Diocletian was Roman emperor from 284 to 305 CE. A pagan who worshipped classical Olympus. In 297 CE he demanded that all soldiers and members of the administration sacrifice to the gods; those who would not were immediately forced to resign. Next, in 303 CE he ordered the destruction of all churches and Christian texts. All of these edicts were encouraged by Galerius. However, throughout this Great Persecution, the Christians refused to yield and sacrifice to the Roman gods. Leading members of the clergy were arrested and ordered to sacrifice or die and a bishop in Nicomedia who refused was beheaded. Finally, any Christian who refused was tortured and killed. Except for the traditore who probably did not refuse, I wonder how far up the food chain they were promoted in this new roman order. At long last, the persecution came to an end in 305 CE.
When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, Constantius became the senior emperor in the West. He died the following year in a victory over the Picts, and his troops proclaimed (his son) Constantine emperor.
Saint Athanasius (c. 298 373) attended the first Nicene Council, convened by Constantine, as a deacon of the Church in Alexandria. Though only 27 years old, he was a leader at that council in promoting the crucial word homoousios. Ousia (Ancient Greek: οὐσία) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy,... It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, as a primary designation for philosophical concepts of essence or substance.