4085 AM · 325 CE · world history
Constantine and the Council of Nicaea
Christianity turns from a persecuted faith into the religion of the emperor.
Constantine ends the persecutions with the Edict of Milan, then convenes the first ecumenical council at Nicaea to settle the nature of Christ and give the church one creed. He also moves the capital to the Bosphorus, to a city bearing his name. Empire and church enter an alliance that will shape Europe for fifteen centuries.
Sources
Documents of the period
- inscriptions and coinage of the Roman Empire — the Arch of Constantine and coins bearing Christian symbols
Scholarship
- late Roman historians: Eusebius, Ammianus Marcellinus — Eusebius, Life of Constantine; the text of the Edict of Milan and the acts of the Council of Nicaea
Basis: documents and evidence.