Rome, 300, 4th Century, Folder, R. Empire, Diocletian then Constantine and Legal Christianity.kmz

Rome, 300, 4th Century, Folder, R. Empire, Diocletian then Constantine and Legal Christianity

Rome, 303-313, Diocletian Persecution, recinding Christians' rights, d idol worship, Copper Mines
Roman Diocletian Persecution, 303, copper mines at Phaeno in Palestine and Cilicia in Asia Minor ; Hieromartyr Silvanus of Gaza, Commemorated on October 14; Hieromartyr Silvanus the Bishop of Gaza, and with him 40 Martyrs, Commemorated on May 4 ;

Rome, 303-313, Hieromartyrs of Cherson, Diocletian Persecution
Bosporan Kingdom in Thaurica (Crimea), 438 BC - 370 AD; Bosporan Kingdom of the Roman Empire; Hieromartyrs of Cherson, 303-313 Diocletian Persecution; Hieromartyr Basil of Cherson, Commemorated on March 7;

Rome, 305-311, Emperor, Maximian Galerius, Fanatic Pagan, horrible disease, ended D Persecution
Rome, 305-311, Emperor Maximian Galerius Greatmartyr Euphemia the All-praised, Commemorated on July 11 ; Martyr Paul at Caesarea, in Palestine, Commemorated July 16 ; Martyr and Archdeacon Euplus of Catania, Commemorated on August 11; Martyr Lucius, Commemorated August 20 ; Martyr Bassa of Edessa, and her sons, Commemorated on August 21; Martyr Agathonicus of Nicomedia, and others who suffered under Maximian, Commemorated on August 22; Martyr Lupus the Slave of St Demetrius of Thessalonica, Commemorated on August 23 ; Martyr Adrian of Nicomedia, Commemorated on August 26 ; 3,628 Martyrs who suffered at Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 2 ; Hieromartyr Anthimus the Bishop of Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 3; Martyr Eudoxius, Commemorated September 6 ; Martyr Menodora at Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 10 ; Martyr Theodotus of Adrianopolis, Commemorated on September 15 ; 156 Martyrs in Palestine, Commemorated on September 17 ; Martyr Peleus the Bishop of Palestine, Commemorated on September 17 ; Hieromartyr Hierotheus the Bishop of Athens, Commemorated October 4 ; Martyr Callisthene and her father Audactus of Ephesus, Commemorated on October 4; Martyr Theotecnus of Antioch, Commemorated on October 10 ; Venerable Hilarion the Great, Commemorated on October 21; Martyr Cyrenia in Cilicia, Commemorated on November 1; Repose of St Alexander Nevsky, Commemorated November 23 ; NICHOLAS OF MYRA, FRIEND OF CHILDREN, GIVER OF GIFTS, CLIMBER OF CHIMNEYS, ETC. (6 DEC 326) ; Greatmartyr Catherine of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 24; Hieromartyr Peter the Archbishop of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 25; Greatmartyr Barbara at Heliopolis, in Syria, Commemorated on December 4; Martyr Juliana at Heliopolis, in Syria, Commemorated on December 4; St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, Commemorated on December 6; St Sophronius the Archbishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on December 9; Martyr Menas of Alexandria, Commemorated on December 10; Martyr Elias in Cilicia, Commemorated on December 19; Martyr Philetairus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on December 30; Venerable Syncletica of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 5; Martyr Peter of Anium, at Hieropolis, Commemorated on January 13; Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Martyr Julian of Emesa, Commemorated on February 6; Virginmartyr Ennatha of Palestine, Commemorated on February 10; Hieromartyr Blaise the Bishop of Sebaste, Commemorated on February 11; Greatmartyr Theodore the Tyro ("œthe Recruit"Â), Commemorated on February 17; Uncovering of the relics of the Martyr Menas of Alexandria, Commemorated on February 17; Martyr Victor of Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18 ; Martyr Archippus of the Seventy Apostles, Commemorated on February 19; Martyr Maximus of Adrianopolis, Commemorated February 19; Martyr Maurice at Apamea in Syria, Commemorated on February 22; Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, Commemorated on March 3 ; Hieromartyr Basil of Cherson, Commemorated on March 7; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9 ; Martyr Alexander of Macedonia, Commemorated on March 13 ; Martyr Julian of Anazarbus, Commemorated on March 16; Martyr Papas of Lyconia, Commemorated on March 16; Virginmartyr Alexandra of Amisus, Commemorated on March 20; GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Sirmium in Hungary, Commemorated on March 26; Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica, Commemorated on March 27; Martyr Amphianus (Apphianus) of Lycia, Commemorated on April 2 ; Martyr Polycarp of Alexandria, Commemorated on April 2 ; Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre, Commemorated on April 3 ; Martyr Rufinus the Deacon at Sinope, Commemorated on April 7; St Akaki Asistavi of Georgia, Commemorated on May 7; Martyr Hesychius of Antioch, Commemorated on May 10; Martyr Basiliscus the Bishop of Comana, Commemorated on May 22; Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre, Commemorated on May 29; Martyr Marcian of Egypt, Commemorated on June 5; Hieromartyr Marcellinus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Hieromartyr Sisinius the Deacon of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Martyr Priscilla of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Martyr Doulas of Cilicia, Commemorated on June 15; Venerable Paisius the Great, Commemorated on June 19; Hieromartyr Methodius the Bishop of Patara, Commemorated on June 20; Martyr Aristocles the Presbyter of Cyprus, Commemorated on June 20; Translation of the relics of the Holy and Wonderworking Unmercenary John, Commemorated on June 28 ;

