Page "Diocletian" Paragraph 42

Diocletian returned to Antioch in the autumn of 302.

He ordered that the deacon Romanus of Caesarea have his tongue removed for defying the order of the courts and interrupting official sacrifices.

Romanus was then sent to prison, where he was executed on 17 November 303.

Diocletian believed that Romanus of Caesarea was arrogant, and he left the city for Nicomedia in the winter, accompanied by Galerius.

According to Lactantius, Diocletian and Galerius entered into an argument over imperial policy towards Christians while wintering at Nicomedia in 302.

Diocletian argued that forbidding Christians from the bureaucracy and military would be sufficient to appease the gods, but Galerius pushed for extermination.

The two men sought the advice of the oracle of Apollo at Didyma.

The oracle responded that the impious on Earth hindered Apollo's ability to provide advice.

Rhetorically Eusebius records the Oracle as saying " The just on Earth ..." These impious, Diocletian was informed by members of the court, could only refer to the Christians of the Empire.

At the behest of his court, Diocletian acceded to demands for universal persecution.