After the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued his “Edict Against the Christians” in 303 AD, it seemed as though persecution against Christians may never end. However, when Constantine became emperor in 306 AD, he not only allowed Christianity but encouraged it, making it the official religion of Rome. Before he died on March 22, 337, he had escalated the Roman Empire to the head of the church, and it was many years later when the government finally stopped interfering with church decisions. The first church council, the Council of Nicea, was even called under his edict in 325 AD.