Rome, 305-313, Empress, Galeria Valeria, Christian, Diocletian's daughter, k w mother Alexandra by Licinius
Rome, 305-313, Empeess Agusta, Galeria Valeria ; Valeria (died 315) was the daughter of Roman Emperor Diocletian and wife of his co-emperor Galerius. as Valeria to Diocletian and Prisca, she married Galerius in 293, when her father elevated him to the position of Caesar. This marriage was clearly organized to strengthen the bonds between the two emperors. was raised to the title of Augusta and Mater Castrorum in November 308. Since Galerius fathered no child with her, Valeria adopted her husband's illegitimate son, Candidianus, as her own. In her honor, Galerius renamed the province of Upper Pannonia Valeria, which he had improved by draining marshes and removing forests.[1] Galerius died, in 311, Licinius was entrusted with the care of Valeria and her mother Prisca. The two women, however, fled from Licinius to Maximinus Daia, whose daughter was betrothed to Candidianus. After a short time, Valeria refused the marriage proposal of Maximinus, who arrested and confined her in Syria and confiscated her properties. At the death of Maximinus, Licinius ordered the death of both women. Valeria and Prisca fled, hiding for a year, until they were recognized by residents in Thessaloniki. She and her mother were captured by Licinius' soldiers, beheaded in the central square of the city, and their bodies thrown in the sea.[2] Valeria was sympathetic towards Christians, while Galerius persecuted them. She was canonized as a Christian saint with her mother (see Saint Alexandra). Roman Emperor, 305-313, Maximian Galerius Greatmartyr Catherine of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 24;

Rome, 305-312, Emperor, Maximinus II Daia, in the East
Roman Emperor, 305-312, Maximinus II Daia; ANTONY, ABBOT IN EGYPT (17 JAN 356); Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Martyr Julian of Emesa, Commemorated on February 6; Virginmartyr Ennatha of Palestine, Commemorated on February 10; Hieromartyr Blaise the Bishop of Sebaste, Commemorated on February 11; Uncovering of the relics of the Martyr Menas of Alexandria, Commemorated on February 17; Martyr Archippus of the Seventy Apostles, Commemorated on February 19; Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, Commemorated on March 3 ; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Alexander of Macedonia, Commemorated on March 13 ; Martyr Julian of Anazarbus, Commemorated on March 16; Martyr Papas of Lyconia, Commemorated on March 16; Virginmartyr Alexandra of Amisus, Commemorated on March 20; GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica, Commemorated on March 27; Martyr Amphianus (Apphianus) of Lycia, Commemorated on April 2 ; Martyr Polycarp of Alexandria, Commemorated on April 2 ; Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre, Commemorated on April 3 ;

Rome, 306-312, Emperor, Maxentius, in Rome, civil war against Licinius and Constantine, drowned in Tiber
Roman Emperor, 306-312, Maxentius ; (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius; c. 276 - 28 October 312) was Roman emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius. latter part of his reign was preoccupied with civil war, allying with Maximinus II against Licinius and Constantine. The latter defeated him at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, where Maxentius, with his army in flight, purportedly perished by drowning in the Tiber river. Martyr Menodora at Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 10; Martyr Theotecnus of Antioch, Commemorated on October 10 ; Venerable Hilarion the Great, Commemorated on October 21; Hieromartyr Peter the Archbishop of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 25; NICHOLAS OF MYRA, FRIEND OF CHILDREN, GIVER OF GIFTS, CLIMBER OF CHIMNEYS, ETC. (6 DEC 326) ; St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, Commemorated on December 6; St Sophronius the Archbishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on December 9; Venerable Syncletica of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 5; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Martyr Julian of Emesa, Commemorated on February 6; Virginmartyr Ennatha of Palestine, Commemorated on February 10; Hieromartyr Blaise the Bishop of Sebaste, Commemorated on February 11; Uncovering of the relics of the Martyr Menas of Alexandria, Commemorated on February 17; Martyr Archippus of the Seventy Apostles, Commemorated on February 19; Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, Commemorated on March 3 ; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Julian of Anazarbus, Commemorated on March 16; Martyr Papas of Lyconia, Commemorated on March 16; Virginmartyr Alexandra of Amisus, Commemorated on March 20; GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica, Commemorated on March 27; Martyr Amphianus (Apphianus) of Lycia, Commemorated on April 2 ; Martyr Polycarp of Alexandria, Commemorated on April 2 ; Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre, Commemorated on April 3 ; Hieromartyr Marcellinus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Hieromartyr Sisinius the Deacon of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Martyr Priscilla of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Venerable Paisius the Great, Commemorated on June 19; Hieromartyr Methodius the Bishop of Patara, Commemorated on June 20;

