ARLES, COUNCIL OF

(AD 314), the first representative meeting of Christian bishops in the Western Roman Empire. It was convened at Arles in southern Gaul in August 314 by Emperor Constantine I, primarily to deal with the problem of the Donatists, a schismatic Christian group in North Africa. Attended by representatives of 43 bishoprics, this synod was held because the Donatists had denied the representative character of two earlier synods, at Rome and in Africa, at which they had been condemned. At Arles the Donatists were again condemned, but they rejected the decisions reached by the council and again appealed to Constantine to review their case.