Perception and Persecution in the Roman Empire: The Edict of Decius

By Joshua Burns, New York University

"The earliest sources on the Decian persecution fall strictly into the category of Christian literature, a fact that naturally complicates any attempt to assume an objective point of view. Contemporary pagan-authored works are nearly void of any discussion of Decius reign, although it is quite plausible that the words of Ammianus Marcellinus and the Historia Augusta were in later generations subjected to revisions with intent to purge all memory of the accursed emperor and his activities."