Editing Persecution of Christians (section)

== Late antiquity ==

=== Roman Empire ===
[[File:Barbara of Nicomedia (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|thumb|Execution of [[Saint Barbara]], reputed to have been killed under the emperor [[Diocletian]], depicted in the ''[[Menologion of Basil II]]'']]

====The Great Persecution====
{{Main|Diocletianic Persecution}}
{{See also|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire}}
The Great Persecution, or Diocletianic Persecution, was begun by the senior ''[[Augustus (title)#Imperial honorific|augustus]]'' and [[Roman emperor]] [[Diocletian]] ({{Reign|284|305}}) on 23 February 303.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Nicholson|first=Oliver|title=Christians, persecution of|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1035|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|edition=online|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-10-07}}</ref> In the eastern Roman empire, the official persecution lasted intermittently until 313, while in the [[Western Roman Empire]] the persecution went unenforced from 306.<ref name=":0" /> According to [[Lactantius]]'s ''De mortibus persecutorum'' ("on the deaths of the persecutors"), Diocletian's junior emperor, the ''[[Caesar (title)|caesar]]'' [[Galerius]] ({{Reign|293|311}}) pressured the ''augustus'' to begin persecuting Christians.<ref name=":0" /> [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]'s ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Church History]]'' reports that [[imperial edict]]s were promulgated to destroy churches and confiscate scriptures, and to remove Christian occupants of government positions, while Christian priests were to be imprisoned and required to perform [[sacrifice in ancient Roman religion]].<ref name=":0" /> In the account of Eusebius, an unnamed Christian man (named by later hagiographers as {{interlanguage link|Euethius of Nicomedia|el|Εβένσιος της Νικομήδειας|es|Evecio de Nicomedia|it|Evezio|sw|Evesi wa Nikomedia}} and venerated on 27 February) tore down a public notice of an imperial edict while the emperors Diocletian and Galerius were in [[Nicomedia]] ([[İzmit]]), one of Diocletian's capitals; according to Lactantius, he was tortured and burned alive.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Brent D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8ZRPTgcjrcC|title=Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-521-19605-5|page=176}}</ref> According to Lactantius, the church at [[Nicomedia]] ([[İzmit]]) was destroyed, while the ''[[Optatan Appendix]]'' has an account from the [[praetorian prefecture of Africa]] involving the confiscation of written materials which led to the [[Donatist schism]].<ref name=":0" /> According to Eusebius's ''[[Martyrs of Palestine]]'' and Lactantius's ''De mortibus persecutorum'', a fourth edict in 304 demanded that everyone perform sacrifices, though in the western empire this was not enforced.<ref name=":0" />

An "unusually philosophical" dialogue is recorded in the trial proceedings of [[Phileas of Thmuis]], bishop of [[Thmuis]] in [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]]'s [[Nile Delta]], which survive on Greek [[papyri]] from the 4th century among the [[Bodmer Papyri]] and the [[Chester Beatty Papyri]] of the [[Bodmer Library|Bodmer]] and [[Chester Beatty Library|Chester Beatty]] libraries and in manuscripts in [[Latin]], [[Ethiopic]], and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] languages from later centuries, a body of [[hagiography]] known as the ''[[Acts of Phileas]]''.<ref name=":0" /> Phileas was condemned at his fifth trial at [[Alexandria]] under {{interlanguage link|Clodius Culcianus|ru|Клодий Кульциан}}, the ''[[praefectus Aegypti]]'' on 4 February 305 (the 10th day of [[Meshir|''Mecheir'']]).

