Little Peace of the Church

In 272, after Paul of Samosata was accused of heresy but refused to be deposed as bishop of Antioch, Aurelian ruled in favour of his successor, who was in good standing with the church hierarchy.

Tatian, a Syrian convert to Christianity, maintained that all humanity should share one code of law and one political organization, an attitude that was conducive to coexistence with the empire.

[5] The intellectual practices associated with the Second Sophistic were adopted by Christian apologists, who drew on the rhetorical techniques of the educated classes to argue that they posed no threat to the social order.

[2] Eusebius of Caesarea, who grew up during the peace, contrasted it with the time in which he wrote:It is beyond our ability to describe in a suitable manner the extent and nature of the glory and freedom with which the word of piety toward the God of the universe, proclaimed to the world through Christ, was honored among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our day.

[4][7] Diocletian's efforts to promote stability and unity for the Empire following the Crisis of the Third Century included the enforcement of religious conformity since citizens expressed their loyalty through participation in the public religion of Rome.