Some Observations on the Persecution of Decius

In Rome, the only trials of Christians about which we have good evidence were before the Praefectus Urbi or a Praefectus Praetorio; none of the known cases was important enough to come directly before the emperor himself… G. E. M. de Ste Croix, ‘Why were the Early Christians Persecuted?’ Past and Present 26 (Nov. 1963), 6 ff. at 11 This statement appears to overlook an informative epistle of Cyprian ( Ep . 39), written before the termination of the persecution of Decius. Cyprian is still in his self-imposed exile (which ended shortly after Easter—March 23—A.D. 251) and he is writing about events that have taken place during this same Decian persecution. The letter is, therefore, a contemporary document, for the incidents described cannot have occurred—at the maximum—much more than twelve months previously.