Caracalla, the constitutio Antoniana and the Christians

Abstract

Not a single ancient document of Caracalla’s Chancellor’s office (the Constitutio Antoniana included) mentions the existence of a general edict against the members of the Christian communities, with the exception of several references of local nature. This period would correspond with a period of religious tranquility and equilibrium despite some upheavals in Northern Africa; among pagan documents we can only find a reference to the repression between the osroenos, where Christianism had taken root strongly, although actually we can’t consider this fact as a strictly religious intervention. The Constitutio Antoniana, which ultimately searched for the unification of the Empire, obliged all of its subjects to worship the emperor, which would become the cause of forthcoming prosecutions.