Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250–c. 325 CE) was a Christian Latin author during the Diocletianic persecution and the times of Constantine the Great, with whom he was in contact. He wrote the treatise On the Workmanship of God (De opificio dei), probably the elegy Phoenix (De ave Phoenice), the Divine Institutes (Divinae institutiones), an apologetic overall presentation of Christian teaching in seven books, the polemic historiographical sketch On the Deaths of …