In the western empire, the Diocletianic Persecution ceased with the usurpation by two emperors' sons in 306: that of Constantine, who was [[Acclamatio|acclaimed]] ''augustus'' by the army after his father [[Constantius I]] ({{Reign|293|306}}) died, and that of [[Maxentius]] ({{Reign|306|312}}) who was elevated to ''augustus'' by the [[Roman Senate]] after the grudging retirement of his father [[Maximian]] ({{Reign|285|305}}) and his co-''augustus'' Diocletian in May 305.<ref name=":0" /> Of Maxentius, who controlled Italy with his now un-retired father, and Constantine, who controlled [[Roman Britain|Britain]], [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]], and [[Roman Iberia|Iberia]], neither was inclined to continue the persecution.<ref name=":0" /> In the eastern empire however, Galerius, now ''augustus'', continued Diocletian's policy.<ref name=":0" /> Eusebius's ''Church History'' and ''Martyrs of Palestine'' both give accounts of martyrdom and persecution of Christians, including Eusebius's own mentor [[Pamphilus of Caesarea]], with whom he was imprisoned during the persecution.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Peter the Archbishop of Alexandria (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|thumb|The execution of the patriarch [[Peter I of Alexandria|Peter of Alexandria]] under the emperor [[Maximinus Daia]], depicted in the ''[[Menologion of Basil II]]'']]
[[File:Martyrs Silvanus the Bishop of Emesa, Luke the deacon, and Mocius (Mucius) the reader (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|thumb|The execution of the martyrs [[Luke the Deacon]], [[Mocius the Reader]], and {{interlanguage link|Silvanus, bishop of Emesa|fr|Sylvain (évêque d'Émèse)|it|Silvano di Emesa|sw|Silvano wa Homs}}, reputed to have been killed under the emperor [[Maximinus Daia]], depicted in the ''[[Menologion of Basil II]]'']]
When Galerius died in May 311, he is reported by Lactantius and Eusebius to have composed a deathbed edict – the [[Edict of Serdica]] – allowing the assembly of Christians in [[conventicles]] and explaining the motives for the prior persecution.<ref name=":0" /> Eusebius wrote that Easter was celebrated openly.<ref name=":0" /> By autumn however, Galerius's nephew, former ''caesar'', and co-''augustus'' [[Maximinus Daia]] ({{Reign|310|313}}) was enforcing Diocletian's persecution in his territories in [[Anatolia]] and the [[Diocese of the East]] in response to petitions from numerous cities and provinces, including [[Antioch]], [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], [[Lycia]], and [[Pisidia]].<ref name=":0" /> Maximinus was also encouraged to act by an [[Oracle|oracular]] pronouncement made by a statue of Zeus ''Philios'' set up in Antioch by [[Theotecnus of Antioch]], who also organized an anti-Christian petition to be sent from the Antiochenes to Maximinus, requesting that the Christians there be expelled.<ref name=":0" /> Among the Christians known to have died in this phase of the persecution are the [[presbyter]] [[Lucian of Antioch]], the bishop [[Methodius of Olympus|Methodius]] of [[Olympus (Lycia)|Olympus in Lycia]], and [[Peter I of Alexandria|Peter]], the [[patriarch of Alexandria]]. Defeated in a civil war by the ''augustus'' [[Licinius]] ({{Reign|308|324}}), Maximinus died in 313, ending the systematic persecution of Christianity as a whole in the Roman Empire.<ref name=":0" /> Only one martyr is known by name from the reign of Licinius, who issued the [[Edict of Milan]] jointly with his ally, co-''augustus'', and brother-in-law Constantine, which had the effect of resuming the toleration of before the persecution and returning confiscated property to Christian owners.<ref name=":0" />

The ''[[New Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' states that "Ancient, medieval and early modern hagiographers were inclined to exaggerate the number of martyrs. Since the title of martyr is the highest title to which a Christian can aspire, this tendency is natural".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howells |first1=Kristina |title=Making Sense of Bible Prophecy |date=2008 |publisher=Lulu |isbn=978-1409207832 |page=91}}</ref> Attempts at estimating the numbers involved are inevitably based on inadequate sources.<ref name="Frend">{{cite book |title=The Rise of Christianity |author=W. H. C. Frend |publisher=Fortress Press, Philadelphia |year=1984 |page=319 |isbn=978-0-8006-1931-2|author-link=W. H. C. Frend }}</ref>

==== Constantinian period ====
{{Main|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire}}
{{See also|Religious policies of Constantine the Great}}
The Christian church marked the conversion of [[Constantine the Great]] as the final fulfillment of its heavenly victory over the "false gods".<ref name="Brown2">Brown, Peter. "Christianization and religious conflict". The Cambridge Ancient History 13 (1998): 337–425.</ref>{{rp|xxxii}} The Roman state had always seen itself as divinely directed, now it saw the first great age of persecution, in which the [[Devil in Christianity|Devil]] was considered to have used open violence to dissuade the growth of Christianity, at an end.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Brent D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8ZRPTgcjrcC|title=Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-521-19605-5|pages=598–599}}</ref> The orthodox catholic<!-- do not capitalize either of these words, the meant as general terms, not labels connected with the present-day denominations --> Christians close to the Roman state represented imperial persecution as an historical phenomenon, rather than a contemporary one.<ref name=":2"/> According to MacMullan, the Christian histories are colored by this "triumphalism".<ref name="MacMullen1986p4">MacMullen, Ramsay (1997) ''Christianity & Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries'', Yale University Press, p.4 quote: "non Christian writings came in for this same treatment, that is destruction in great bonfires at the center of the town square. Copyists were discouraged from replacing them by the threat of having their hands cut off</ref>{{rp|4}}

[[Peter Leithart]] says that, "[Constantine] did not punish pagans for being pagans, or Jews for being Jews, and did not adopt a policy of forced conversion".<ref name="Leithart2010">{{cite book |last1=Leithart |first1=Peter J. |title=Defending Constantine The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom |date=2010 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=9780830827220}}</ref>{{rp|61}} Pagans remained in important positions at his court.<ref name="Leithart2010"/>{{rp|302}} He outlawed the gladiatorial shows, destroyed some temples and plundered more, and used forceful rhetoric against non-Christians, but he never engaged in a purge.<ref name="Leithart2010"/>{{rp|302}} Maxentius' supporters were not slaughtered when Constantine took the capital; Licinius' family and court were not killed.<ref name="Leithart2010"/>{{rp|304}} However, followers of doctrines which were seen as heretical or causing [[schism]] were persecuted during the reign of Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, and they would be persecuted again later in the 4th century.<ref name="Tilley1996">{{cite book|title=Donatist Martyr Stories The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa|date=1996|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=9780853239314|editor1-last=Tilley|editor1-first=Maureen A.|pages=ix, xiv}}</ref> The consequence of Christian doctrinal disputes was generally mutual excommunication, but once Roman government became involved in ecclesiastical politics, rival factions could find themselves subject to "repression, expulsion, imprisonment or exile" carried out by the Roman army.<ref name="John F. Shean">{{cite book |last1=Shean |first1=John F. |title=Soldiering for God Christianity and the Roman Army |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004187337}}</ref>{{rp|317}}

