VALENTINIAN II. having been murdered by Arbogastes, one of his
Generals, the latter, not venturing to claim the empire for
himself, set up Eugenius, who was really his puppet, as Emperor
of the West. Theodosius temporised with him, till he should be
fully prepared to attack him, and it was whilst he was thus for
a time accepted as Emperor that S. Ambrose addressed this letter
to him. He excuses himself in it for withdrawing from Milan when
Eugenius came there, on the plea that he was bound to fear God
rather than man, and reproves him for granting the restoration
of their former revenues to the heathen temples, which Gratian
and Valentinian had before refused, and exposes the futility
of his plea that he was merely granting favour to his friends,
reminding him that God sees the heart. He quotes at length the
conduct of the Jews in the time of Antiochus, as recorded in the
Book of Maccabees, as a precedent which Christians were bound to
follow. At the same time he says that he is willing to address
Eugenius in matters which do not affect his duty to God.
TO THE MOST GRACIOUS EMPEROR EUGENIUS,
AMBROSE, BISHOP, SENDS GREETING.
1. I withdrew from Milan from fear of God, to Whom I am wont to refer,
as far as I am able, all my acts, never turning my mind from Him nor
making more account of any man’s favour than of the grace of Christ. By
preferring God to every one else I wrong no man, and trusting in Him, I
dare to tell your Majesties, the Emperors, my poor thoughts. Wherefore
I will not refrain from saying to your most gracious Majesty what I
never refrained from saying before other Emperors. And that I may
preserve the order of events, I will touch one by one the points which
relate to this transaction. The illustrious Symmachus, when prefect of
the city, memorialised[240] the Emperor Valentinian the younger, of
august memory, begging that he would command what had been withdrawn
from the temples to be restored. He performed his part in accordance
with his own wishes and mode of worship. It became me also, as Bishop,
to recognize the duties of my office. I presented two petitions to the
Emperors wherein I declared that a Christian man could not contribute
to the expenses of the sacrifices; that I had not advised the
withdrawal of the payments, but that I did advise that they should not
be now decreed, and lastly, that he would seem to be giving rather than
restoring these expenses to the images; for what he had not withdrawn,
he could not be said to restore, but of his own free-will to give it
for the uses of ♦superstition. Lastly, if he had done so, he either
must not come to the Church, or if he did, he would either not find a
priest, or one who would withstand him. Nor could it be offered as an
excuse that he was only a catechumen, for it is not lawful for
catechumens to contribute to the expense of idols.
♦3. My petitions were read in the Consistory; Count Bauto, a man of the
highest military rank, and Rumoridus, himself too of the same dignity,
and from the first year of his boyhood attached to the Gentile worship,
were present. Valentinian then listened to my suggestion, and did
nothing but what our faith reasonably required. And they submitted to
his officer.
Sidenote: Ps. cxix. 46.
4. Afterwards I openly addressed myself to the most gracious Emperor
Theodosius, and hesitated not to speak to him face to face. He having
received the intimation of a similar message from the Senate, although
it was not the whole Senate who asked it, at length gave his consent to
my suggestion, and so for some days I did not come near him, nor was he
displeased thereat, for I did not act for my own advantage but for his
profit, and that of my own soul also; _I was not ashamed to speak in
the king’s presence_.
5. Once more an Embassy was sent from the senate to the Emperor
Valentinian, of blessed memory, when he was in Gaul, but was able to
extort nothing from him. At that time I was absent and had not written
anything to him.
6. But when your Majesty assumed the reins of government it was found
that this boon had been granted to men of eminence in the state but in
religion heathens. And perhaps it may be said, your Majesty, that it
is not a restitution to the temples on your part, but a boon to men who
had deserved well of you. But the fear of God ought, you know, to lead
us to act with constancy, as is done in the cause of liberty not only
by priests but by those who serve in your armies or are reckoned among
the provincials. Envoys petitioned you, as Emperor, for restitution to
the temples, but you consented not; others again required it, but you
resisted; yet subsequently you have thought fit to grant it as a boon
to the petitioners themselves.
