In 357 Constantius, at the urgent request of an influential deputation of Roman ladies, agreed to the release of Liberius on condition that he signed the semi-Arian creed.
This ordination of Ulfilas by the chiefs of the semi-Arian party is at once an indication of their determination to extend their influence by active missionary enterprise, and evidence that Ulfilas was now a declared adherent of the Arian or semi-Arian party.
If, as seems probable from the circumstances of his ordination, he was a semi-Arian and a follower of Eusebius in 341, at a later period of his life he departed from this position, and vigorously opposed the teaching of his former leader.
He is best known as an able defender of the semi-Arian position, and was styled by Athanasius the "advocate" of the Arians.
All this points to the position of a "conservative" or semi-Arian of the East, one who belongs, perhaps, to the circle of Lucian of Antioch and writes before the time of Julian.