Rome, 306-337, Emperor, Constantine the Great, declared emperor at York, Roman Britain
Roman Emperor, 306-337, Constantine the Great ; Venerable Onesimus of Magnesia, Commemorated on July 14 ; Martyr Julita (Ulita) of Tarsus, Commemorated on July 15 ; MACRINA THE YOUNGER, MONASTIC AND TEACHER (19 JUL 379) ; Martyr Eusignius of Antioch, Commemorated on August 5; St Myron the Wonderworker and Bishop of Crete, Commemorated on August 8 ; Martyr Bassa of Edessa, and her sons, Commemorated on August 21; St Hosius the Confessor the Bishop of Cordova, Commemorated August 27 ; Martyr Menodora at Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 10; The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Commemorated on September 14; Martyr Callisthene and her father Audactus of Ephesus, Commemorated on October 4; Martyr Theotecnus of Antioch, Commemorated on October 10 ; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on October 12 ; Greatmartyr Artemius at Antioch, Commemorated on October 20; Venerable Hilarion the Great, Commemorated on October 21; Hieromartyr Peter the Archbishop of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 25; St John of Egypt, Commemorated on December 2; NICHOLAS OF MYRA, FRIEND OF CHILDREN, GIVER OF GIFTS, CLIMBER OF CHIMNEYS, ETC. (6 DEC 326) ; St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, Commemorated on December 6; St Sophronius the Archbishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on December 9; St Spyridon the Wonderworker and Bishop of Tremithus, Commemorated on December 12 ; Martyr Zoticus the Keeper of Orphans, Commemorated on December 30; Hieromartyr Theogenes the Bishop of Parium on the Hellespont, Commemorated on January 2; Martyr Gordius at Caesarea, in Cappadocia, Commemorated on January 3 ; Venerable Syncletica of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 5; Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Martyr Silvanus Bishop of Emesa, Commemorated on January 29; Martyr Julian of Emesa, Commemorated on February 6; St Parthenius the Bishop of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, Commemorated on February 7; Hieromartyr Blaise the Bishop of Sebaste, Commemorated on February 11; Uncovering of the relics of the Martyr Menas of Alexandria, Commemorated on February 17; Martyr Victor of Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18; St Agapitus the Confessor the Bishop of Synnada in Phrygia, Commemorated February 18; St Agapitus the Confessor the Bishop of Synnada in Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18; Martyr Archippus of the Seventy Apostles, Commemorated on February 19; Hieromartyr Theodotus the Bishop of Cyrenia, Commemorated on March 2; Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, Commemorated on March 3 ; Uncovering of the Precious Cross and the Precious Nails by the Empress St Helen in Jerusalem, Commemorated on March 6; 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Julian of Anazarbus, Commemorated on March 16; Martyr Papas of Lyconia, Commemorated on March 16; Virginmartyr Alexandra of Amisus, Commemorated on March 20; GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); Venerable Paisius the Great, Commemorated on June 19; Hieromartyr Marcellinus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Venerable Arcadius of Cyprus, Commemorated on March 6; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Alexander of Macedonia, Commemorated on March 13 ; Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica, Commemorated on March 27; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); Martyr Cyril the Deacon of Heliopolis, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, Commemorated on March 29 ; St Hypatius the Wonderworker and Bishop of Gangraz, Commemorated on March 31; Martyr Amphianus (Apphianus) of Lycia, Commemorated on April 2 ; Martyr Polycarp of Alexandria, Commemorated on April 2 ; Virginmartyr Theodosia of Tyre, Commemorated on April 3 ; St Platonida (Platonis) of Nisibis, Syria, Commemorated on April 6; Hieromartyr Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 26; Righteous Virginmartyr Glaphyra, Commemorated on April 26; Uncovering of the relics of St Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 30; ATHANASIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, THEOLOGIAN, DOCTOR (2 MAY 373); GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (9 MAY 389); Martyr Philadelphus and 18 others in Sicily, Commemorated on May 10; Commemoration of the Founding of Constantinople, Commemorated on May 11 ; St Achilles the Bishop of Larissa, Commemorated on May 15 ; Venerable Pachomius the Great, Founder of Coenobitic Monasticism, Commemorated on May 15; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21; Hieromartyr Dorotheus the Bishop of Tyre, Commemorated on June 5; Hieromartyr Sisinius the Deacon of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Martyr Priscilla of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Translation of the relics of the Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates, Commemorated on June 8; Hieromartyr Methodius the Bishop of Patara, Commemorated on June 20;

