By David M. Gwynn
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Only the first persecuting edict of 303 was ever enforced in the west by Maximian or his Caesar Constantius Chlorus. Indeed, Lactantius and Eusebius deny that Constantius took any violent actions against the Christians of Britain and northern Gaul. Both authors wrote after the conversion to Christianity of Constantius’ son Constantine, which must have influenced their judgements. But it seems probable that Constantius did do little to enforce the Persecution, not least because there were not many Christians in his regions to persecute.
Despite Eusebius’ rhetoric, Christians were still a distinct minority of the population and perhaps made up 10–15 per cent of the empire’s estimated 60 million inhabitants. The vast majority continued to worship the traditional gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome. Most Christians came from the urban social classes, and Christianity was slower to penetrate the peasants in the countryside, the governing aristocracy, or the army. There was similarly a greater concentration of Christians in the Greek-speaking eastern regions of the empire, where Eusebius resided, than in the more distant Latin-speaking provinces such as Gaul and Britain.
On 24 February (the following day) the first persecuting edict was published. All churches were to be destroyed and their sacred books and vessels seized, congregations were banned and Christians lost their official positions and social and legal privileges. A man named Euetius who tore the edict down was roasted to death as a martyr, and further edicts soon followed. The second persecuting edict a few months later ordered the arrest of all Christian clergy, while a third edict offered an amnesty to clergy who sacrificed to the gods but torture for those who refused.