In The Age of Martyrs the famous Catholic historian Abbot Giuseppe Ricciotti records the epochal events of Roman history from the rise of Diocletian 284 to the death of Constantine the Great 337 a period which witnessed the last and greatest of the 10 persecutions of the Christians by the Roman government Included are the stories of many of the most famous martyrdoms of that period e g the Forty Martyrs frozen to death on the ice of a pond at Sebaste in modern Turkey In the rendition the author also describes the meteoric and nearly miraculous rise of Constantine resulting in complete control of the Empire starting in 307 and culminating in 324 including his lightning campaign in Italy the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome 312 the epochal Edict of Milan 313 the defeat of the Emperor Maximin in 313 and finally the defeat and death of the Emperor Licinius in 324 at which time Constantine finally brought all persecution of the Christians to an end