Roman Emperor Galerius

Definition: The Roman Emperor Galerius (305-311 A.D.), was born Caius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, in Dacia Ripensis near Sardica, Illyricum, around A.D. 250. Galerius became Caesar on 1 March 293, under Diocletian, whose daughter he married. A pagan, Galerius encouraged Diocletian in the persecution of Christians. On May 1, 305, when Diocletian abdicated, Constantius and Galerius became Augusti, with Severus and Maximinus Daia as Caesars -- Galerius and his nephew Daia in the East. Galerius had a distinguished military career. As he approached death from a painful, incapacitating malodorous disease, he considered the possibility that it was punishment from a Christian god, so he pronounced an edict of tolerance on April 30, 311.