4th century – 4th century
Roman North Africa, especially Numidia, Carthage, Cirta, and the upper Medjerda valley
The Great Persecution in North Africa began under Diocletian in AD 303 and targeted Christian scriptures, buildings, clergy, and eventually laypeople. Although initial compliance was widespread, resistance developed among communities that condemned collaboration with Roman authorities. The persecution ended by March AD 305, but disputes over surrender and martyrdom helped generate the Donatist schism.
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The Story
Diocletian initiated the North African persecution in February AD 303. By early May, an edict required Christians to surrender their Scriptures and accept the destruction of church buildings. A further demand required clergy to sacrifice to the gods. At Cirta, Bishop Paulus complied with an official inventory of church plate, clothing, and other property, creating a scene that later remained central to accusations against participants such as Silvanus.
Resistance became visible in the late autumn of AD 303. At Abitina, in the upper valley of the Medjerda, forty-seven Christians led by the presbyter Saturninus were arrested while worshipping. Their bishop had apostatized, but young Christians from Carthage helped sustain the community’s commitment. At their trial in Carthage in February AD 304, they maintained their faith and were returned to prison.
The persecution reached a more demanding phase in AD 304, when the Fourth Edict ordered everyone to sacrifice to the gods. The excerpt questions whether this edict was uniformly enforced, but accepts evidence that a large effort was made to compel sacrifices by Christian laypeople, especially in Numidia. Many resisted, and a significant number were remembered as martyrs.
The persecution ended in Africa by March AD 305, shortly before Diocletian and Maximian abdicated. It did not restore unity to the Church. Instead, the treatment of those who had surrendered Scriptures or sacred objects became a defining issue, dividing confessors from traditores and providing the immediate religious background for the later rivalry between Caecilian and Donatus.
The episode also revealed differences between urban and rural Christian communities. Some city churches had developed cooperative relationships with civic authorities, while rural and rigorist Christians treated compromise as a threat to the purity of the Church. These tensions survived the end of official persecution and shaped the institutional history of Christianity in North Africa.
4th century – 4th century
Roman North Africa, especially Numidia, Carthage, Cirta, and the upper Medjerda valley
The Great Persecution in North Africa began under Diocletian in AD 303 and targeted Christian scriptures, buildings, clergy, and eventually laypeople. Although initial compliance was widespread, resistance developed among communities that condemned collaboration with Roman authorities. The persecution ended by March AD 305, but disputes over surrender and martyrdom helped generate the Donatist schism.
Continue exploring
The Story
Diocletian initiated the North African persecution in February AD 303. By early May, an edict required Christians to surrender their Scriptures and accept the destruction of church buildings. A further demand required clergy to sacrifice to the gods. At Cirta, Bishop Paulus complied with an official inventory of church plate, clothing, and other property, creating a scene that later remained central to accusations against participants such as Silvanus.
Resistance became visible in the late autumn of AD 303. At Abitina, in the upper valley of the Medjerda, forty-seven Christians led by the presbyter Saturninus were arrested while worshipping. Their bishop had apostatized, but young Christians from Carthage helped sustain the community’s commitment. At their trial in Carthage in February AD 304, they maintained their faith and were returned to prison.
The persecution reached a more demanding phase in AD 304, when the Fourth Edict ordered everyone to sacrifice to the gods. The excerpt questions whether this edict was uniformly enforced, but accepts evidence that a large effort was made to compel sacrifices by Christian laypeople, especially in Numidia. Many resisted, and a significant number were remembered as martyrs.
The persecution ended in Africa by March AD 305, shortly before Diocletian and Maximian abdicated. It did not restore unity to the Church. Instead, the treatment of those who had surrendered Scriptures or sacred objects became a defining issue, dividing confessors from traditores and providing the immediate religious background for the later rivalry between Caecilian and Donatus.
The episode also revealed differences between urban and rural Christian communities. Some city churches had developed cooperative relationships with civic authorities, while rural and rigorist Christians treated compromise as a threat to the purity of the Church. These tensions survived the end of official persecution and shaped the institutional history of Christianity in North Africa.