Abstract
The "Great Persecution" offers some important problems for the study of the conflict between the Roman Empire and the Church. We must examine it not only on the level of religion but also the political and social backgrounds. Therefore, it seems that Maximinus Daia is the most interesting persecutor in this period. He ruled the East of the Empire where Christians were most densely populated in the Empire, and he persecuted the Church more violently than any other emperor. He tried to revive paganism energetically in order to establish the moral unity in his dominions. Then we find it important that many cities in the East petitioned to the Emperor against the Christians and asked him to persecute them, for it means that Daia's persecution was regulated by some external conditions. We can find some factors which determined the course of his persecution. First of all, he faced the political crisis in the Empire which affected his Christian policy, so his attacks against the Church were very intermittent. He was the sole emperor who resumed the persecution after Galerius had issued an edict of toleration, but he was forced to relax the persecution by Constantine and Licinius. After his defeat Daia was even obliged to publish an edict of toleration. Maximinus, however, intended to accomplish the persecution to the last, which was his fundamental policy. And it was the traditional Roman religion-paganism -that made him choose such a policy. He was not a brutal persecutor, for he rather desired that through persuasion his subjects should be brought fitly to reverence the gods and that the Christians should not be constrained by violence. We may consider he was devoted to paganism and was even an intelligent emperor. He regarded Diocletian as his father and called himself Jovius-another name of Jupiter who was the main god of the tetrarchic system. He inherited Diocletian's policy including the persecution, and wanted to obtain the rank of the first Augustus. The reform and reorganization of paganism were executed, parallel with the persecution. Temples were restored. Perhaps in conscious imitation of the Church he organized a hierarchy of priests. They were drawn from among those who had shown themselves zealous in the service of paganism. And the forged anti-Christian books like Acts of Pilate were published and taught in the school. General sacrifices were ordered to be made by all people. Then we must give attention to the petitions against the Christians, which asked that they should be expelled from the cities. The petitions were sent to the Emperor by many cities like Nicomedia, Antioch and so on from autumn 311 to summer 312. It is clear that the cities petitioned spontaneously and they became one of the causes for reopening the persecution at the end of 311. But we can not overestimate the pressure of the petitions on the policy of Maximinus. For the pagan citizens who had petitioned, e.g. Theotecnus of Antioch, belonged to the upper classes. They supported the policy of persecution by means of petition, and were granted by the Emperor offices of the empire or of the pagan organization, or even some boons for the city itself in return for their devotion to the gods. So it seems that the Emperor and these citizens were interdependent. Rather we should find that paganism was declining in this period. Eusebiuss often says that pagan people in the lower classes disliked the persecution and orders of sacrifices, and they felt pity for the Christians. So paganism must be "revived" by Maximinus and it was a vain attempt. Before Maximinus was defeated by Licinius in 313 he had been defeated by the Church.
