 In the view of many historians, the Constantinian shift turned Christianity from a persecuted religion into one capable of persecution and sometimes eager to persecute.On 27 February 380, together with Gratian and Valentinian II, Theodosius I issued the decree "Cunctos populos", the so-called Edict of Thessalonica, recorded in the Codex Theodosianus .This declared Trinitarian Nicene Christianity to be the only legitimate imperial religion and the only one entitled to call itself Catholic.