Saint Agnes Of Rome: The Great Persecution

The Great Persecution started during the reign of Diocletian. Diocletian took power in 284 BCE and stepped down from emperor in 305 BCE. Diocletian took power when Rome was in a crisis. In the third century, the Roman Empire was changing. They had trouble with the transformation of the monarchy, the state was instable, the power of the military was increasing, some provinces were becoming more powerful in political and military aspects, there was social change, the empire had economic problems, there was a decrease in population which led to a manpower shortage, there was a religious and moral crisis, and lastly barbarian people were invading Rome . Diocletian came in and set up many reforms to help the Empire. He made reforms in government,

the military, economy, and in religion. Diocletian split the Roman Empire into four sections. “He appointed Maximian to defend the western empire and restore order.” Then in 293 BCE, “Diocletian introduced the tetrarchy, dividing imperial power among a quadrumvirate comprised of two senior emperors (Augusti) and two junior tetrarchs (Caesars). When the two Augustii would retire the Caesars would replace them as Augusti and two more Caesars would replace them. This did not work in the long run because the military was still in control over who would be the emperor instead of the people. Diocletian reforms to the military helped make the state more stable but it mainly helped border protection to stop attacks from barbarian groups. The military reforms also brought more people to serve in the military and the military was better organized which helped the state’s defense power. The economic reforms made by Diocletian tried to help restore the value of Roman coins. He made a new coin that was from gold instead of bronze, but the people did not spend it because the value was so high. He also had a tax reform that instead of money, he would tax products and such as supplies or food. The last reform was a religious reform. Diocletian ordered the burning of all sacred texts, stripping of class and ranks, and death to people who did not resist their Christianity. Diocletian religious reforms was to promote imperial unity and social control.
The Great Persecution started in 303 BCE and he persecuted the Christians. The persecution of Christians lasted up until 311 BCE even after the Diocletian stepped down as emperor in 305 BCE. This was the last and most severe persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire. The intensity of the persecution varied from state to state in the Roman Empire. The Eastern provinces had the strongest intensity and the west was the weakest. The persecutions started because Christians refused to make sacrifices to the emperor. Those who refused were murdered for not cooperating with what Diocletian wanted. The persecution targeted Christians and not the Jewish people. Jewish people were exempt they had imperial toleration on the fact their religion was very old. They were exempt from the persecutions and enjoyed practicing their religion freely. The Christians had no excuse for they were a new religion and they did not align themselves with the Christian religion. There were about six million Christians in the empire and there as many three thousand to three thousand five hundred persecutions of Christians. A majority of them were soldiers or people who were well known in the Roman Empire. Most Christians could hide their religion and it was easier to move away from persecutions to areas where persecutions were not as common. Three Saints that held roles in the Roman Empire that were martyred under Diocletian’s rule are Saint Sebastian, Saint George, and Saint Agnes of Rome and they each have an impact on Christianity. Saint Sebastian was in the Roman army and was then picked to join Praetorian Guards. Saint George was born into a noble Roman family and when he was old enough he joined Diocletian’s army. Saint Agnes of Rome was a member of Roman nobility and had many suitors of high rank in the Roman Empire.
Saint Sebastian’s early life is not well known. It is said that he was born to a wealthy family in Gaul around 256 BCE. He convert to Christianity as a young adult and he went to study in Milan. After his studies, he joined the Roman Army in 283, to help Christians who were in prison and being persecuted. He did this all in secret and then because of his courage he was to become one of the Praetorian Guards under Diocletian and Maximian. Sebastian convert many people during his life. He converted the parents of twin brothers, Marcus and Marcellian, who were in prison for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods. They parents, Tranquillinus and Martia, visited them and tried to persuade them to denounce Christianity. Sebastian converted them along the son of a local prefect named Tiburtius, Saint Tiburtius. Chromatius, father of Tiburtius, was also converted and he set all his prisoners free and then resigned and retired. He also converted another official named Nicostratus and his wife Zoe. Zoe was mute for six months and when she converted, she could talk again. Nicostartus then brought other people to be converted by Sebastian. Eventually Diocletian, found out what Sebastian was doing in 286 BCE, and demanded that he renounce Christianity and Sebastian refused. Emperor Diocletian ordered that Sebastian was to be executed, so he tied him to a tree and shot him with arrows. Sebastian was still alive and Saint Irene healed his wounds. Sebastian than went to Diocletian’s palace and denounced his persecution of Christians. Diocletian then ordered that Sebastian be clubbed to death and tossed into a sewer. This time Sebastian did die and his fellow and his body was revered by some fellow Christians .
George was born to a Gerontios and Polychronia, a Roman officer and a Greek local of Lydda. Both were Christians from respectable groups of the Anici and George, was raised to be a Christian. At the point when George was mature enough, he was invited into Diocletian's armed force. by his late 20's, George became a Tribunus and filled in as a royal guard for the Emperor at Nicomedia. On February 24, 303 A.D., Diocletian, who did not like Christians, declared that each Christian the armed force passed would be captured and every other soldier would have to offer a sacrifice to the Roman divine beings. George declined to maintain the request and told Diocletian, who was angry yet enormously respected his fellowship with George's dad. At the point when George reported his beliefs before the other soldiers, Diocletian was not able remain quiet about the news. With an end goal to spare George, Diocletian tried to convert him over him to have faith in the Roman divine beings, offered him land, money and slaves in return for offering a sacrifice to the Roman gods, and made a several different offers that George denied. In the End, the final option was that Diocletian requested George's execution. Before his death, George gave his money to poor people and was sent for a few torment sessions. He was gashed on a wheel of swords and required revival three times, yet at the same time George did not turn from God. On April 23, 303 A.D., George was beheaded before Nicomedia's external wall. His body was sent to Lydda to be buried, and different Christians went to respect George as a saint and martyr.
Saint Agnes of Rome was a part of Roman nobility born in 291 BCE and brought up in an Early Christian family.

