Book excerpt: The Council of Nicea was not merely clerics in a dark and ornate hall. It was brawls in churchyards. It was emperors and governors fighting to save the empire ... and perhaps salvage a little fame for themselves. It was political intrigues as the governments of church and state blended into a volatile stew.It was the way a fringe group of peace-loving communal worshipers of a crucified Palestinian prophet conquered the Roman Empire.