In 312, the Christian sect called [[Donatism|Donatists]] appealed to Constantine to solve a dispute. He convened a synod of bishops to hear the case, but the synod sided against them. The Donatists refused to accept the ruling, so a second gathering of 200 at Arles, in 314, was called, but they also ruled against them. The Donatists again refused to accept the ruling, and proceeded to act accordingly by establishing their own bishop, building their own churches, and refusing cooperation.<ref name="John F. Shean"/>{{rp|317}}<ref name="Tilley1996"/>{{rp|xv}} This was a defiance of imperial authority, and it produced the same response Rome had taken in the past against such refusals. For a Roman emperor, "religion could be tolerated only as long as it contributed to the stability of the state".<ref name="Earle E. Cairns">Cairns, Earle E. (1996). "Chapter 7:Christ or Caesar". Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church (Third ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. {{ISBN|978-0-310-20812-9}}.</ref>{{rp|87}} Constantine used the army in an effort to compel Donatist' obedience, burning churches and martyring some from 317 – 321.<ref name="Tilley1996"/>{{rp|ix; xv}} Constantine failed in reaching his goal and ultimately conceded defeat. The schism remained and Donatism continued.<ref name="John F. Shean"/>{{rp|318}} After Constantine, his youngest son [[Constans|Flavius Julius Constans]], initiated the [[Macarius (imperial legate)|Macarian campaign]] against the Donatists from 346 – 348 which only succeeded in renewing sectarian strife and creating more martyrs. Donatism continued.<ref name="Tilley1996"/>{{rp|xvii}}

The fourth century was dominated by its many conflicts defining orthodoxy versus heterodoxy and heresy. In the Eastern Roman empire, known as Byzantium, the [[Arian controversy]] began with its debate of Trinitarian formulas which lasted 56 years.<ref name="Olson">{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Roger E.|title=The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform|publisher=InterVarsity Press|location=Downer's Grove, In.|year=1999|page=172|isbn=978-0-8308-1505-0}}</ref>{{rp|141}} As it moved into the West, the center of the controversy was the "champion of orthodoxy", [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]]. In 355 Constantius, who supported Arianism, ordered the suppression and exile of Athanasius, expelled the orthodox [[Pope Liberius]] from Rome, and exiled bishops who refused to assent to Athanasius's exile.<ref name=":4"/> In 355, [[Dionysius (bishop of Milan)|Dionysius]], bishop of [[Mediolanum]] ([[Milan]]) was expelled from his episcopal see and replaced by the Arian Christian [[Auxentius of Milan]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Brent D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8ZRPTgcjrcC|title=Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-521-19605-5|pages=460–466}}</ref> When Constantius returned to Rome in 357, he consented to allow the return of Liberius to the papacy; the Arian [[Pope Felix II]], who had replaced him, was then driven out along with his followers.<ref name=":4"/>

The last emperor of the [[Constantinian dynasty]], [[Julius Constantius|Constantine's half-brother]]'s son [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] ({{Reign|361|363}}) opposed Christianity and sought to restore traditional religion, though he did not arrange a general or official persecution.<ref name=":0"/>

==== Valentinianic–Theodosian period ====
According to the ''[[Collectio Avellana]]'', on the death of Pope Liberius in 366, Damasus, assisted by hired gangs of "charioteers" and men "from the arena", broke into the [[Basilica Julia]] to violently prevent the election of [[Pope Ursicinus]].<ref name=":4"/> The battle lasted three days, "with great slaughter of the faithful" and a week later Damasus seized the [[Lateran Basilica]], had himself ordained as [[Pope Damasus I]], and compelled the ''[[praefectus urbi]]'' [[Viventius]] and the ''[[praefectus annonae]]'' to exile Ursicinus.<ref name=":4"/> Damasus then had seven Christian priests arrested and awaiting banishment, but they escaped and "gravediggers" and minor clergy joined another mob of hippodrome and amphitheatre men assembled by the pope to attack the [[Liberian Basilica]], where Ursacinus's loyalists had taken refuge.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Shaw|first=Brent D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8ZRPTgcjrcC|title=Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-521-19605-5|pages=458–460}}</ref> According to [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], on 26 October, the pope's mob killed 137 people in the church in just one day, and many more died subsequently.<ref name=":4" /> The Roman public frequently enjoined the emperor [[Valentinian the Great]] to remove Damasus from the throne of Saint Peter, calling him a murderer for having waged a "filthy war" against the Christians.<ref name=":4" />

In the 4th century, the [[Thervings|Terving]] king [[Athanaric]] in {{Circa|375}} ordered the [[Gothic persecution of Christians]].<ref>Peter Heather & John Matthews, ''Goths in the Fourth Century'', pp. 96ff</ref> Athanaric was perturbed by the spread of [[Gothic Christianity]] among his followers, and feared for the displacement of [[Gothic paganism]].

