persecution · 250–251 · Rome
Decius' edict of 250 required every inhabitant of the empire to sacrifice and obtain a certificate (libellus) — the first universal, empire-wide persecution. Pope Fabian died at once; Origen was tortured; Cyprian governed Carthage from hiding. The mass of lapsed Christians it left behind ignited the penance controversies and the Novatianist schism.
Decius' program to restore the old religion: universal sacrifice, certified.
The first empire-wide persecution: Pope Fabian dead, Origen broken by torture, and a mass of lapsed whose penance split the church (the Novatianist schism).