She endured suffering at twelve years old or thirteen during the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304. Agnes was a lovely young lady of a rich family and she had a numerous amount of suitors of high rank. he story is not very well known but, legend holds that a young man, was insulted by her dedication to religious purity, and turned her name to the authorities as a supporter of Christianity. The Prefect Sempronius sentenced Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. Different versions of the legend give different strategies for escape from this issue. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew longer and secured her body. It was also said that the any of the men who tried to sexually assault her were instantly struck blind. In another the child of the prefect is struck dead, however was came back to life after she prayed to God for him, bringing on her to be released. There is then a trial from which Sempronius pardons himself, and another figure takes over, sentencing her to death. when it was her turn to die she was tied to a stake, yet the wood would not burn, and the flames separated far from her. Then the officer in charge drew his sword and decapitated her. It is said that her blood poured to the stadium floor where different Christians drenched it up with their clothes. Agnes was buried next to the Via Nomentana in Rome. A couple days after her death, her step-sister, Saint Emerentiana, was discovered praying by her tomb, and was stoned to death for declining to leave the place and scloding the pagans for killing her step-sister. Emerentiana was later canonized as a Saint. The daughter of Constantine I, Saint Constance, was additionally said to have been cured of leprosy after praying at Agnes'

tomb.
During the reign of Diocletian, he made a lot of changes to the empire. The time period before his reign is considered the third century crisis. This is was a time where there were many emperors and many people fighting for the throne of the Roman Empire. When Diocletian took power he made many reforms to get the Roman Empire out of this crisis. He had a fourfold plan to which made reforms in government, the military, economy, and in religion. Some of his reforms worked and others did not. One of his reforms was the persecution of Christians. He did this to try to unify the Empire under the same religion with the exception of the Jews. All Christians were targeted, but the ones who had power in the Empire suffered the most. Three people who were persecuted by Diocletian that are now Saints and martyrs are Saint Sebastian, Saint George, and Saint Agnes of Rome. All three of these people were considered nobility growing up. Sebastian and George joined the army and work closely with Diocletian and Saint Agnes attracted other noble Roman men. These people were killed for their faith and not turning away from it. They had an impact on the lives of many when they were alive and after their death.