It was not until the later 4th century reigns of the ''augusti'' [[Gratian]] ({{Reign|367|383}}), [[Valentinian II]] ({{Reign|375|392}}), and [[Theodosius I]] ({{Reign|379|395}}) that Christianity would become the official religion of the empire with the joint promulgation of the [[Edict of Thessalonica]], establishing [[Nicene Christianity]] as the [[state religion]] and as the [[state church of the Roman Empire]] on 27 February 380. After this began state persecution of non-Nicene Christians, including [[Arianism|Arian]] and [[Nontrinitarianism|Nontrinitarian]] devotees.<ref name="MacMullen'sordinaryday">{{cite book|last1=MacMullen|first1=Ramsay|title=Changes in the Roman Empire: Essays in the Ordinary|date=2019|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691655246}}</ref>{{rp|267}}

When [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] became coadjutor Bishop of Hippo in 395, both Donatist and Catholic parties had, for decades, existed side-by-side, with a double line of bishops for the same cities, all competing for the loyalty of the people.<ref name="Tilley1996"/>{{rp|xv}}{{efn|French archaeology has shown the north African landscape of this time period became "covered with a white robe of churches" with Catholics and Donatists building multiple churches with granaries to feed the poor as they competed for the loyalty of the people.<ref name="Brown1964">{{cite journal|last=Brown|first= P.|year=1964|title=St. Augustine's Attitude to Religious Coercion|journal=Journal of Roman Studies|volume= 54|issue=1–2| pages=107–116|doi=10.2307/298656|jstor= 298656|s2cid= 162757247}}</ref>}}{{rp|334}} Augustine was distressed by the ongoing schism, but he held the view that belief cannot be compelled, so he appealed to the Donatists using popular propaganda, debate, personal appeal, General Councils, appeals to the emperor and political pressure, but all attempts failed.<ref name="Frend1">{{cite book|last=Frend|first=W.H.C.|title=The Donatist Church|date=2020|publisher=Wipf and Stock|isbn=9781532697555|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNbaDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|242,254}} The Donatists fomented protests and street violence, accosted travelers, attacked random Catholics without warning, often doing serious and unprovoked bodily harm such as beating people with clubs, cutting off their hands and feet, and gouging out eyes while also inviting their own martyrdom.<ref name="Markus">R. A. Markus, Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St.Augustine (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 149–153</ref>{{rp|120–121}} By 408, Augustine supported the state's use of force against them.<ref name="Brown1964"/>{{rp|107–116}} Historian Frederick Russell says that Augustine did not believe this would "make the Donatists more virtuous" but he did believe it would make them "less vicious".<ref name="Russell2"/>{{rp|128}}

Augustine wrote that there had, in the past, been ten Christian persecutions, beginning with the Neronian persecution, and alleging persecutions by the emperors [[Domitian]], [[Trajan]], "Antoninus" ([[Marcus Aurelius]]), "Severus" ([[Septimius Severus]]), and [[Maximinus Thrax|Maximinus]] (''Thrax''), as well as Decian and Valerianic persecutions, and then another by [[Aurelian]] as well as by Diocletian and Maximian.<ref name=":2"/> These ten persecutions Augustine compared with the [[10 Plagues of Egypt]] in the ''[[Book of Exodus]]''.{{Refn|Augustine, ''Civitate dei'', XVIII.50: {{langx|la|Proinde ne illud quidem temere puto esse dicendum siue credendum, quod nonnullis uisum est uel uidetur, non-amplius ecclesiam passuram persecutiones usque ad tempus Antichristi, quam quot iam passa est, id est decem, ut undecima eademque nouissima sit ab Antichristo. Primam quippe computant a Nerone quae facta est, secundam a Domitiano, a Traiano tertiam, quartam ab Antonino, a Seuero quintam, sextam a Maximino, a Decio septimam, octauam a Valeriano, ab Aureliano nonam, decimam a Diocletiano et Maximiano. Plagas enim Aegyptiorum, quoniam decem fuerunt, antequam exire inde inciperet populus Dei, putant ad hunc intellectum esse referendas, ut nouissima Antichristi persecutio similis uideatur undecimae plagae, qua Aegyptii, dum hostiliter sequerentur Hebraeos, in mari Rubro populo Dei per siccum transeunte perierunt.}}|group=note}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pollmann|first=Karla|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62901044|title=Mauritius und die Thebäische Legion: Akten des internationalen Kolloquiums: Freiburg, Saint-Maurice, Martigny, 17.-20. September 2003|publisher=Academic Press Fribourg|year=2005|isbn=3-7278-1527-2|editor-last=Wermelinger|editor-first=Otto|pages=227–254|trans-title=Mauritius and the Thebaic Legion: files of the international colloquium: Freiburg, Saint-Maurice, Martigny, 17–20 September 2003|chapter=Poetische Paraphrasen der Actio Acaunensium Martyrum des Eucherius von Lyon|oclc=62901044|editor-last2=Bruggisser|editor-first2=Philippe|editor-last3=Näf|editor-first3=Beat|editor-last4=Roessli|editor-first4=Jean-Michel}}</ref> Augustine did not see these early persecutions in the same light as that of fourth century heretics. In Augustine's view, when the purpose of persecution is to "lovingly correct and instruct", then it becomes discipline and is just.<ref name="Marcos">Marcos, Mar. "The Debate on Religious Coercion in Ancient Christianity." Chaos e Kosmos 14 (2013): 1–16.</ref>{{rp|2}} Augustine wrote that "coercion cannot transmit the truth to the heretic, but it can prepare them to hear and receive the truth".<ref name="Brown1964"/>{{rp|107–116}} He said the church would discipline its people out of a loving desire to heal them, and that, "once compelled to come in, heretics would gradually give their voluntary assent to the truth of Christian orthodoxy."<ref name="Russell2">{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Frederick H. |title=The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R.A. Markus. |date=1999 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-10997-9 |chapter=Persuading the Donatists: Augustine's Coercion by Words}}</ref>{{rp|115}} He opposed the severity of Rome and the execution of heretics.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Toleration, History of |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church|year=1912 |publisher=University of Michigan |editor-last=Herbermann|editor-first=Charles George|pages=761–772}}</ref>{{rp|768}}