7. The Imperial power is indeed great, but let your Majesty consider
the greatness of God; He sees all hearts, He scrutinizes the inmost
conscience, He knows all things before they come to pass, He knows
the secrets of your breast. You will not suffer yourselves to be
deceived, and do you hope to hide anything from God? Has not this
suggested itself to your mind? Although they urged their suit with such
perseverance, ought not your Majesty from respect for the most high and
true and living God, to have resisted still more perseveringly, and to
have refused what was derogatory to the Divine law?
8. Who grudges your bestowing upon others whatsoever you chose? We
do not pry closely into your munificence, nor are we jealous of the
advantages of others; but we are the ministers of the Faith. How will
you offer your gifts to Christ? your acts will be estimated by few,
your wishes by all; whatever they have done will be ascribed to you,
whatever they have not done to themselves. You are indeed Emperor, but
you ought all the more to submit yourself to God. Else how shall the
priests of Christ dispense your gifts?
Sidenote: 2 Macc. iv. 18 sqq.
9. There was a question of this kind in former times, and then
persecution itself yielded to the faith of our fathers, and heathendom
gave way. For _when the game that was used every fifth year was kept at
Tyre_, and the wicked king of Antioch had come hither to see it, _Jason
sent special messengers from Jerusalem, to carry three hundred silver
drachms_, and give them _to the sacrifice of Hercules_. But our fathers
would not give the money to the heathen, but sent trusty persons to
make declaration that such money was not to be devoted to sacrifices to
the gods, _for this was not convenient_, but was to be applied to other
expenses. And it was decreed that, forasmuch as Jason had said that
the silver was sent for the sacrifice of Hercules, that which was sent
ought to be so applied. And yet seeing that they who brought it pleaded
in opposition, in their zeal and devotion, that it should not be
employed for sacrifice but for other exigencies, the money was applied
to build ships. They sent the money, that is, because they were
compelled, but it was not applied to sacrifices, but to other public
expenses.
10. Again, they who brought the money might have been silent, but they
were led to violate secrecy because they knew whither it was being
carried, and so they sent men who feared God, and who were to do their
endeavour that the money might be applied to the equipment of ships,
and not to the temple. Thus they entrusted the money to men who were to
plead the cause of the Divine law, and He who cleanses the conscience
was made Judge of the matter. If those who were in the power of others
took these precautions, it cannot be doubted what it was your Majesty’s
duty to do. You, whom no man constrained, who were in no man’s power,
ought ♦certainly to have referred for advice to the priest.
11. For my own part, although I was alone in the resistance I then
made, still others both willed and advised it. Being thus bound by
my own words both before God and before all men, I have felt that I
had no other choice or duty but to consult for myself, for I could
not properly trust to you. For a long time I stifled and concealed my
grief, I gave no hint to any one, but now I am no longer at liberty to
dissemble, or to be silent. And this was why, at the beginning of your
reign, I made no reply to your letters, because I foresaw that what you
have done would happen. Afterwards, when you found I did not answer,
and sent to demand a reply, I said, ‘The reason why I do not write is
that I think it will be wrung from him[241].’
Sidenote: Rom. xiii. 7.
12. But when a just occasion for the exercise of my office arose,
I both wrote and petitioned for those who were anxious on their own
account, with a view of shewing that in the cause of God a due fear
of Him affected me, and that I did not set a higher value on flattery
than on my own soul; but that in the matters wherein petition is proper
to be made to you, I paid just deference to your authority, as indeed
it is written, _honour to whom honour, tribute to whom tribute_. For
seeing that I cordially deferred to a private person, how should I
not defer to the Emperor? But as you desire deference to be shewn to
yourselves, suffer us to defer to Him from Whom you would fain prove
your authority to be derived.
LETTER LVIII.
A.D. 393.
IN this letter S. Ambrose informs Sabinus that Paulinus and
Therasia had resolved to give up all their wealth to the poor,
and retire to Nola, and complains of the objections raised
against such self-denial, ending with a mystical interpretation
of David dancing before the ark.