It is indeed! Diocletian was the last major pagan Emperor (284-305 AD) before the Christian Emperors came in - and he was the worst persecutor of Christianity of the lot. Unlike previous pagan Emperors, who mostly didn’t understand Christianity or didn’t care, or both, Diocletian initiated an actual imperial persecution of Christianity which ultimately killed several thousand Christians during his reign.
There’s one pagan Emperor after him, Julian the Apostate, who comes after a string of Christian Emperors (306-361 AD) and reigns for two years (361-363 AD). He’s a cool guy, doesn’t persecute anyone, but at that point, Christianity is deeply entrenched, and poor Julian catches a Persian javelin in his gut before he can carry out his grand plans for reform anyway.
Isn’t that one of the last anti- or non-Christian emperors?
It is indeed! Diocletian was the last major pagan Emperor (284-305 AD) before the Christian Emperors came in - and he was the worst persecutor of Christianity of the lot. Unlike previous pagan Emperors, who mostly didn’t understand Christianity or didn’t care, or both, Diocletian initiated an actual imperial persecution of Christianity which ultimately killed several thousand Christians during his reign.
There’s one pagan Emperor after him, Julian the Apostate, who comes after a string of Christian Emperors (306-361 AD) and reigns for two years (361-363 AD). He’s a cool guy, doesn’t persecute anyone, but at that point, Christianity is deeply entrenched, and poor Julian catches a Persian javelin in his gut before he can carry out his grand plans for reform anyway.