The Great Persecution also effected the Western half of the Roman Empire. While the territory of Constantius Chlorus was only mildly affected, the Christians of Italy and North Africa faced a more difficult situation. Some Christians chose death over submission to the Imperial authorities. Other Christians will abandon their faith in order to preserve their lives. One of those might have been the bishop of Rome Marcellinus. However, as serious as the persecutions were, they won’t keep bishops from meeting at the important Council of Elvira and laying down important future laws for the Church.

Links:

Image: 4th century icon of Christ between Peter and Paul. At the bottom of the icon are images of various Roman martyrs.

Canons of the Council of Elvira

Maureen A. Tilley, Donatist Martyr Stories: The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1996.

Robert Grigg, Aniconic Worship and the Apologetic Tradition: A Note on Canon 36 of the Council of Elvira, Church History, vol 45, no. 4, December 1976, 428-433

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