In the year 260 AD, Valerian was captured by his enemy to the east, Sapor I. Following his capture, his son Gallienus took the role of emperor and did away with the Christian persecutions. In his Toleration Rescript of 261, Gallienus restored churches and places of worship to the Christian bishops and ordered that “none should molest them.” This edict was sent to Dionysius and other bishops throughout the empire and also to the imperial officials that did the arresting and executing in the previous years. After this edict was pronounced, the church would enjoy a majority peace, with occasional isolated persecutions, until the time of Diocletian in the beginning of the fourth century.
