Lactantius

Lactantius was a Latin Christian author and rhetorician of the early fourth century. His works include an account of the Great Persecution and the Tetrarchy, written from a Christian perspective.

Tetrarchy: A system of Roman government established by Diocletian, in which two senior emperors ruled alongside two junior emperors. Lactantius portrays the four-ruler system whose breakdown frames his history.
Arnobius: A Latin Christian author of the late third and early fourth centuries who wrote Against the Nations. Lactantius studied under Arnobius at Sicca, linking their careers and apologetic writing.
Great Persecution: A period of state persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, especially intense from 303 to 311. Lactantius narrates its measures and consequences through the experiences of Christian communities.
Eusebian historiography: The Christian historical writing associated with Eusebius of Caesarea, especially his accounts of the Church and Constantine. Its broader ecclesiastical framing contrasts with Lactantius’s concentrated, polemical portraits of rulers.
Diocletianic Persecution: The Roman Empire’s last major persecution of Christians, begun under Diocletian in 303. It is the central conflict in Lactantius’s account of imperial rule.
Sicca Veneria: An ancient Roman city in North Africa, located at modern El Kef in Tunisia. Lactantius’s reported studies under Arnobius took place in this North African city.
Galerius: Roman emperor from 305 to 311 and a leading figure in the Tetrarchy. Lactantius depicts him as a principal persecutor and recounts his deathbed edict.
Paganism in ancient Rome: The diverse traditional religious practices and cults of ancient Roman society. Lactantius attacks these traditions while explaining the conflict between emperors and Christians.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors: A Latin Christian work by Lactantius recounting the fates of emperors who persecuted Christians. This is his principal surviving narrative of the persecution and Tetrarchic crisis.
Nicomedia: An ancient city in northwestern Asia Minor that served as an imperial residence under Diocletian. Lactantius taught rhetoric there before the persecution disrupted his position.

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