Antoninianus minted in Rome in 250 AD/CE to mark the adventus (formal entry into the city) of the emperor Trajan Decius (r. 249-251). On the obverse, the bust of Decius, wearing a radiate crown; this crown, which connected the reigning emperor to the solar deity Helios/Sol, became increasingly common in Roman iconography during the later Empire and would continue to appear even after the "Christianization" of Rome. On the reverse, Decius on horseback, holding a scepter and wearing the traveling hat known as the petasus.
Decius came to the throne during the so-called Third Century Crisis -- a period of some fifty years, from the assassination of Severus Alexander to the accession of Diocletian, during which the Roman Empire grappled with civil wars, "barbarian" incursions, Sassanid Persian aggression, and severe inflation, among other troubles. Decius hoped to "right the ship" by restoring the worship of the traditional Roman gods, and he accordingly issued an edict commanding all citizens of the Empire to offer sacrifice. Those who did so received official certificates (libelli), while those who refused were subject to legal penalties such as exile and confiscation of property. In the event, many Christians simply bribed the officials in charge of certificates or paid others to sacrifice in their place, and the persecution fizzled out with Decius' death in battle the next year (an event Christians saw as divine retribution). Nonetheless, the Decian edict remains significant as the first known attempt to compel religious orthodoxy on an Empire-wide scale, and it set the mold for future, more aggressive persecutions under Valerian and Diocletian.
Photo credit: Johny SYSEL | Wikimedia Commons | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
