution of the Christians under February 24 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire. ... Emperor Diocletian Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus (245-313 AD), born Diocles, was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305. ...

Later that year, after a fire in Nicomedia and insurrections in Syria and Armenia, Diocletian issued two further edicts, one ordering that the Christians of Nicomedia be put to torture and death as punishment for arson, the other ordering that the bishops and teachers of the churches throughout his domains be imprisoned and forced by torture to sacrifice to the gods of Roman paganism. Nicomedes I of Bithynia founded the city of Nicomedia (modern Ismid), at the head of the Gulf of Astacus (which opens on the Propontis), in 264 BC The city has ever since been one of the chief towns in this part of Asia Minor. ... Arson is the crime of setting a fire with intent to cause damage. ... The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg was a famous torture device, though misconceptions about it do exist. ...

In 304, a fourth edict made the persecution general: not merely the Christian leaders, but all Christians, were to offer sacrifices to the gods, compelled by torture if necessary. Events Major Wu Hu (barbarian) uprising in China; the Hun Liu Yuan establish the Han kingdom, beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms era in China. ...

Due to the authority structure of the Roman tetrachy, the persecution was not general throughout the empire. In the eastern part of the empire, Diocletian and Galerius enforced the persecution, as did Maximian in Italy. However, Constantius Chlorus continued to extend toleration to the Christians in his domain, and so the Christians of Gaul and Britain remained relatively unmolested. The Tetrarchs, a porphyry sculpture sacked from a Byzantine palace in 1204, Treasury of St. ... Galerius on a coin Galerius Maximianus (c. ... emperor Maximian Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius (c. ... On the reverse of this argenteus struck in Antioch under Constantius Chlorus, the tetrarcs are sacrificing to celebrate a victory against the Sarmatians. ...