The politically embroiled and sharply divided Council of Nicaea (325) provided a turbulent beginning to Christianity's struggle for self-definition in the political arena. Questions of ultimate truth aside, those who could legally claim the title of Christian orthodoxy were those whose teachings had the backing of the emperor's legal and military authority. Despite the concrete decisions of 325 and the ecumenical council's attempt to create an imperial orthodoxy, the decades that followed witnessed ongoing battles between those Christians who supported the council's outcome and those who did not.