It is his teaching on coercion that has literature on Augustine frequently referring to him as ''le prince et patriarche de persecuteurs'' (the prince and patriarch of persecutors).<ref name="Markus"/>{{rp|116}}<ref name="Brown1964"/>{{rp|107}} Russell says Augustine's theory of coercion "was not crafted from dogma, but in response to a unique historical situation" and is therefore context dependent, while others see it as inconsistent with his other teachings.<ref name="Russell2"/>{{rp|125}} His authority on the question of coercion was undisputed for over a millennium in [[Western Christianity]], and according to Brown "it provided the theological foundation for the justification of medieval persecution."<ref name="Brown1964" />{{rp|107–116}}

==== Heraclian period ====
[[Callinicus I of Constantinople|Callinicus I]], initially a priest and ''skeuophylax'' in the {{interlanguage link|Church of the Theotokos of Blachernae|ka|მოსკოვის ვლაქერნის ღვთისმშობლის ხატის ეკლესია|ru|Церковь Влахернской иконы Божией Матери в Кузьминках}}, became patriarch of Constantinople in 693 or 694.<ref name=":15">{{cite web |editor1-last=Kazhdan |editor1-first=Alexander P. |editor1-link=Alexander Kazhdan |editor2-last=Talbot |editor2-first=Alice-Mary |editor2-link=Alice-Mary Talbot |year=1998 |title=Dumbarton Oaks Hagiography Database |url=https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/resources/hagiography/hagiointro.pdf |website=doaks.org |location=Dumbarton Oaks |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |access-date=11 April 2022}}</ref>{{rp|58–59}} Having refused to consent to the demolition of a chapel in the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]], the ''Theotokos ton Metropolitou'', and having possibly been involved in the deposition and exile of [[Justinian II]] ({{Reign|685|695|705|711}}), an allegation denied by the ''Synaxarion of Constantinople'', he was himself exiled to Rome on the return of Justinian to power in 705.<ref name=":15" />{{rp|58–59}} The emperor had Callinicus [[immured]].<ref name=":15" />{{rp|58–59}} He is said to have survived forty days when the wall was opened to check his condition, though he died four days later.<ref name=":15" />{{rp|58–59}}

===Sassanian Empire===

Violent persecutions of Christians began in earnest in the long reign of [[Shapur II]] ({{Reign|309|379}}).<ref name=":3">{{Citation|last=Skjærvø|first=Oktor|title=Christians, persecution of, Persian Empire|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-1036|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity|year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=2020-10-07}}</ref> A persecution of Christians at [[Kirkuk]] is recorded in Shapur's first decade, though most persecution happened after 341.<ref name=":3" /> At war with the Roman emperor [[Constantius II]] ({{Reign|337|361}}), Shapur imposed a tax to cover the war expenditure, and [[Shemon Bar Sabbae]], the [[Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]], refused to collect it.<ref name=":3" /> Often citing collaboration with the Romans, the Persians began persecuting and executing Christians.<ref name=":3" /> ''Passio'' narratives describe the fate of some Christians venerated as martyrs; they are of varying historical reliability, some being contemporary records by eyewitnesses, others were reliant on popular tradition at some remove from the events.<ref name=":3" /> An appendix to the ''Syriac Martyrology of 411'' lists the Christian [[Martyrs of Persia under Shapur II|martyrs of Persia]], but other accounts of martyrs' trials contain important historical details on the workings of the Sassanian Empire's historical geography and judicial and administrative practices.<ref name=":3" /> Some were translated into [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] and discovered at [[Turpan]].<ref name=":3" />

