DECIUS (Messius Caius Traianus Decius), ROMAN EMPEROR. — Born in Pannonia around 200, died in 251. Sent by Emperor Philip in 249 to Moesia to suppress a revolt of the legions, he was proclaimed emperor by them. After defeating Philip at Verona, he succeeded him on the throne. A rigid conservative, he sought to restore Roman traditions in every sphere. To uproot Christianity, which he deemed politically dangerous, he launched a systematic persecution based on an edict requiring every subject to perform acts of obeisance to the official state deities, in the presence of local authorities and specially appointed commissions. Threats, imprisonment, torture, and confiscations were used to force the recalcitrant to apostasy; the death penalty was especially applied against bishops.
Among the most notable 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, Nestor of Magydus, and the priest Pionius of Smyrna. The bishops Cyprian of Carthage, Dionysius of Alexandria, Gregory of Neocaesarea fled to continue directing their persecuted communities from afar. Origen was imprisoned and tortured. Alongside the many heroic confessors of the faith, many, to save their lives, immediately or after imprisonment and torture, submitted to idolatrous sacrifice (v. ASI); others, without sacrificing, managed to obtain the necessary certificates from the authorities by bribery. Yet the persecution overall strengthened the Christian community. By the end of 250, its intensity waned, and after Decius’s death in 251 during an ill-fated campaign against the Goths in Moesia, it ceased entirely.