Constantine, after his victory over Licinius in 324, writes that he has come from the farthest shores of Britain as God's chosen instrument for the suppression of impiety, and in a letter to the Persian king Shapur II he proclaims that, aided by the divine power of God, he has come to bring peace and prosperity to all lands.

The Arian heresy, with its intricate explorations of the precise nature of the Trinity that are couched in difficult Greek, is as remote from Constantine's educational background as it is from his impatient, urgent temperament.

In a letter to the chief protagonist, Arius of Alexandria, Constantine states his opinion that the dispute had been fostered only by excessive leisure and academic contention, that the point at issue is trivial and can be resolved without difficulty.