Under [[Yazdegerd I]] ({{Reign|399|420}}) there were occasional persecutions, including an instance of persecution in reprisal for the burning of a Zoroastrian [[fire temple]] by a Christian priest, and further persecutions occurred in the reign of [[Bahram V]] ({{Reign|420|438}}).<ref name=":3" /> Under [[Yazdegerd II]] ({{Reign|438|457}}) an instance of persecution in 446 is recorded in the Syriac martyrology ''[[Acts of Ādur-hormizd and of Anāhīd]]''.<ref name=":3" /> Some individual martyrdoms are recorded from the reign of [[Khosrow I]] ({{Reign|531|579}}), but there were likely no mass persecutions.<ref name=":3" /> While according to a peace treaty of 562 between Khosrow and his Roman counterpart [[Justinian I]] ({{Reign|527|565}}), Persia's Christians were granted the freedom of religion; [[proselytism]] was, however, a capital crime.<ref name=":3" /> By this time the [[Church of the East]] and its head, the [[Catholicose of the East]], were integrated into the administration of the empire and mass persecution was rare.<ref name=":3" />

The Sassanian policy shifted from tolerance of other religions under [[Shapur I]] to intolerance under [[Bahram I]] and apparently a return to the policy of Shapur until the reign of [[Shapur II]]. The persecution at that time was initiated by [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s conversion to Christianity which followed that of Armenian king [[Tiridates III of Armenia|Tiridates]] in about 301. The Christians were thus viewed with suspicions of secretly being partisans of the Roman Empire. This did not change until the fifth century when the [[Church of the East]] broke off from the [[State church of the Roman Empire|Church of the West]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC&pg=474|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193–337|publisher=Cambridge University Press|editor1=Bowman, Alan|editor2=Peter Garnsey|editor3=Averil Cameron|year=2005|page=474|isbn=9780521301992}}</ref> Zoroastrian elites continued viewing the Christians with enmity and distrust throughout the fifth century with threat of persecution remaining significant, especially during war against the Romans.<ref name="Qardagh" />

Zoroastrian high priest [[Kartir]], refers in his inscription dated about 280 on the [[Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]] monument in the [[Naqsh-e Rostam]] necropolis near [[Zangiabad, Fars]], to persecution (''zatan'' – "to beat, kill") of Christians ("Nazareans ''n'zl'y'' and Christians ''klstyd'n''"). Kartir took Christianity as a serious opponent. The use of the double expression may be indicative of the Greek-speaking Christians deported by [[Shapur I]] from [[Antioch]] and other cities during his war against the Romans.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7IHmyKcPtYC&pg=PA929|title=The Cambridge History of Iran: Seleucid Parthian|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=Ehsan Yarshater|year=1983|page=929|author-link=Ehsan Yarshater|isbn=9780521246934}}</ref> [[Constantine The Great|Constantine]]'s efforts to protect the Persian Christians made them a target of accusations of disloyalty to Sasanians. With the resumption of Roman-Sasanian conflict under [[Constantius II]], the Christian position became untenable. Zoroastrian priests targeted clergy and ascetics of local Christians to eliminate the leaders of the church. A [[Syriac language|Syriac]] manuscript in [[Edessa]] in 411 documents dozens executed in various parts of western Sasanian Empire.<ref name=Qardagh>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H2UoQttQcy0C&pg=PA111|title=The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq|publisher= University of California Press|author=Joel Thomas Walker|year=2006|page=111|isbn=9780520932197}}</ref>

In 341, [[Shapur II]] ordered the persecution of all Christians.<ref>Sebastian P. Brock, ''Fire from Heaven: Studies in Syriac Theology and Liturgy'', (Ashgate, 2006), 72.</ref><ref>D. T. Potts, ''The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State'', (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 422.</ref> In response to their subversive attitude and support of Romans, Shapur II doubled the tax on Christians. [[Shemon Bar Sabbae]] informed him that he could not pay the taxes demanded from him and his community. He was martyred and a forty-year-long period of persecution of Christians began. The [[Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]] gave up choosing bishops since it would result in death. The local ''[[mobads]]'' – Zoroastrian clerics – with the help of [[satraps]] organized slaughters of Christians in [[Adiabene]], [[Beth Garmai|Beth Garmae]], [[Khuzistan]] and many other provinces.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Kti6Bz5At0C&pg=PA24|title=History of the Jews in Babylonia|publisher= Brill|author=Jacob Neusner|year=1997|pages=24, 25|author-link=Jacob Neusner|isbn=9004021469}}</ref>

[[Yazdegerd I]] showed tolerance towards Jews and Christians for much of his rule. He allowed Christians to practice their religion freely, demolished monasteries and churches were rebuilt and missionaries were allowed to operate freely. He reversed his policies during the later part of his reign however, suppressing missionary activities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5BHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA280|title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia|publisher=ABC-CLIO|author=Mehrdad Kia|year=2016|page=280|isbn=9781610693912}}</ref> [[Bahram V]] continued and intensified their persecution, resulting in many of them fleeing to the [[eastern Roman empire]]. Bahram demanded their return, beginning the [[Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422]]. The war ended with an agreement of freedom of religion for Christians in Iran with that of Mazdaism in Rome. Meanwhile, Christians suffered destruction of churches, renounced the faith, had their private property confiscated and many were expelled.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrM3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA43|title=A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part V: Later Sasanian Times|publisher= Brill|author=Jacob Neusner|year=1965|page=44|author-link=Jacob Neusner}}</ref>

