What was the Edict of Serdica?

Issued in 311 AD by Roman Emperor Galerius, the Edict of Serdica officially brought the Diocletianic Persecution of Christianity to an end in the Eastern Roman Empire. It implicitly granted Christians the status of a recognized and accepted worship, preceding the Edict of Milan by two years. The decree was proclaimed in Serdica, which is known today as Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

What we know

• The Edict of Serdica was issued in 311 AD by Roman Emperor Galerius in Serdica, which is now Sofia, Bulgaria. [2, 3]
• The decree officially ended the Diocletianic Persecution of Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire. [1, 2]
• It implicitly granted Christianity the status of religio licita, meaning a worship recognized and accepted by the Roman Empire. [2]
• The Edict of Serdica was the first edict to legalize Christianity and it preceded the Edict of Milan by two years. [2]

Where to go next

• compared withHow did the Edict of Milan expand on previous policies?
• whoWho was Roman Emperor Galerius?
• whereWhat was the historical city of Serdica?
• whenWhen did Christianity become the state church of the Roman Empire?
• the bigger pictureWhat is an edict in ancient Roman law?
• an unexpected connectionHow does the surviving text of the Edict of Milan differ from its traditional historical narrative?Scholars generally reject the traditional story of a formal Edict of Milan, finding instead that the surviving document was actually a letter from Licinius to provincial governors issued in Nicomedia.

Sources

• [1]Edict of Toleration by Galerius (Wikidata Q128742) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Edict of Serdica · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Serdica · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Edict · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Edict of Milan · CC BY-SA 4.0

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