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"In the fall of 249, shortly after becoming emperor, Decius conceived of a novel method to invoke the aid of the gods on behalf of the Roman Empire; all the subjects of the Empire would be required to offer a sacrifice to the gods and all who did so would receive a certificate of compliance...
Generally, by the spring of 250 ecclesiastical authors speak of it as in the past tense. It may simply be that Decius, faced with serious problems in the Balkan area of the Empire, realized his priorities and let the matter drop"
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The sense seems to be that the Decian Persecutionswere short-lived, the heaviest persecutions lasting only 6-9 months (Fall 249 - Spring 250). Therefore, this article conflicts with what is written in the Wikipedia entry, that "Fabian seems to have been martyred at the beginning of the persecutions." Rather, a 20 January 250 CE martyrdom would be roughly 4 months into the crackdown. (I adopt "Fall" = September; "Spring" = March; Decius took the purple in June 249 CE; "Shortly" after this agrees with September.)
Therefore, Fabian may well have had ample time to see the small Christian communities of Gaul wiped out. Given the slow travel times for information in those days, it seems logical that Fabian was executed shortly after sending out his re-missionaries to Gaul.
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