The title sums it up quite nicely. At school, we refer to the 5 centres of the Christian world as being Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. I'm only wondering if there is any evidence as to why Nicea was chosen as the location for such an important event.
Edit: I'm referring to the 325 first council where the Nicene Creed was written.
The First Council of Nicaea was held in 325, five years before Constantinople would be founded. At the time, the capital of the Eastern Empire was Nicomedia, which Constantine conquered in 324. The Emperor resided there until he refounded Byzantium as his namesake.
Nicaea was a nearby resort town, and hosted an imperial palace - a suitable convention venue.
Originally, the council was supposed to be held at Ancyra before Constantine had it moved to Nicaea. His letter of invitation listed the official reasons:
The Syriac version of the Letter of Constantine summoning the bishops to Nicaea gives his reasons for changing the venue from Ancyra to Nicaea. It would be easier for the bishops from Italy and other parts of Europe to reach Nicaea; the air was better there; and it would be a nearer place for the Emperor to reach (from Nicomedia). These are unexceptional reasons.
Hanson, Richard Patrick Crosland, and R. P. Hanson. The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 AD. A&C Black, 2005.
Of course, politics being politics, Constantine probably had other motivations in mind too.
The stated reasons were true; but there were unstated considerations as well. Besides the fact that Ancrya lay far inland on the hot Galatian plateau, it was also the episcopal see of the rabid anti-Arian bishop Marcellus - that site was not only inconvenient for western travelers, but was also inhospitable for Arian sympathizers. Nicaea, on the other hand, was a pleasant lakeside town only a day's ride from the Marmora Sea coast . . . within the metropolitan area of Eusbius of Nicomedia, and was the episcopal see of his Arian ally Theognis.
Odahl, Charles. Constantine and the Christian empire. Routledge, 2010.
It's worth noting here that one of the primary purposes of the council had been to resolve the theological controversy raised by Arius. Constantine's goal was to harmonise the church by reaching a consensus, not to create an echo chamber of anti-Arian clerics. Ultimately, the bishops at Nicaea ratified the Nicene Creed with an overwhelming majority, though the issue was still far from settled.
Note: the Pentarchy of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem is a much later development. It was only formalised by the Council in Trullo in 692, though the five cities had been influential for centuries before that.
Background
There were about 1800 Christian Bishops in the Roman Empire in 325 AD (about 1,000 in the east and 800 in the west). We don't know exactly how many attended the first church council at Nicea. Eye witness accounts don't agree. What everyone agrees on is less than a quarter of the invitees made the trip. The Council itself lasted about a month so the discrepancy in attendee numbers could be due to when the counts were taken. Basically few from the east made the trip, and almost nobody from the west. This lack of attendance I've seen attributed to:
Church History 101
Around 220 bishops attended, mostly from the eastern churches. Only around eight officials came from western churches - Rome sent only two presbyters.
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Historical Sources for Information on Nicean Church Counsel.
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Wikipedia
Eusebius of Caesarea counted more than 250, Athanasius of Alexandria counted 318,11 and Eustathius of Antioch estimated "about 270" (all three were present at the council). Later, Socrates Scholasticus recorded more than 300, and Evagrius, Hilary of Poitiers, Jerome, Dionysius Exiguus, and Rufinus recorded 318. This number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
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Question: Why was the Council of Nicea held in Nicea rather than Rome or Constantinople?
Power doesn't travel. The Pagan emperor of Rome, Constantine called the bishops of the christian church to him. Constantine had a summer retreat at Nicea, a suburb of Byzantium(which Constantine would rename Constantinople a few years latter) and that's where he proposed to host the christian bishops from across the Roman Empire.
The Bishops of Rome and Constantinople(byzantium) would become preeminent leaders in the Christian Church due to their proximity to the Roman Emperors. They presided in the capitals of Rome(east and west). When the Roman Emperor had questions about christianity, they were the closest authority. This is how these bishops became preeminent. They were not the leaders of Christianity in 325AD that they would become. Christianity did not have central authority at that time. Christianity was just emerging from centuries of Roman persecution and was not centrally organized beyond bishops in most cities. Organization and Unity were the goals of the first church council. Goals which were not achieved.
Constantine called for the first church council, he hosted it, he presided over it, and he set the agenda. Constantine was looking for an expression of faith defining what it was to be Christian, because Constantine was interested in Unity. Constantine's major problem with the Christians is they disagreed on what it meant to be Christian. Without a unifying statement of belief they would never be the unifying force he envisioned to help solidify Rome.
Heretical teachings would be the first great challenge of the Christian Church. The early Christian Church was beset by many Heresies:
Constantine fresh off the schism of Donatists, was horrified by all the different factions dividing and fracturing Christians. Which is why the Nicean Creed reads like a list of bullet items. Each line refutes an early Christian Heresy.
With strong lobbying and watchful eye from Constantine, who did not vote, the Nicean Creed got the majority of the 220-300 bishops in attendance. Still the the vast majority of Christian Bishops were not in attendance. By the time of Constantine's death 337AD, Nicean Christians had lost favor to Arians. Constantine would be baptized on his deathbed by an Arian Bishop (Eusebius of Nicomedia) previously excommunicated and exiled by the Church under Nicean leadership. None of the next six Roman Emperors would be Nicean Christians which would become a heretical teaching. The creed itself was re-written at the First Council of Constantinople assembled by the roman Emperor Theodosious; in 381 AD, to further clarify the divinity of Jesus and the holy ghost.
Nicene Christianity would not return to favor until Theodosius 55 years after Constantine was baptized as an Arian on his death bed.
