DIOCLETIAN
In its first 300 hundred years the Christian church endured repeated waves of persecution. But perhaps the worst came while Diocletian was emperor of Rome (A.D.284-305).
Convinced that the Christians were conspiring against him, Diocletian sought to annihilate them throughout his empire. History records that he ordered entire towns to be massacred.
But, as Psalm 2 verse 4 recognizes, the one who rules in heaven is sovereign over the wicked and he will have the last laugh.
Back home in Diocletian's palace, his own wife and daughter were turning to Christ. And after his death a new emperor by the name of Constantine took the throne. Constantine became a Christian, and Christianity eventually became the favoured religion of the entire Roman Empire.
All Diocletian’s plotting was unsuccessful and ineffective!