Was not this a law of Constantine?
Neither does this circumstance appear in the acts.

His father had clearly expected him to serve, as he had bought him a new dress for the occasion; yet he refused to force the conscience of his son.

and when Maximilian was condemned to death, the father returned home in joy, blessing God for having bestowed upon him such a son .-- M.] [Footnote 145: See the Acta Sincera, p.299.The accounts of his martyrdom and that of Marcellus, bear every mark of truth and authenticity.] [Footnote 146: Acta Sincera, p.302.

* Note: M.Guizot here justly observes, that it was the necessity of sacrificing to the gods, which induced Marcellus to act in this manner .-- M.] After the success of the Persian war had raised the hopes and the reputation of Galerius, he passed a winter with Diocletian in the palace of Nicomedia; and the fate of Christianity became the object of their secret consultations.

[147] The experienced emperor was still inclined to pursue measures of lenity; and though he readily consented to exclude the Christians from holding any employments in the household or the army, he urged in the strongest terms the danger as well as cruelty of shedding the blood of those deluded fanatics.