Diocletian`s first edict had called for the destruction of Christian churches and Christian books; a second and a third ordered Christian priests to offer sacrifices to the gods of the state upon pain of death. As a result, the Christians themselves became sharply divided. Some, in order to save their lives, surrendered the Holy Scriptures to be burned and made at least a token sacrifice before the state gods; others, however, zealously chose death rather than compromise their belief. Nor was the situation helped when many Christian bishops privately urged the clergy under their jurisdiction to make a token acknowledgment, certain that, as had been the case with other persecutions, this one too would wane and the church would emerge once again to a position of influence.
One group of people Constantine was never able to understand the fanatics. Amianus, he realized, could easily have avoided being executed that day in the square. And in the months that followed, he saw many others deliberately choose death by going out of their way to resist the decrees. Trained as a soldier and practical to the highest degree, he found it difficult to understand what appeared to him to be a needless sacrifice of life.
Drepanum with Crispus
Then one day, as he was playing in the garden at Drepanum with Crispus now a fine healthy boy who promised to be everything Constantine himself had been as a stripling in Naissus he looked up to see beside him the tall form of the priestphilosopher Theognis of Nicaea, who had performed the simple wedding ceremony in which he and Minervina had been married. He rose at once and gave Theognis the Roman grip of greeting while
Crispus, protesting, was bundled off to supper with the promise that his father would romp with him again at bedtime.
“I am pleased to find you unharmed, sir,” Constantine said warmly.
“Others are not,” the priest admitted with a wry smile. “They call me a traitor to my faith.”
“Why?”
“I gave up the Holy Scriptures, as the Emperor decreed, and made a token sacrifice to Jupiter. The military commander of the district where Nicaea lies is an old friend from my own days as a soldier and required no more of me.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for you to come here? The commander of this district is a crony of Caesar Galerius and reports to him on everything that happens.”
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