ty in death.
Another case was that of the wife of the prefect of Rome. Maxentius, the
emperor, being seized with a passionate desire for her, sent officers to
bring her to the palace. The lady begged time in which to adorn herself
for the occasion. This being granted, as soon as she found herself
alone, she stabbed herself, so that the messengers going to her room
found nothing but her dead body. These instances are recorded with great
admiration by both Eusebius and Chrysostom, showing that the leaders of
the early Church deemed it less prejudicial to a woman's salvation for
her to take her own life than to suffer even the involuntary defilement
of her body.

The reign of Diocletian and his colleagues saw the final struggle
between Christianity and paganism. It was a bloody conflict for the
Christians; and yet, though they refrained from resisting evil with
material weapons, they conquered. Women in great numbers were again
faithful unto death. Some were for the time frightened from their
allegiance to Christ; for the pure precepts were becoming increasingly
diluted with worldliness as well as superstition. Among these women were
the wife and daughter of Diocletian, Prisca and Valeria. These had
become converts to the faith; but when the edict was published against
the Christians, they sacrificed to the traditional gods. It availed them
little, however; for they gained only a few years of most distressful
life at the cost of the martyr's crown. In the end the violent death
came to them without the honor, for in the year 314 Licinius caused them
to be beheaded and their bodies thrown into the sea. They had committed
no fault of which any evidence is left; and for several years they had
suffered from the loss of their property and from the hardships of
exile. Diocletian was still alive, but could render them no aid, as he
had abdicated the throne and was now busying himself solely in growing
vegetables. Licinius was mistakenly supposed to be a friend to
Christianity; Constantine had become its champion. But, as Victor Duruy
says: "Notwithstanding celestial visions and marvellous dreams, these
men were destitute of heart, and their faith, if they had any, was
without influence upon their conduct. Their cruelty was universally
commended; in reference to all these murders, the Christian preceptor of
a son of Constantine utters a cry of triumph. The inspiration of the
gentle Galilean Teacher was replaced by that of the impla