Persecutions End

305 CE Diocletian died of natural causes. The reign of terror had ended. There came to be a new ruler who accepted Christians. The ruler was named Constantine. Constantine himself was not a Christian but he became one on his deathbed. He and Licinius made the edict of Milan, which permitted the toleration of Christianity in 313 CE. The Christians were allowed to worship openly and buildings could be built for the Christians. This helped to end the persecutions committed in Rome (Hutchinson and Garrison 49). After Constantine, Christianity slowly became accepted in Rome. In the fourth century it became mandatory to accept the religion.

In conclusion, the Romans at first did not fully understand the Christians. The Romans made their own ideas and beliefs about the Christian people. This misunderstanding led to persecutions. The persecutions finally ended when Theodosius made the Romans accept the Christian religion in 380 CE. It had taken about three hundred years for the Romans to accept the Christians.

Works Cited

• "The Christians of the Age of Persecutions in the Defense by the Apologists." The Christian Catacombs of Rome. Jan. 1997. Online. 20 Oct. 1999 http:www.catacombe.roma.it/persecuzioni_gb.html
• Hutchinson, Paul and Winfred E. Garrison. 20 Centuries of Christianity: A Concise History. New York: Harcourt, 1959.
• Quennell, Peter. The Colosseum. New York: Wonders of Man, 1971.
• Wilken, Robert L. The Christians as the Romans Saw Them. New Haven: Yale UP, 1984.