In 306 AD Constantine the Great, became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, he decriminalized Christian practices and ceased Christian persecution, in a period referred to as the Constantinian shift. He had a religeo-political ideology called Constantinianism, which called for the unity of Church and State, in simpler terms a "state religion". In 325 AD he called a council in the city of Nicaea, which brought together bishops from all over his Empire to resolve divisive issues and ensure a unified church which met his political necessities. This gave us the Nicene Creed, and firmly established the Universal Church of Rome. Universal or Catholic because this would unify the many different religions of his Empire, by combining aspects of all, into one. 386