Note:M。Guizotherejustlyobserves，thatitwasthenecessityofsacrificingtothegods，whichinducedMarcellustoactinthismanner。—M。]
AfterthesuccessofthePersianwarhadraisedthehopesandthereputationofGalerius，hepassedawinterwithDiocletianinthepalaceofNicomedia；andthefateofChristianitybecametheobjectoftheirsecretconsultations。
^147Theexperiencedemperorwasstillinclinedtopursuemeasuresoflenity；andthoughhereadilyconsentedtoexcludetheChristiansfromholdinganyemploymentsinthehouseholdorthearmy，heurgedinthestrongesttermsthedangeraswellascrueltyofsheddingthebloodofthosedeludedfanatics。
Galeriusatlengthextorted^!!fromhimthepermissionofsummoningacouncil，composedofafewpersonsthemostdistinguishedinthecivilandmilitarydepartmentsofthestate。
Theimportantquestionwasagitatedintheirpresence，andthoseambitiouscourtierseasilydiscerned，thatitwasincumbentonthemtosecond，bytheireloquence，theimportunateviolenceoftheCaesar。Itmaybepresumed，thattheyinsistedoneverytopicwhichmightinterestthepride，thepiety，orthefears，oftheirsovereigninthedestructionofChristianity。Perhapstheyrepresented，thatthegloriousworkofthedeliveranceoftheempirewasleftimperfect，aslongasanindependentpeoplewaspermittedtosubsistandmultiplyintheheartoftheprovinces。