Galerius And Constantine: The Edict Of Toleration

Religion is a set of beliefs held by a group of people that help a person develop a strong moral character in order to do good deeds. It was an important factor that played a major role in the Roman Empire. While Diocletian eliminated all Christians due to their religious differences, Galerius and Constantine issued the Edict of Tolerations to protect them. Even though the Romans believed the rise of Christianity posed a threat to society, people started to change their beliefs when they gain different experiences about this new religion. During the first four centuries, Christianity was originally rejected though it promoted peace among people and helped spread the teachings of Jesus Christ to non-believers. Though the attitudes of some …show more content…
At first, King Galerius developed a strong hatred against Christians. He was the one who successfully convinced King Diocletian to persecute Christians, but he regretted his actions afterwards. In Galerius and Constantine: Edicts of Toleration 311/313, the author states that King Galerius always wanted to create peace and prosperity for his people, but he failed to fulfill his duties. He also expresses his disappointment that Christians obediently received punishment for practicing a religion that they desire. This is ironic because Galerius started the religious war between Christians and Romans. While King Galerius wrote the Edict of Toleration, he was afraid that God would seek vengeance against him for executing his people. The purpose of the Edict of Toleration is to grant permission for people to worship Christianity in exchange for prayers and forgiveness. King Galerius was on his deathbed when he realized his past mistakes had a negative impact on him. In 313 AD, King Constantine and Licinius worked together to co-write the Edict of Milan. This royal edict may have officially legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, but the true intentions of Constantine was beyond that. Once he converted to Christianity, his political power increased a lot because he received support from the church. Although he was not very interested in religious affairs, he was greedy for more power because he wanted to become invincible. During the reign of Theodosius, he published the law codes announcing that Christianity is the only religion of the empire and other religions are prohibited. In Theodosian Code XVI.1.2, the author makes it clear that Roman society should devote themselves to one religion and ignore the others because they are not necessary. He also dismisses the idea of violence and making sacrifices to the gods because it does not benefit a