Rome, 308-309, Pope Marcellus I, renounced in cowardice, then repentented and martyred
Roman Pope, 308-309, Pope Marcellus I; Marcellinus was the bishop of Rome from 30 June 296 to his death in 304. He may have renounced Christianity during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians before repenting afterwards, which would explain why he is omitted from lists of martyrs. He is today venerated as a saint in Catholic and Serbian Orthodox Church. St Sylvester the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on January 2; Hieromartyr Marcellinus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on June 7; Marcellinus was Pope of Rome during the height of the persecution against Christians under Diocletian and Maximian (284-305), when 17,000 men were martyred a single month. During this time Saint Marcellinus was also arrested. Afraid of the fierce tortures, he burned incense and offered sacrifice to idols. The emperor called him his friend and clothed him in splendid robes. Although he had encouraged others to undergo torture for Christ, he gave in to cowardice. He wept bitterly, filled with remorse. this time, a Synod of 180 bishops and presbyters met at the city of Sinuessa (in Campania). Saint Marcellinus appeared at the assembly in penitential sackcloth, his head sprinkled with ashes. He confessed his sin before the delegates and asked them to judge him. The Fathers of the Council said, “Judge yourself! From your lips this sin came forth, from your lips let judgment be pronounced. We know that even Saint Peter denied Christ out of fear, but he wept bitterly for his sin, and received forgiveness from the Lord.” Marcellinus pronounced sentence upon himself, “I strip myself of the priestly dignity, of which I am unworthy. After death, do not bury my body, but instead throw it to the dogs. Cursed be the one who dares to bury it.” his return to Rome Marcellinus went to the emperor, threw down the fine clothing given him, and said that he regretted his renunciation of Christ. The enraged emperor had him tortured, and sentenced him to death. Marcellinus prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who mercifully receives sinners who repent, then willingly placed his head beneath the sword. The holy martyrs Claudius, Cyrinus and Antoninus were beheaded with him. body of Saint Marcellinus lay for thirty-six days along the wayside. Appearing in a vision to the new bishop Marcellus, the holy Apostle Peter said, “Why have you not buried the body of Marcellinus?” “I fear his curse,” replied Saint Marcellus. “Perhaps you do not remember,” said the Apostle Peter, “that it is written: ‘He that humbles himself shall be exalted.’ Therefore, go bury his body with reverence.” the command of the Apostle Peter, Saint Marcellus buried the body of Saint Marcellinus in a crypt, built for the burial of the bodies of martyrs by the illustrious Priscilla, along the Via Salaria.

Rome, 308-324, Emperor, Licinius, West and East, Fake Christian then Last Pagan
Roman Emperor, 308-324, Licinius ; Martyr Severian of Sebaste, Commemorated on September 9 ; Hieromartyr Julian of Galatia, Commemorated September 13 ; Martyr Callisthene and her father Audactus of Ephesus, Commemorated on October 4; Martyr and Confessor Gurias of Edessa, Commemorated on November 15; Hieromartyr Theogenes the Bishop of Parium on the Hellespont, Commemorated on January 2; St Sylvester the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on January 2; Martyr Hermylus of Belgrade, Commemorated on January 13; Martyr Stratonicus of Belgrade, Commemorated on January 13; Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15; ANTONY, ABBOT IN EGYPT (17 JAN 356); Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates "œthe General"Â, Commemorated on February 8; Hieromartyr Blaise the Bishop of Sebaste, Commemorated on February 11; Martyr Victor of Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18 ; St Agapitus the Confessor the Bishop of Synnada in Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18; Martyr Victor of Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18; Hieromartyr Theodotus the Bishop of Cyrenia, Commemorated on March 2; Martyr Eutropius of Amasea, Commemorated on March 3 ; 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Urpasianus of Nicomedia, Commemorated on March 9; Martyr Alexander of Macedonia, Commemorated on March 13 ; Martyr Julian of Anazarbus, Commemorated on March 16; Virginmartyr Alexandra of Amisus, Commemorated on March 20; GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); St Hypatius the Wonderworker and Bishop of Gangraz, Commemorated on March 31; Hieromartyr Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 26; Righteous Virginmartyr Glaphyra, Commemorated on April 26; Uncovering of the relics of St Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 30; Martyr Philadelphus and 18 others in Sicily, Commemorated on May 10; Martyrs of Niculitsel, Commemorated on June 4;