[[Yazdegerd II]] had ordered all his subjects to embrace [[Mazdeism]] in an attempt to unite his empire ideologically. The [[Caucasus]] rebelled to defend Christianity which had become integrated in their local culture, with Armenian aristocrats turning to the Romans for help. The rebels were however defeated in a [[Battle of Avarayr|battle]] on the [[Avarayr Plain]]. [[Yeghishe]] in his ''The History of Vardan and the Armenian War'', pays a tribute to the battles waged to defend Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eeq-DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|title=Armenia Christiana: Armenian Religious Identity and the Churches of Constantinople and Rome (4th–15th Century)|publisher=[[Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego|Wydawnictwo UJ]]|author= Krzysztof Stopka|year=2016|page=61|isbn=9788323395553}}</ref> Another revolt was waged from 481 to 483 which was suppressed. However, the Armenians succeeded in gaining freedom of religion among other improvements.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mri93AaexX8C&pg=PA58|title=The History of Iran|publisher=ABC-CLIO|author=Elton L. Daniel|year=2012|page=59|author-link=Elton L. Daniel|isbn=9780313375095}}</ref>

Accounts of executions for apostasy of Zoroastrians who converted to Christianity during Sasanian rule proliferated from the fifth to early seventh century, and continued to be produced even after collapse of Sasanians. The punishment of apostates increased under [[Yazdegerd I]] and continued under successive kings. It was normative for apostates who were brought to the notice of authorities to be executed, although the prosecution of apostasy depended on political circumstances and Zoroastrian jurisprudence. Per Richard E. Payne, the executions were meant to create a mutually recognised boundary between interactions of the people of the two religions and preventing one religion challenging another's viability. Although the violence on Christians was selective and especially carried out on elites, it served to keep Christian communities in a subordinate and yet viable position in relation to Zoroastrianism. Christians were allowed to build religious buildings and serve in the government as long as they did not expand their institutions and population at the expense of Zoroastrianism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtjsCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|title=A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity|publisher=University of California Press|author=Richard E. Payne|year=2015|pages=49, 55–56|isbn=9780520961531}}</ref>

[[Khosrow I]] was generally regarded as tolerant of Christians and interested in the philosophical and theological disputes during his reign. [[Sebeos]] claimed he had converted to Christianity on his deathbed. [[John of Ephesus]] describes an Armenian revolt where he claims that Khusrow had attempted to impose Zoroastrianism in Armenia. The account, however, is very similar to the one of Armenian revolt of 451. In addition, Sebeos does not mention any religious persecution in his account of the revolt of 571.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkX8g2hRnVsC&pg=PA40|title=History and Identity in the Late Antique Near East|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Philip Wood|year=2013|pages=39–40|isbn=9780199915408}}</ref> A story about [[Hormizd IV]]'s tolerance is preserved by the historian [[al-Tabari]]. Upon being asked why he tolerated Christians, he replied, "Just as our royal throne cannot stand upon its front legs without its two back ones, our kingdom cannot stand or endure firmly if we cause the Christians and adherents of other faiths, who differ in belief from ourselves, to become hostile to us."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snwkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA112|title=The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq|publisher= University of California Press|author=Joel Thomas Walker|year=2006|page=112|isbn=9780520245785}}</ref>

====During the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628====
{{Main|Sasanian conquest and occupation of Jerusalem}}

Several months after the Persian conquest in AD 614, a riot occurred in Jerusalem, and the Jewish governor of Jerusalem Nehemiah was killed by a band of young Christians along with his "council of the righteous" while he was making plans for the building of the [[Third Temple]]. At this time the Christians had allied themselves with the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]. Shortly afterward, the events escalated into a full-scale Christian rebellion, resulting in a battle against the Jews and Christians who were living in Jerusalem. In the battle's aftermath, many Jews were killed and the survivors fled to Caesarea, which was still being held by the Persian army.

The Judeo-Persian reaction was ruthless – Persian Sasanian general Xorheam assembled Judeo-Persian troops and went and encamped around Jerusalem and besieged it for 19 days.<ref name="abrahamson">{{cite web|author1=Abrahamson|last2=Katz|date=2004|display-authors=etal|title=The Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 compared with Islamic conquest of 638|url=http://www.alsadiqin.org/history/The%20Persian%20conquest%20of%20Jerusalem%20in%20614CE%20compared%20with%20Islamic%20conquest%20of%20638CE.pdf|website=alsadiqin.org}}</ref> Eventually, digging beneath the foundations of the Jerusalem, they destroyed the wall and on the 19th day of the siege, the Judeo-Persian forces took Jerusalem.<ref name="abrahamson" />

