Constantine did not outlaw paganism in the Roman Empire; that would take the best part of a century to come about under Theodosius I. It was as self-styled ‘Bishop of the Pagans’ that Constantine intervened in ecclesiastical affairs well before he, in 325 AD, summoned his ‘fellow’ bishops to a Council at Nicaea, allowing them to travel there in imperial style at government expense. His purpose was to ensure that the newly state-supported religion should be unified and he had decided to back what was to become orthodoxy against those dissidents (called ‘Arians’ after Arius, a preacher of the diocese of Alexandria) who held the Son to be subordinate to the Father. The Emperor did not chair the Council meetings himself, these being placed under the presidency of bishop Ossius of Cordoba in his de facto role as court chaplain. The proceedings were governed by rules similar to those of the Roman Senate, with the president controlling the agenda; hence all motions had to pass through Ossius’ hands, no motion from the floor being permitted. As a result – and whether or not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – imperial policy became the prevailing orthodoxy.