.—Concerning Constantine’s Pious Father, and the Persecutors Diocletian and Maximian.
“ former emperors I have been accustomed to regard as
those with whom I could have no sympathy, on account of the savage cruelty of
their character. Indeed, my father was the only one who uniformly
practiced the duties of humanity, and with admirable piety called for
the blessing of God the Father on all his actions, but the rest, unsound in mind, were more zealous of cruel than gentle measures; and this disposition they indulged without restraint, and thus persecuted the true doctrine during the whole period of their reign. Nay, so violent did their malicious fury become, that in the midst of a profound peace, as regards both the religious and ordinary interests of men, they kindled, as it were, the flames of a civil war.