Rome, 311-314, Pope, Miltiades
Roman Pope, 311-314, Pope Miltiades ; St Sylvester the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on January 2;

Rome, 312, Indiction, Constantine's vision of the Cross, somewhere, Church New Year
Byzantium, 312, Indiction, Constantine's vision of the Cross, somewhere, Church New Year; Byzantine Emperor, 306-337, Constantine the Great ;

Rome, 313 and 323, Edict of Milan
Edict of Milan, 313 Western Roman Empire and 323 extended to the Eastern Roman Empire; The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Commemorated on September 14 ; Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George, Commemorated on April 23; Hieromartyr Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 26; ATHANASIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, THEOLOGIAN, DOCTOR (2 MAY 373); Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21;

Rome, 314-335, Pope, Sylvester I, famous debate converted 120 Jews, large churches, P supremacy Legend
Roman Pope, 314-335, Pope Sylvester I ; I (also Silvester, died 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 314 until his death. He was the 33rd pope of the Catholic Church.[2] filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him.[3] accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh- or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church by Constantine I,[4] although it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus.[5] feast is celebrated as Saint Sylvester's Day in Western Christianity on 31 December, while Eastern Christianity commemorates it on 2 January.[6] Large churches were founded and built during Sylvester I's pontificate, including Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Old St. Peter's Basilica and several churches built over the graves of martyrs.[5][7] Sylvester did not attend the First Council of Nicaea in 325, where the Nicene Creed was formulated, but he was represented by two legates, Vitus and Vincentius, and he approved the council's decision. One of the Symmachian forgeries, the Vita beati Silvestri (c. 501–508), which has been preserved in Greek and Syriac (and in Latin in the Constitutum Silvestri), is an apocryphal alleged account of a Roman council, including legends of Sylvester's close relationship with the first Christian emperor. These also appear in the Donation of Constantine.[5] after his death, the figure of Sylvester was embroidered upon in a fictional account of his relationship to Constantine, which seemed to successfully support the later Gelasian doctrine of papal supremacy, papal auctoritas (authority) guiding imperial potestas (power), the doctrine that is embodied in the forged Donation of Constantine of the eighth century. In the fiction, of which an early version is represented in the early sixth-century Symmachean forgeries emanating from the curia of Pope Symmachus (died 514), the Emperor Constantine was cured of leprosy by the virtue of the baptismal water administered by Sylvester.[8] Sylvester I and Constantine in a 1247 fresco Emperor, abjectly grateful, not only confirmed the bishop of Rome as the primate above all other bishops, he resigned his imperial insignia and walked before Sylvester's horse holding the Pope's bridle as the papal groom. Pope, in return, offered the crown of his own good will to Constantine, who abandoned Rome to the pope and took up residence in Constantinople. doctrine behind this charming story is a radical one," Norman F. Cantor observes: "The pope is supreme over all rulers, even the Roman emperor, who owes his crown to the pope and therefore may be deposed by papal decree". Such a useful legend quickly gained wide circulation; Gregory of Tours referred to this political legend in his history of the Franks, written in the 580s.[9] Sylvester II, himself a close associate of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, chose the name Sylvester in imitation of Sylvester I. of Saint Sylvester in the Abbey of Saint Sylvester in Nonantola the West, the liturgical feast of Saint Sylvester is on 31 December, the day of his burial in the Catacomb of Priscilla.[5] This is the last day in the year and, accordingly, in German-speaking countries and in some others close to them, New Year's Eve is known as Silvester. In some other countries, too, the day is usually referred to as Saint Sylvester's Day or the Feast of Saint Sylvester.[10] In São Paulo, Brazil, a long-distance running event called the Saint Silvester Road Race occurs every year on 31 December.[11] Sylvester I portrayed slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims, a fresco by Maso di Banco The Donation of Constantine is a document fabricated in the second half of the eighth century, purporting to be a record by the Emperor himself of his conversion, the profession of his new faith, and the privileges he conferred on Pope Sylvester I, his clergy, and their successors. According to it, Pope Sylvester was offered the imperial crown, which, however, he refused.[12] Santu Papa Silvestru", a story in Giuseppe Pitrè's collection of Sicilian fables, recounts the legend as follows: Constantine the king wants to take a second wife, and asks Sylvester. Sylvester denies him permission, calling on heaven as witness; Constantine threatens him, and Sylvester, rather than give in, escapes into the woods. Not long after, Constantine falls ill; when he is desperate of ever regaining his health he has a dream which commands him to send for Sylvester. He obeys, and Sylvester receives Constantine's messengers in his cave and swiftly baptizes them, whereafter (having shown them several miracles) he is led back to Constantine, whom he baptizes also, and cures. In this story, Constantine and his entourage are not pagans but Jews.[13] legend has Sylvester slaying a dragon. He is often depicted with the dying beast.[14][15] St Sylvester the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on January 2;

