[162]

The resentment, or the fears, of Diocletian, at length transported him
beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and
he declared, in a series of cruel edicts, [162a] his intention of
abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts, the
governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of
the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons, destined for the vilest
criminals, were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters,
deacons, readers, and exorcists. By a second edict, the magistrates were
commanded to employ every method of severity, which might reclaim
them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the
established worship of the gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a
subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a
violent and general persecution. [163]

Instead of those salutary restraints, which had required the direct
and solemn testimony of an accuser, it became the duty as well as the
interest of the Imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment
the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penalties were denounced
against all who should presume to save a prescribed sectary from the
just indignation of the gods, and of the emperors. Yet, notwithstanding
the severity of this law, the virtuous courage of many of the Pagans, in
concealing their friends or relations, affords an honorable proof,
that the rage of superstition had not extinguished in their minds the
sentiments of nature and humanity. [164]

[Footnote 162: Eusebius, l. viii. c. 6. M. de Valois (with some
probability) thinks that he has discovered the Syrian rebellion in
an oration of Libanius; and that it was a rash attempt of the tribune
Eugenius, who with only five hundred men seized Antioch, and might
perhaps allure the Christians by the promise of religious toleration.
From Eusebius, (l. ix. c. 8,) as well as from Moses of Chorene, (Hist.
Armen. l. ii. 77, &c.,) it may be inferred, that Christianity was
already introduced into Armenia.]

[Footnote 162a: He had already passed them in his first edict. It
does not appear that resentment or fear had any share in the new
persecutions: perhaps they originated in superstition, and a specious
apparent respect for its ministers. The oracle of Apollo, consulted
by Diocletian, gave no answer; and said that just men hindered it from
speaking. Constantine, who assisted at the ceremony, aff