Was the Nicene Creed accepted under duress?

In the book *[Are you Really that Stupid? Observations of a Skeptical Believer](http://amzn.to/1KARD6p)* , author Joshua Christian makes the claim that the Nicene Creed was accepted under less than ideal (from a theological standpoint) circumstances, involving political maneuvering, blackmail, threats as well as actual instances of violence, in an effort by Constantine to forge a "unified" church, and thus a unified empire. > [Constantine] now began to pressure all bishops to sign. Arians refusing to sign were exiled. > ... > The pressure from the emperor was so great and his reactions so feared that attendees justified their signatures thusly; Apuleius wrote "I pass over in silence... those sublime and Platonic doctrines understood by very few of the pious, and absolutely unknown to every one of the profane." "the soul is nothing worse for a little ink." > Abu Al-Hassan Al-Nadwi reported that **out of the 2030 attendees, only 318 readily accepted the creed.** Only after returning home did other attendees ... summon the courage to express to Constantine in writing how much they regretted having put their signatures to the Nicene formula, "We committed an impious act, O Prince ... by subscribing to blasphemy from fear of you." (Emphasis mine) To what extent is this an accurate account of the Council of Nicaea?