Licinius Persecutes the Christians

Constantine the emperor, having embraced Christianity in this way, conducted himself in keeping with the Christian faith he professed. He rebuilt the churches and enriched them with splendid offerings, and he either closed or destroyed the temples of the pagans and exposed the images in them to public contempt. But his colleague Licinius, who held to his pagan beliefs, hated Christians. For fear of the emperor Constantine he avoided stirring up open persecution, yet he managed to plot against them in secret, and in the end went on to harass them openly. This persecution, however, was local, reaching only the districts where Licinius himself was. [a]

But these and other public outrages did not stay hidden from Constantine for long, and when Licinius found out that Constantine was angry at his conduct, he made an apology. Having pacified him in this way, he entered into a pretended league of friendship and bound himself with many oaths never again to act like a tyrant. But no sooner had he given his pledge than he broke his oath, for he neither changed his tyrannical temper nor stopped persecuting Christians. He even forbade the bishops by law to visit the unconverted pagans, so that the visits could not be made an occasion for winning them over to the Christian faith. So the persecution was at once well known and secret: concealed in name, but plain in fact; for those exposed to it suffered most severely, both in their persons and in their property.