DECIO (Messius Caius Traianus Decius), ROMAN EMPEROR. — B. in Pannonia around 200, d. in 251. Sent to Moesia in 249 by the emperor Philip to suppress a revolt of the legions, he was elected emperor by them. Having defeated Philip at Verona, he succeeded him on the throne. A rigid conservative, he sought in every sphere to lead Roman civilization back to its ancient traditions: in order to uproot Christianity, which he considered politically dangerous, he undertook a systematic struggle, on the basis of an edict that summoned every subject to perform acts of homage to the official deities of the State, in the presence of the local authorities and specially constituted commissions. Threats, imprisonment, torture, and confiscations were intended to force those who resisted into apostasy: the death penalty was applied especially against bishops.
Among the best-known victims of the Decian persecution were Pope Fabian and the priest Moses in Rome, Mappalicus and Paul in Carthage, the bishops Alexander of Jerusalem, Babylas of Antioch, and Nestor of Magidos, and the priest Pionius of Smyrna. The bishops Cyprian of Carthage, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Gregory of Neocaesarea fled in order to continue directing their persecuted communities from afar. Origen was imprisoned and tortured. Alongside the numerous heroic confessors of the faith, many, in order to save their lives, immediately or after imprisonment and torture submitted to the idolatrous sacrifice (v. ASI); others, without sacrificing, found a way to purchase from the authorities the necessary certificates. But, on the whole, the persecution succeeded in strengthening Christian society. Toward the end of 250 it lost its intensity, and after the death of D., in 251, during an ill-fated expedition against the Goths in Moesia, it ceased altogether.