Rome, 323-337, Emperor, Constantine the Great sole ruler of the Roman Empire
Byzantine Emperor, 306-337, Constantine the Great ; Greatmartyr Euphemia the All-praised, Commemorated on July 11 ; Venerable Onesimus of Magnesia, Commemorated on July 14 ; Martyr Julita (Ulita) of Tarsus, Commemorated on July 15 ; Venerable Pambo the Hermit of Egypt, Commemorated on July 18; MACRINA THE YOUNGER, MONASTIC AND TEACHER (19 JUL 379) ; Venerable Macrina the Sister of St Basil the Great, Commemorated on July 19 ; Martyr Eusignius of Antioch, Commemorated on August 5; Venerable Horus of the Thebaid, Egypt, Commemorated on August 7; Martyr Bassa of Edessa, and her sons, Commemorated on August 21; St Hosius the Confessor the Bishop of Cordova, Commemorated August 27 ; St Alexander the Patriarch of Constantinople, Commemorated on August 30; 40 Women Martyrs at Heraclea, in Thrace, Commemorated on September 1; Martyr Menodora at Nicomedia, Commemorated on September 10; Commemoration of the Founding of the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) at Jerusalem, Commemorated on September 13; FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS, (14 SEP 335); The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Commemorated on September 14; Commemoration of the apparition of the Pillar with the Robe of the Lord under it at Mtskheta in Georgia, Commemorated on October 1; Martyr Callisthene and her father Audactus of Ephesus, Commemorated on October 4; Martyr Polychronius the Presbyter, Commemorated on October 7; Martyr Theotecnus of Antioch, Commemorated on October 10 ; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on October 12 ; Greatmartyr Artemius at Antioch, Commemorated on October 20; Venerable Hilarion the Great, Commemorated on October 21; Holy, Glorious Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher of Thessalonica, Commemorated on October 26; Martyr Nestor of Thessalonica, Commemorated on October 27; Hieromartyr Cyriacus the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Commemorated on October 28 ; Venerable Abramius the Recluse of Mesopotamia, Commemorated on October 29; St Marcian of Cyrrhus, Commemorated on November 2; Dedication of the Church of the Greatmartyr George in Lydia, Commemorated on November 3; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on November 11; St Hypatius of Gangra, Commemorated on November 16; Hieromartyr Peter the Archbishop of Alexandria, Commemorated on November 25; Martyr Anna, Commemorated on November 28; St John of Egypt, Commemorated on December 2; St Spyridon the Wonderworker and Bishop of Tremithus, Commemorated on December 12 ; St Niphon the Bishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on December 23; St Paul the Bishop of Neocaesarea, Commemorated on December 23; Martyr Zoticus the Keeper of Orphans, Commemorated on December 30; St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Kaesarea in Cappadocia, Commemorated on January 1; St Emilia, the Mother of St Basil the Great, Commemorated on January 1; Martyr Gordius at Caesarea, in Cappadocia, Commemorated on January 3 ; Venerable Syncletica of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 5; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); St James the Bishop of Nisibis, Commemorated on January 13; Venerable Theodulus, son of the Venerable Nilus of Sinai, Commemorated on January 14; ANTONY, ABBOT IN EGYPT (17 JAN 356); Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; St Athanasius the Great the Archbishop of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 18; Venerable Macarius of Alexandria, Commemorated on January 19; Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, Commemorated on January 28; Martyr Silvanus Bishop of Emesa, Commemorated on January 29; Hieromartyr Abramius the Bishop of Arbela in Assyria, Commemorated on February 4; St Parthenius the Bishop of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, Commemorated on February 7; Venerable Eusebius the Hermit of Syria, Commemorated on February 15; Martyr Victor of Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18 ; St Agapitus the Confessor the Bishop of Synnada in Phrygia, Commemorated on February 18; Hieromartyr Sadoc (Sadoth) the Bishop of Persia, Commemorated on February 20; St Eustathius the Archbishop of Antioch, Commemorated on February 21; First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John, Commemorated on February 24; Virginmartyr Piama, Commemorated on March 3; Uncovering of the Precious Cross and the Precious Nails by the Empress St Helen in Jerusalem, Commemorated on March 6; Venerable Arcadius of Cyprus, Commemorated on March 6; Hieromartyr Capiton of Cherson, Commemorated on March 7; Hieromartyr Eugene of Cherson, Commemorated on March 7; Venerable Paul the Simple and Disciple of the Venerable Anthony the Great, Commemorated on March 7; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, Commemorated on March 9; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); St Cyril the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Commemorated on March 18; St Malchus of Chalcis in Syria, Commemorated on March 26 ; Venerable John the Clairvoyant, Anchorite, of Egypt, Commemorated on March 27; Hieromartyr Mark the Bishop of Arethusa, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, Commemorated on March 29; Venerable Apollonius, Ascetic, of Egypt, Commemorated on March 31; Venerable Vitalius of Gaza, Commemorated on April 22; Martyr Theognes at Cyzicus, Commemorated on April 29; Uncovering of the relics of St Basil the Bishop of Amasea, Commemorated on April 30; ATHANASIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, THEOLOGIAN, DOCTOR (2 MAY 373); St Akaki Asistavi of Georgia, Commemorated on May 7; GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (9 MAY 389); Blessed Isidora the Fool of Tabenna in Egypt, Commemorated on May 10; Martyr Philadelphus and 18 others in Sicily, Commemorated on May 10; Commemoration of the Founding of Constantinople, Commemorated on May 11 ; St Epiphanius the Bishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on May 12 ; St Sabinus the Archbishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on May 12; St Achilles the Bishop of Larissa, Commemorated on May 15 ; Venerable Pachomius the Great, Founder of Coenobitic Monasticism, Commemorated on May 15; The Entrance of St Nino (Nina) the Enlightener into Georgia, Commemorated on May 19; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21; Hieromartyr Helladius the Bishop in the East, Commemorated on May 28; St Metrophanes the first Patriarch of Constantinople, Commemorated on June 4; Hieromartyr Dorotheus the Bishop of Tyre, Commemorated on June 5; Martyr Marcian of Egypt, Commemorated on June 5; Translation of the relics of the Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates, Commemorated on June 8; EPHREM OF EDESSA, DEACON AND HYMN-WRITER (10 JUNE 373); Martyr Alexander at Constantinople, Commemorated on June 10; St Triphyllius the Bishop of Leucosia (Nicosia) in Cyprus, Commemorated on June 13; BASIL THE GREAT, BISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (14 JUNE 379);

