A citizen that refused was regarded as a threat to the religion of the Roman Empire, was branded a Christian, and denied "goodwill" to the sovereign. Any citizen who refused to perform the sacrifices was subject to arrest, imprisonment, and eventually fed to the lions during the Gladiator competitions.
Decius was not the first emperor to persecute the Christians. Caesar Nero was the emperor that had began "unofficial" .
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Persecutions; though with Nero, the incidents were small and sporadic. "One of the most famous events of his reign was the fire of Rome in 64 AD Nero was in Antium when the fire started in the Circus Maximus. The fire spread and raged furiously over Rome for nine days. When Nero returned he started to rebuild the city, which caused some to suspect Nero of planning the fire in order to make room for a new city built in his honor. Nero, needing a scapegoat for the fire, chose to put the blame on the Christians. His brutality was exhibited through the persecution of these early Christians. This persecution took on different forms for the Christians, as some were torn to death by dogs while others were used as torches to light Nero's gardens and parties." (Boeke) Guards were able to catch many Christian bishops such as: Fabian of Rome, Babylos of Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem.
The persecution lasted in Rome for a long while until, during current Roman conquests of new lands, Decius" army took a heavy loss against the Goths that cost Decius his life. Persecution was halted for a short while. This was the Christians time to regroup and spread the religion even more. The successors to Decius tried to .
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continue the persecution, but could not get the kind of influence that Decius had.
There were other emperors that continued on with persecution, yet not many were that influential as Diocletian. During a battle against invaders, one of the co-emperors, Numerian was killed on the field.
