To restore respect and dignity to the role of emperor,
為了使皇權重新獲得威望和受人敬畏,
he introduced new rituals and court ceremony, and magnificent, richly embroidered robes for his courtiers and officials.
他實行了一套嚴格的宮廷禮儀并讓宮廷人員和官員穿奢華、昂貴的刺繡衣服。
He was particularly insistent that people should make sacrifices to the emperor, and so ruthlessly persecuted Christians throughout the empire.
他當然特別注重物色皇帝的犧牲品并因此而在全國尤為強烈地迫害基督徒。
This was the last and most violent of all the persecutions.
這是最后一次、最厲害的一次迫害。
After a reign of more than 20 years, Diocletian renounced his imperial title and retired, a sick man, to his palace in Dalmatia.
在位了20多年之后,戴克里先放棄了自己的皇位并以疲憊、患病的私人身份在達爾馬提亞的一座宮殿里過著隱居的生活。
There he lived long enough to see the futility of his battle against Christianity.
他不得不在那里看到,他與基督教的斗爭多么徒勞無益。
It is said that his successor, the Emperor Constantine, abandoned this struggle on the eve of a battle against his rival, Maxentius.
因為他的皇位繼承人君士坦丁,放棄了這場斗爭。據(jù)說是君士坦丁在戴克里先的一位前副皇帝馬克森提會戰(zhàn)前
He had a dream in which he saw the Cross, and heard the words: "Beneath this sign you will be victorious."
他在夢中見到了十字架并聽見了這樣的話:“這個標記將保佑你獲勝。”
Victorious in that battle, he issued a decree in 313 that Christians should no longer be persecuted.
他獲勝后,便在313年規(guī)定,基督教不再受到迫害。
He himself remained a pagan for a long time, and was only baptized on his death-bed.
不過他自己卻是在很長時間內一直是異教徒,在臨死前不久才接受洗禮。