Rome, 337-340, Emperor, Constantine II, Orthodox, Gaul, died invading Italy
Roman Emperor, 337-340, Constantine II (emperor); II (Latin: Flavius Claudius Constantinus; February 316 – 340) was Roman emperor from 337 to 340. Son of Constantine the Great and co-emperor alongside his brothers, his attempt to exert his perceived rights of primogeniture led to his death in a failed invasion of Italy in 340. St Liberius the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on August 27; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; St Caesarius, brother of St Gregory the Theologian, Commemorated on March 9 ; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); St Hypatius the Wonderworker and Bishop of Gangraz, Commemorated on March 31; 120 Martyrs of Persia, Commemorated on April 6; Hieromartyr Zeno the Bishop of Verona, Commemorated on April 12 ; Martyr Sava the Goth of Wallachia, Commemorated on April 15; Commemoration of the Apparition of the Sign of the Precious Cross Over Jerusalem, in 351 AD, Commemorated on May 7; Venerable Theodore the Sanctified, Disciple of the Venerable Pachomius the Great, Commemorated on May 16; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 337-350, Emperor, Constans, Orthodox, Italy, Illyricum, Africa, then Gaul, u by M
Roman Emperor,;337-350, Constans; Julius Constans (c. 320 – 350) was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of caesar from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was made augustus alongside his brothers in September 337. Constans was given the administration of the praetorian prefectures of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa.[3] He defeated the Sarmatians in a campaign shortly afterwards.[3] In the civil war that followed, in 340 he defeated his eldest brother and co-emperor Constantine II's invasion of Italy, who was killed in battle with Constans's forces near Aquileia.[3] Constans gained from him the praetorian prefecture of Gaul.[3] Thereafter there were tensions with his remaining younger brother and co-augustus Constantius II (r. 337–361), including over the exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria.[3] In the following years he campaigned against the Franks and in 343 visited Roman Britain.[3] In January 350, Magnentius (r. 350–353) the commander of the Jovians and Herculians, a corps in the Roman army, was acclaimed augustus at Augustodunum (Autun) with the support of Marcellinus, the comes rei privatae.[4] Magnentius overthrew and killed Constans.[3][4] Surviving sources, possibly influenced by the propaganda of Magnentius's faction, accuse Constans of misrule and of homosexuality.[3] St Liberius the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on August 27; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; St Caesarius, brother of St Gregory the Theologian, Commemorated on March 9 ; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); St Hypatius the Wonderworker and Bishop of Gangraz, Commemorated on March 31; 120 Martyrs of Persia, Commemorated on April 6; Hieromartyr Zeno the Bishop of Verona, Commemorated on April 12 ; Martyr Sava the Goth of Wallachia, Commemorated on April 15; Commemoration of the Apparition of the Sign of the Precious Cross Over Jerusalem, in 351 AD, Commemorated on May 7; Venerable Theodore the Sanctified, Disciple of the Venerable Pachomius the Great, Commemorated on May 16; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 337-361, Emperor, Constantius II, Greece, Thrace, Asia, Egypt, Orthodox then Arian
Roman Emperor, 324-361, Constantius II, Son of Constantine the Great ; Julius Constantius (Greek: ÎšÏ‰Î½ÏƒÏ„Î¬Î½Ï„Î¹Î¿Ï‚; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361), known as Constantius II, was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civil wars, court intrigues and usurpations. His religious policies inflamed domestic conflicts that would continue after his death. Constantius was a son of Constantine the Great, who elevated him to the imperial rank of caesar on 8 November 324 and after whose death Constantius became augustus together with his brothers, Constantine II and Constans on 9 September 337. He promptly oversaw the massacre of his father-in-law, an uncle and several cousins, consolidating his hold on power. The brothers divided the empire among themselves, with Constantius receiving Greece, Thrace, the Asian