Ambrose Bars Theodosius from the Church

After the death of Eugenius, the emperor went to Milan and made his way to the church to pray inside it. When he came near the doors of the building, Ambrose, the bishop of the city, met him. Ambrose took hold of him by his purple robe and said to him in front of the crowd: “Stand back! A man defiled by sin, whose hands are stained with blood unjustly shed, is not worthy, without repentance, to enter this holy place or to share in the holy mysteries.” The emperor was struck with admiration at the bishop’s boldness. He began to reflect on his own conduct, and with deep sorrow he turned back. [a]

This is how the sin came about. When Buthericus was general of the troops in Illyria, a charioteer saw him shamefully exposed at a tavern and attempted to assault him. The charioteer was arrested and put in custody. Some time later, magnificent races were to be held at the hippodrome, and the people of Thessalonica demanded that the prisoner be released, thinking him necessary to the running of the contest. When their request was not granted, they rose in riot and in the end killed Buthericus. When the emperor heard of this deed, his anger flared at once, and he ordered that a certain number of the citizens be put to death. The city was filled with the blood of many, unjustly shed, for strangers who had only just arrived there on their way to other lands were killed along with the rest.

There were many cases of suffering that deserve pity, and this is one of them. A merchant offered himself to be killed in place of his two sons, who had both been chosen to die, and he promised the soldiers all the gold he had if they would make the exchange. They could not help pitying his misfortune, and they agreed to take him in place of one of his sons. But they said they did not dare to let both young men go, since that would leave the appointed number of the dead incomplete. The father looked at his sons, groaning and weeping. He could not save either one from death; overcome by an equal love for both, he went on hesitating until they had been put to death. I have also been told that a faithful slave willingly offered to die in place of his master, who was being led to execution.

It seems it was for these and other cruelties that Ambrose rebuked the emperor, forbade him to enter the church, and excommunicated him. Theodosius publicly confessed his sin in the church, and during the time set apart for penance he did not wear his imperial ornaments, following the custom of mourners. He also passed a law forbidding the officers charged with carrying out the emperor’s orders to inflict the death penalty until thirty days after the order had been issued. In this way the emperor’s anger would have time to cool, and there would be room for mercy and repentance.

No doubt Ambrose did many other things worthy of his priestly office, which are probably known only to the people of that country. Among the famous deeds told of him, I have learned of the following. It was the emperor’s custom, in the assemblies of the church, to take a seat inside the railings of the altar, so that he sat apart from the rest of the people. Ambrose judged that this custom had begun either from flattery or from a lack of discipline, and he had the emperor seated outside the latticework of the altar, so that he sat in front of the people and behind the priests. The emperor Theodosius approved of this excellent tradition, and so did his successors, and we are told that it has been carefully kept ever since. [d]

I think it necessary to record another deed of this bishop that is worth mentioning. A distinguished pagan insulted Gratian, saying that he was unworthy of his father, and for this he was condemned to death. As he was being led out to execution, Ambrose went to the palace to beg a pardon. Gratian was then watching a private hunting show, of the kind the emperors used to hold for their own pleasure and not for public entertainment. When the bishop found this out, he went to the gate through which the beasts were brought in. He hid himself and went in with the hunters who had charge of the animals. Though Gratian and his attendants resisted, he did not let up until he had won from the emperor an immediate consent that saved the man who was to be led out to death. Ambrose was very careful to keep the laws of the church and to maintain discipline among his clergy. I have picked out the two incidents above from the record of his many great-hearted deeds, to show how fearlessly he spoke to those in power when the service of God was at stake. [e]