Editing Decius (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|Seven Sleepers}}

The Decian persecution was the first organized persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and served as the basis for the [[Diocletianic Persecution]], the last major persecution of Christians in the Empire.<ref>{{Britannica|155162}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Diocletian|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Diocletian|website=[[The Free Dictionary]]}}</ref>

The later telling of the [[Seven Sleepers]], about seven Christian youths from [[Ephesus]] who fled the Decian persecution by hiding in a cave (walled up by Decius) and sleeping for almost 300 years, emerged. The Quranic account, captured in [[Al-Kahf]] ("The Cave") [[surah]] (chapter),<ref>{{cite book|title=Allusions{{snd}}Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary|year=2008|publisher=[[The Gale Group]]|url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Seven+Sleepers}}</ref><ref>{{cite Collins Dictionary|Seven Sleepers}}</ref> has led to the Persian saying of ''ahd-e daqyānus'' ("age of Decius") or ''daqyānus'' referring to ancient times or a person with outdated views. When something is old and outdated, people say, "this belongs to the age of Decius."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/15574/سفر-به-عهد-دقیانوس|title=Travel to the Age of Decius|date=13 February 2007|website=[[Hamshahri]] Online|language=fa|access-date=8 August 2019}}</ref>