I didn’t cite legend; I carefully avoided, and I didn’t cite various sources that the Catholic Encyclopedia is rejecting... and if anything you have to allow that the Catholic Encyclopedia does try to be highly objective, and even frequently fails to contest the prevailing view in 1917, protestant-dominated America.
So, OK, you post how the Catholic Encyclopedia cites that hard, reliable documentation is lacking, because some of the documentation is unreliable. Fine. But the Catholic Encyclopedia also asserts, with the same objective sensibility:
* The characterization of the Council of Alexander as a fore-runner of Nicea, without any Imperial influence,
* The non-imposing invitations of Constantine
* The universal nature of the council, including cultures beyond the influence of the Emperor
* The lack of contest over the assertions of the council, and eventual universal acceptance, with only two dissident Bishops
* The domination of the council by non-Latins, whom Constantine would have less influence over
Given the immediate, universal acceptance of Nicea, including in areas beyond the reach of Constantine, it isn’t up to me to assert Rome’s approval of the Council, it’s up to you to cast doubt on it. Far from sowing discord with the imposition of novel doctrines, Nicea settled nearly any and all disagreement, and Aryanism, adventism, quattrodecennialism, all quickly and, in contrast to the pre-Nicene situation, peacefully waned.
The non-imposing invitations of Constantine
I have not seen a copy of this "invitation". Have you?
The universal nature of the council, including cultures beyond the influence of the Emperor
* The lack of contest over the assertions of the council, and eventual universal acceptance, with only two dissident Bishops
* The domination of the council by non-Latins, whom Constantine would have less influence over
Actually, this is why it's called the FIRST Ecumenical Council.
How much influence did Rome have?
Canon VI
"Let the ancient customs in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis prevail, that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction in all these, since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also. Likewise in Antioch and the other provinces, let the Churches retain their privileges. And this is to be universally understood, that if any one be made bishop without the consent of the Metropolitan, the great Synod has declared that such a man ought not to be a bishop. If, however, two or three bishops shall from natural love of contradiction, oppose the common suffrage of the rest, it being reasonable and in accordance with the ecclesiastical law, then let the choice of the majority prevail."
(Philip Schaff's Translation of Nice, Canon VI, The First Ecumenical Council; The First Council of Nice, Canon VI, 325 AD
This Canon establishes conclusively that the "Primacy" of the Bishop Of Rome is limited to a specific territory. Certainly not universal.
Constantine called. They came, all except the Bishop of Rome. Hmmmmmmmm?