The Pagan Who Helped Build the Catholic Church

God works in mysterious ways

As we approach the Christmas season and the celebration of the birth of Jesus (and by extension, the Church), we would be remiss if we did not learn more about the pagan who helped give the Church its structure and the means to expand throughout the world: the Emperor Diocletian. He would take the Roman throne, persecute the early Christians but give the Church its base structure that survives to this day.

style="margin: 0px;">DENVER, CO - Gaius Valerius Diocles was born sometime around the year 244 (possibly in December)  the son of a freedman at the beginning of what is now called the Crisis of the 3rd Century, a fifty year period that saw at least 26 legitimate emperors (and numerous pretenders) battle for control of the empire in a series of bloody civil wars.

Diocles eventually rose to command the imperial bodyguard of the emperor of the moment, Carus. Despite his precarious position, Carus marched east to battle Rome's ancient enemy Persia with one of his sons, Numerian, and his two closest advisors: Diocles and his Praetorian Prefect, Lucius Flavius Aper. Carus' other son, Carinus, was left in Rome to keep the peace and more importantly the throne while his father was away. Carus was successful against the Persians but was reportedly killed by a bolt of lightning. Death by a bolt of lightning in the ancient world could easily be something as simple as death by disease or perhaps assassination (possibly by Diocles). 

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Regardless, his son Numerian became emperor but quickly contracted a nasty eye infection. Not wanting his troops to see him, he rode in a veiled litter and eventually died. The truth (and the stench of the corpse) could not be hidden forever, and the troops wanted to know what happened to their new emperor. Seizing the moment, Diocles accused Aper of murdering Numerian and executed him with his own sword without letting him speak in his defense.

Years before, a seer had legendarily told Diocles that he would become emperor after killing a boar. Fortunately for Diocles, the translation of Aper's name is wild pig. Having finally slain the boar, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the army34 and Romanized his name to Diocletian. His first order of business was to eliminate the only other claimant to the throne, Carus' other son Carinus. A battle was fought in modern day Serbia in the Margus valley. Carinus had the larger army and began to win the battle, but his past caught up with him at exactly the wrong moment. One of his officers whose wife he had seduced killed him in the middle of the battle, leaving Diocletian as sole Roman emperor.

As emperor he faced a host of problems such as how to increase the men in the army, how to pay the troops, how to stop the seemingly endless civil wars that had depleted the empire of men and resources, and finally a way to pass the torch with a succession plan that would not restart the civil wars. No one, much less Diocletian, had an understanding of economics, so while his monetary policies failed, he succeeded in stabilizing the empire in other ways.

Regardless, his son Numerian became emperor but quickly contracted a nasty eye infection. Not wanting his troops to see him, he rode in a veiled litter and eventually died. The truth (and the stench of the corpse) could not be hidden forever, and the troops wanted to know what happened to their new emperor. Seizing the moment, Diocles accused Aper of murdering Numerian and executed him with his own sword without letting him speak in his defense. Years before, a seer had legendarily told Diocles that he would become emperor after killing a boar. Fortunately for Diocles, the translation of Aper's name is wild pig. Having finally slain the boar, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the army34 and Romanized his name to Diocletian. His first order of business was to eliminate the only other claimant to the throne, Carus' other son Carinus. A battle was fought in modern day Serbia in the Margus valley. Carinus had the larger army and began to win the battle, but his past caught up with him at exactly the wrong moment. One of his officers whose wife he had seduced killed him in the middle of the battle, leaving Diocletian as sole Roman emperor.

He then grouped these smaller provinces into administrative districts called dioceses who were led by a new official called a vicarious or vicar. To this day, one of the Pope's titles in Vicarius Christi, the Vicar of Christ, and the Catholic Church still groups parishes into dioceses, some smaller or larger than others. To help protect his own life, Diocletian modified the way the emperor was viewed by the average citizen. It had been a long standing practice in the Roman Empire that once an emperor died, his successor deified him and he was worshipped as a god. Diocletian took this one step further and had himself deified while he was still alive; therefore, killing the emperor was a sacrilege. 

The emperor took to wearing a golden crown and elaborate robes. He forbade anyone other than himself (and later hi co-emperors) from wearing purple cloth. Complex and extravagant ceremonies were staged wherever he went. All his subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence, but if you were very lucky and he favored you, you might get to kiss the hem of his robe (similar to kissing the Pope's ring).

There is a loose parallel here with the early church. In the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the priest would process with the wine and bread before it became the Body and Blood. As the priest passed by, you could gently touch his robe and whisper a prayer request.  

 

Before we think too much of Diocletian, it is worth noting that his contributions to the future church did not come without a price. It was Diocletian (and his junior emperor Galerius) that instituted the last great Christian persecution. As he was asking his pagan priests to read the signs for the future, the priests complained that the future was clouded because of interference from the Christians present who were making the sign of the Cross. Enraged, Diocletian retaliated with a series of edicts against Christians. In 299, he decreed that all his soldiers and court officials make sacrifice to the old Roman gods or be dismissed. In 303, he went even further and ordered the destruction of Christian churches and the burning of Christian liturgy. Priests were imprisoned and only released if they made a sacrifice.

Lastly, in 304 a decree was issued demanding all Christians make sacrifice to the old gods or be executed. No exact numbers exist on how many of our early brethren were martyred for the faith but many people did lose their lives. These edicts were not enforced uniformly throughout the empire, as some Christians were spared death only to be sentenced to mutilation and slave labor.

The two  junior emperor contrasted each other greatly. Constantius hardly enforced any of the edicts, while Maximinus Daia was much more ruthless. Unfortunately, the persecutions that had begun in 299 didn't come to a full stop until 313. By then Constantius' son, Constantine the Great, had survived the civil war that followed Diocletian's retirement and became Christianity's champion. The Edict of Milan in 313 agreed to by Constantine and his co-emperor Licinius gave Christians toleration and legitimacy.

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With Constantine as a convert and a supporter, Christianity never looked back. After Constantine eliminated Licinius in 324, Christians had the full backing of the Roman government. Paganism declined rather quickly. Julian the Apostate would try to resuscitate it in the 360s but it was too little too late. Despite its pagan roots, Constantine would continue and reinforce Diocletian's governmental structure which would be copied by the Church.

Additionally, he also copied and augmented Diocletian's pomp and circumstance, another parallel we see in the robes and dress of the Roman Pope and the Eastern Patriarchs. In the end, the Church borrowed quite a bit from this pagan tormenter, turning the tables on his innovations and his religion. It's too bad he didn't see the light for himself and embrace rather than torment Christians. 

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