According to the account of the Armenian ecclesiastic and historian [[Sebeos]], the siege resulted in a total Christian death toll of 17,000, the earliest and thus most commonly accepted figure.<ref name="james">{{cite book|author=R. W. Thomson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRibSFLMER8C|title=The Armenian History Attributed to Sebeos|publisher=Liverpool University Press|others=Historical commentary by James Howard-Johnston. Assistance from Tim Greenwood|year=1999|isbn=9780853235644}}</ref>{{rp| 207}} Per [[Strategius]], 4,518 prisoners alone were massacred near [[Mamilla Pool|Mamilla reservoir]].<ref name="bibleinterp.com">{{Cite web|title=The Persian Conquest of Jerusalem (614 CE) ––An Archaeological Assessment|url=https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/pers357904|author= Gideon Avi | publisher= University of Arizona | date=2010 | work= The Bible and Interpretation}}</ref> A cave containing hundreds of skeletons near the [[Jaffa Gate]], 200 metres east of the large Roman-era pool in Mamilla, correlates with the massacre of Christians at hands of the Persians mentioned in the writings of Strategius. While reinforcing the evidence of massacre of Christians, the archaeological evidence seem less conclusive on the destruction of Christian churches and monasteries in Jerusalem.<ref name="bibleinterp.com" /><ref name="Phoenicia">{{cite book|author=Edward Lipiński|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA542|title=Itineraria Phoenicia|publisher=Peeters Publishers|year=2004|isbn=9789042913448|pages=542–543}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2018}}

According to the later account of Strategius, whose perspective appears to be that of a Byzantine Greek and shows an antipathy towards the Jews,<ref name="Kohen">{{cite book|last=Kohen|first=Elli|title=History of the Byzantine Jews: A Microcosmos in the Thousand Year Empire|publisher=University Press of America|year=2007|isbn=978-0761836230|page=36}}</ref> thousands of Christians were massacred during the conquest of the city. Estimates based on varying copies of Strategos's manuscripts range from 4,518 to 66,509 killed.<ref name="bibleinterp.com" /> Strategos wrote that the Jews offered to help them escape death if they "become Jews and deny Christ", and the Christian captives refused. In anger the Jews allegedly purchased Christians to kill them.<ref name="Antiochus">{{cite journal|last=Conybeare|first=F. C.|author-link=Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare|year=1910|title=Antiochus Strategos, The Capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614 AD|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/antiochus_strategos_capture.htm|journal=[[English Historical Review]]|volume=25|pages=502–517|doi=10.1093/ehr/xxv.xcix.502}}</ref> In 1989, a mass burial grave at [[Mamilla]] cave was discovered in by Israeli archeologist Ronny Reich, near the site where Strategius recorded the massacre took place. The human remains were in poor condition containing a minimum of 526 individuals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Skeletal Remains from the Mamilla cave, Jerusalem|url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=17&sub_subj_id=179|access-date=8 January 2014|first1=Yossi|last1=Nagar|publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority}}</ref>

From the many excavations carried out in the [[Galilee]], it is clear that all churches had been destroyed during the period between the Persian invasion and the [[Siege of Jerusalem (636–637)|Arab conquest in 637]]. The church at [[Shavei Tzion|Shave Ziyyon]] was destroyed and burnt in 614. Similar fate befell churches at [[Evron, Israel|Evron]], [[Nahariya]], 'Arabe and monastery of [[Shlomi, Israel|Shelomi]]. The monastery at [[Kursi, Sea of Galilee|Kursi]] was damaged in the invasion.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mordechai Aviam|author-link=:he:מרדכי אביעם|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YTC-52zoooC&pg=PA239|title=Jews, Pagans and Christians in the Galilee: 25 Years of Archaeological Excavations and Surveys : Hellenistic to Byzantine Periods|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn=9781580461719|page=239}}</ref>

===Pre-Islamic Arabia===
{{See also|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Christian community of Najran}}

In AD 516, tribal unrest broke out in Yemen and several tribal elites fought for power. One of those elites was Joseph [[Dhu Nuwas]] or "Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar", a Jewish king of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]] who is mentioned in ancient south Arabian inscriptions. [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and [[Byzantine Greek]] sources claim that he fought his war because Christians in Yemen refused to renounce Christianity. In 2009, a documentary that aired on the [[BBC]] defended the claim that the villagers had been offered the choice between conversion to Judaism or death and 20,000 Christians were then massacred by stating that "The production team spoke to many historians over a period of 18 months, among them [[Nigel Groom]], who was our consultant, and Professor [[Abdulrahman al-Ansary|Abdul Rahman Al-Ansary]], a former professor of archaeology at the [[King Saud University]] in Riyadh."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/historians-back-bbc-over-jewish-massacre-claim|title= Historians back BBC over Jewish massacre claim|work= The Jewish Chronicle|access-date= 30 March 2015|archive-date= 5 April 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170405125952/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/historians-back-bbc-over-jewish-massacre-claim|url-status= dead}}</ref> 

Inscriptions documented by Yousef himself show the great pride that he expressed after killing more than 22,000 Christians in Zafar and [[Najran]].<ref>{{interlanguage link|Jacques Ryckmans|ar|جاك ريكمانس}}, La persécution des chrétiens himyarites au sixième siècle Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Inst. in het Nabije Oosten, 1956 pp. 1–24</ref> Historian [[Glen Bowersock]] described this [[massacre]] as a "savage [[pogrom]] that the Jewish king of the Arabs launched against the Christians in the city of Najran. The king himself reported in excruciating detail to his Arab and Persian allies about the massacres that he had inflicted on all Christians who refused to convert to Judaism."<ref>Bowesock, Glen (2013). The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 4. {{ISBN|978-0199739325}}.</ref>