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 DECIUS

666

DECKER

Church and St. Peter; VI to the pope and his infalli- bility; VII, VIII, and IX to the refutation of modern errors; X, XI, XII, XIII, and XIV to my preaching as bishop and to acts by which I governed my dio- cese." Of the remaining volumes, XV, "Melanges", deals with many important questions ; XVI and XVII contain letters on questions in philosophy, theology, and other subjects. Cardinal Dechamps's brother, Adolphe, was made Prime Minister of Belgium, 4 April, 184.3. He was also minister of public works, and minister of foreign affairs from 30 July, 1845, to 12 June, 1847.

S.vlNTKAlN, Vie du Cardinal Dechamps, C. SS. R. Archevique de Malines et Primal de Beigique (Tournai, 1884); Lejeune, UArchiconfrerie de la Sainte Famitle, son kistoire et ses fruits (Bruges, 1894); Bibliographie catholique, XVII, 110; XX, 282; XXVI, 131; XXVII, 272; Van Weddinqe.n, Revue generate (1881), XXXIV. 793.

J. Magnier.

Decius (Caid.s Messitjs Quintus Trajanus De- cius), Roman Emperor 249-251. He was born, date uncertain, near Sirmium in Pannonia of a Roman or a Romanized family. Practically nothing is known about his career, but the greater part of his life seems to have been passed in the army. He was the first of the great soldier-emperors from the Danubian provinces under whom the senatorial regime eniled and the govern- ment liecame an ab- solute monarchy. No sooner was his position as emperor made cer- tain by the defeat of Philip at Verona, than Decius commenced to put into effect exten- sive plans for the re- organization of the empire. Problems of administration, inter- nal as well as external, at once claimed his at- tention. To the latter he principally devoted his own energies and consequently the greater part of his reign was spent at the head of the legions attempting to repel the Gothic invaders from the Balkan lands. After several campaigns during which he gave no evi- dence of military genius he met with a signal defeat in the marshes of the Dobrudscha in which he lost his life. This overthrow, attributed by some writers to the treachery of some of the Roman generals, was so complete that the emperor's body was never recov- ered. In the administration of the internal affairs of the empire, Decius showed himself to be an unstates- manlike theorist. He conceived the unpractical pol- icy of reforming the morals of his time by a forcible restoration of the old religion. He revived the obso- lete office of censor as a sop to the senatorial party, pennitted them to name its first incumbent, whom he invested with the most autocratic powers in matters of civil .service and over the private lives of the citi- zens. Oblivious of the changes wrought by time and the march of ideas, he pinned his faith to the almost abandoned paganism of old Rome as the solution of the problems of his time. Such sweeping reforms necessarily brought into prominence the growing power of the Christian Church, and made it clear that any attempt to realize or enforce the absolutism of earlier Roman politics must necessarily be futile as long as any considerable body of citizens professing

Emperor De (Capit.oline Museum, Rome)

the Christian creed was allowed the free exercise of their religion. Belief in the freedom of conscience and the higher estimate of religion found among the Christians could find no part in such schemes as those of Decius and would necessarily prove an insuperable obstacle to the complete realization of his plans. Various reasons have been assigned for the emperor's hatred of Christianity, some seeing in it an evidence of innate cruelty, others a desire to be avenged on the friends of his predecessor; but there can be little doubt that the main motives for his hostility were political, conceived not in the form of fanaticism but in purposes of political expediency. The scope of the anti-Christian legislation of Decius was broader than that of his predecessors and much more far-reaching in its effects. The text of his edicts has not survived but their general tenor can be judged from the manner in which they were executed. The object of the em- peror was not the extermination of the Christians, but the complete extinction of Christianity itself. Bi-shops and priests were unconditionally punished with death. To all others was given an opportunity to recant and, to ensure the abandonment of Christianity, all were compelled to submit to some test of their loyalty to Paganism, such as the offering of sacrifice, the pouring of libations, or the burning of incense to the idols. The unexpectedness of the attack, coupled with the fact that an appalling amount of la.xity and corruption had manifested themselves during the long peace which the Church had just enjoyed, produced the most deplorable effect in the Christian fold. Multitudes presented themselves to the magistrates to express their compliance with the imperial edict and to these apostates tickets were issued attesting the fact that they had offered sacrifice (sacrificali) or burned in- cense (thurificati), while others, without actually per- forming these rites, availed themselves of the venality of the magistrates to purchase certificates attesting their renunciation (libcllatici). These defections, though numerous, were more than counterbalanced by the multitudes who suffered death, exile, confisca- tion, or torture in all parts of the empire. The Decian persecution was the severest trial to which the Church up to that time had been subjected and the loss suf- fered by the Church in consequence of apostasy was almost as damaging as the losses by martyrdom. The problem of deciding on what conditions the lapsi should be admitted to the church and what weight was to be attached to the pardon of confessors, pro- duced the bitterest dissensions and led directly to two dangerous schisms.

Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de Viglise (Paris, 1906), I, 367-368; Allard, Histoire des persecutions pntdanf la premise moitie du III' siecle (Paris, 1885-90; 2nd ed. 1S92); Gregg, The Decian Persecution (Edinburgh, 1897).

P. J. Healy.

Decker, Hans, a German sculptor of the middle of the fifteenth centurj'. Very little is recorded concern- ing Decker, but that his home was in Nuremberg. His name is mentionetl in a register for the year 1449, and certain early productions in the years 1432 and 1437 are attributed to him. Though his carving in stone is rather rough, he stands alone among his contem- poraries for his energy and realism. The few works known to us appear to inaugurate a new style. His principal sculptures are the colossal statue of St. Christopher with the Child Christ on his shoulder, at the south-west portal of the church of St. Sebaki, a memorial of the Schlusselfeld family, and the great "Entombment", dated 1446, mthe chapel of St. Wolf- gang, in the church of St. Egidius. The group is com- posed of eight figures of heroic proportions powerfully disposed. In the body of Christ the handling is hard, but there is a distinct attempt at correct anatomy. The head is noble and manly; Man,^ is full of grief; John raises his Master's arm to kiss it. The draper- ies are simple and finely arranged. This work is not