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It seemed that more Christians were persecuted, even after Diocletian effectively stabilized the Empire, Christians were the official scapegoats for whatever problems remained and there were a lot of them.
在戴克里先统一罗马帝国后，更多的基督教徒受到迫害，基督教徒仍然被罗马官方政府认定是所有问题存在的替罪羊。
Elaborate loyalty tests were administered,
并且精心制定了测试宗教忠诚度的方法
those Christians who had not burned incense before the Emperor's statue,
不在皇帝雕像前焚香膜拜，
or swore oaths against the Christian faith were executed.
或者拒绝发誓放弃基督信仰的人都被执行死刑。
Not all Christians held to their belief under such horrible circumstances but most did.
虽然不是所有的基督教徒都能在此种条件下坚持信仰，但是大部分都坚持下来。
Moreover the courage of those martyrs who wouldn't give in won even more converts,
而且那些至死不放弃信仰的勇敢烈士甚至赢得了更多的皈依者，
proof that the secular Roman Empire was just a phase and that a human beings true reward existed only in the heavenly kingdom of God.
他们证明了世俗的罗马帝国只是一个阶段，人类真正的奖励只存在上帝的天国。
Contrary to popular belief the Emperor Constantine the Great, 306-337 AD, did not make Christianity the state religion of Rome, he was not even baptised a Christian until just before his death.
和一般人所知道的恰恰相反，君士坦丁大帝(306-337)并没有把基督教定为罗马的国教，在他死时接受洗礼之前，他都不是基督教徒。
Rather it looks though, although Constantine became interested in Christianity
但是，大概是在他从四帝共治中一路摸爬滚打，
as he crawled his way up from a wannabe tetrarch to sole ruler of the Roman world.
成为罗马帝国唯一的统治者时，他对基督教产生了浓厚的兴趣。
In 312 AD Constantine and his troops stood at the Milvian Bridge
312年，君士坦丁率领军队站在罗马外的米尔维安桥上，
just outside Rome preparing to attack the army of his bitter rival Maxentius.
准备进攻劲敌马克西密努斯。
The chances of his success weren't good,
君士坦丁的胜算不大，
as tradition has it Constantine saw a vision of the labarum (the Chi-Rho monogram of Christ)
传说他当时看到了基督教旗，也就是基督符号的字母组合，
and heard the Greek words en toutoi nika,
并且听到了一句希腊语 en toutoi nika
"In this sign, conquer," and history tells us Constantine won despite the stiff odds.
翻译过来就是 "这个标志 征服"，历史记载说君士坦丁以少胜多，赢得战争。
This victory at the Milvian Bridge made Constantine the ruler of the Western Roman Empire,
米尔维安桥一役帮助君士坦丁成为了西罗马帝国的统领者。
in 313 Constantine and his eastern counterpart Licinius issued the Edict of Milan.
313年，君士坦丁和控制东部的李锡尼乌斯颁布了米兰敕令。
