Valerian has vigorously renewed Decius' persecution of the Christians.
According to reports by Christian writers, his edict of 257 had ordered bishops and priests to sacrifice according to the pagan rituals, and prohibited Christians, under penalty of death, from meeting at the tombs of their deceased.
A second Imperial edict issued in 258 prohibits Christianity in the Roman Empire.
This edict divides Christians into four categories: priests, who are to be put to death; senators and equestrians, who are to be stripped of their positions and their property confiscated; nuns, who are to be exiled; and imperial civil servants, who are condemned to forced labor.
Valerian executes, among others, Bishop Xystus (Sixtus II) of Rome, together with six of his deacons, and Bishop Cyprian of Carthage in 258.
