part of his
dominions under the title of Caesar, and to reign after him. Diocletian
chose his son-in-law Galerius, and sent him to fight on the Danube; and
Maximian chose, as Caesar, Constantius Chlorus, who commanded in Britain,
Gaul, and Spain; and thus everything was done to secure that a strong
hand should be ready everywhere to keep the legions from setting up
Emperors at their own will.

Diocletian was esteemed the most just and kind of the Emperors;
Maximian, the fiercest and most savage. He had a bitter hatred of the
Christian name, which was shared by Galerius; but, on the other hand,
the wife of Diocletian was believed to be a Christian, and Helena, the
wife of Constantius, was certainly one. However, Maximian and Galerius
were determined to put down the faith. Maximian is said to have had a
whole legion of Christians in his army, called the Theban, from the
Egyptian Thebes. These he commanded to sacrifice, and on their refusal
had them decimated--that is, every tenth man was slain. They were called
on again to sacrifice, but still were staunch, and after a last summons
were, every man of them, slain as they stood with their tribune Maurice,
whose name is still held in high honor in the Engadine. Diocletian was
slow to become a persecutor, until a fire broke out in his palace at
Nicomedia, which did much mischief in the city, but spared the chief
Christian church. The enemies of the Christians accused them of having
caused it, and Diocletian required every one in his household to clear
themselves by offering sacrifice to Jupiter. His wife and daughter
yielded, but most of his officers and slaves held out, and died in cruel
torments. One slave was scourged till the flesh parted from his bones,
and then the wounds were rubbed with salt and vinegar; others were
racked till their bones were out of joint, and others hung up by their
hands to hooks, with weights fastened to their feet. A city in Phrygia
was surrounded by soldiers and every person in it slaughtered; and the
Christians were hunted down like wild beasts from one end of the empire
to the other, everywhere save in Britain, where, under Constantius, only
one martyrdom is reported to have taken place, namely, that of the
soldier at Verulam, St. Alban. It was the worst of all the persecutions,
and lasted the longest.

[Illustration: DIOCLETIAN IN RETIREMENT.]

The two Emperors were good soldiers, and kept the enemies back, so that
Diocletian celebrated