Although the ecumenical council had spoken, Arianism continued to exert itself in the Church long afterwards, almost to the end of the fourth century. This was often the fault of the Roman emperors, including Constantine (who vaciliated between Arius and his opponents to the end of his life), and most notably Constantius, who succeeded him. During this period Arianism fragmented into a number of sects:

:The '''[[Semi-Arianism|semi-Arians]]''', led by Eusabian, took a middle ground that challenged the Nicean Creed's ''homoousios'' with a middle position of ''homoiousios'', that is, "of similar essence".