Victor sought to solidify Roman control of the Church throughout the Mediterranean. He proclaimed that Easter was to be celebrated only on Sunday, a continuing battle, if you have read other entries on the popes. Many Asian Christians had moved to Rome and were celebrating Easter as they did at home, following the Passover dates, rather than having Easter on a specific day. Victor requested the Asian bishops to send him a letter indicating how many people followed this custom. It was the great majority. Victor was not pleased and he went so far as to demand that the Asian churches follow his rule. He set up the first synod of Rome to deal with this. But, Asian churches chose to ignore Victor and continued as they were despite his threat of excommunication. Ireneas, bishop of Lyons, and others wrote to Victor asking him to not be so harsh and demanding and to keep the other churches within the fold. There are no letters of response from Victor, but he must have relented, because the Asian churches remained.