provinces and Egypt in the east. For the following decade a costly and inconclusive war against Persia took most of Constantius's time and attention. In the meantime, his brothers Constantine and Constans warred over the western provinces of the empire, leaving the former dead in 340 and the latter as sole ruler of the west. The two remaining brothers maintained an uneasy peace with each other until, in 350, Constans was overthrown and assassinated by the usurper Magnentius. Unwilling to accept Magnentius as co-ruler, Constantius waged a civil war against the usurper, defeating him at the battles of Mursa Major in 351 and Mons Seleucus in 353. Magnentius committed suicide after the latter battle, leaving Constantius as sole ruler of the empire. In 351, Constantius elevated his cousin Constantius Gallus to the subordinate rank of caesar to rule in the east, but had him executed three years later after receiving scathing reports of his violent and corrupt nature. Shortly thereafter, in 355, Constantius promoted his last surviving cousin, Gallus' younger half-brother Julian, to the rank of caesar. As emperor, Constantius promoted Arian Christianity, persecuted pagans by banning sacrifices and closing pagan temples and issued laws discriminating against Jews. His military campaigns against Germanic tribes were successful: he defeated the Alamanni in 354 and campaigned across the Danube against the Quadi and Sarmatians in 357. The war against the Sasanians, which had been in a lull since 350, erupted with renewed intensity in 359 and Constantius traveled to the east in 360 to restore stability after the loss of several border fortresses. However, Julian claimed the rank of augustus in 360, leading to war between the two after Constantius' attempts to persuade Julian to back down failed. No battle was fought, as Constantius became ill and died of fever on 3 November 361 in Mopsuestia, naming Julian as his rightful successor before his death. St Liberius the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on August 27; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); Venerable Paul of Thebes, Commemorated on January 15; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; St Caesarius, brother of St Gregory the Theologian, Commemorated on March 9 ; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, APOSTLE TO ARMENIA (23 March 332); St Hypatius the Wonderworker and Bishop of Gangraz, Commemorated on March 31; 120 Martyrs of Persia, Commemorated on April 6; Hieromartyr Zeno the Bishop of Verona, Commemorated on April 12 ; Martyr Sava the Goth of Wallachia, Commemorated on April 15; Venerable Theodore the Sanctified, Disciple of the Venerable Pachomius the Great, Commemorated on May 16; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 352-366, Pope, St Liberius
Roman Pope, 352-366 , St Liberius ; St Liberius the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on August 27;

Rome, 361-363, Emperor Julian the Apostate, Constantinople, C's step brother
Roman Emperor, 361-363, Julian the Apostate, Constantinople; Greatmartyr Nicetas the Goth, Commemorated on September 15; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; Hieromartyr Theodoritus of Antioch, Commemorated on March 8; Icon œNot Made by Hands from Lydda, Commemorated on March 12; CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (18 MAR 386); Hieromartyr Basil of Ancyra, Commemorated on March 22; Hieromartyr Mark the Bishop of Arethusa, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, Commemorated on March 29; Martyr Cyril the Deacon of Heliopolis, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, Commemorated on March 29 ; Venerable Publius of Egypt, Commemorated on April 5 ; Venerable Publius of Egypt, Commemorated on April 5 ; Martyr Barbarus the Soldier in Morea, Commemorated on May 6; GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (9 MAY 389); St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 360-397, Roman Saint, Ambrose, against Arianism
Rome, 360-397, Roman Saint, Ambrose; (born Aurelius Ambrosius; c. 340 -“ 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose[a], was the Bishop of Milan, a theologian, and one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. was serving as the Roman governor of Aemilia-Liguria in Milan when he was unexpectedly made Bishop of Milan in 374 by popular acclamation. As bishop, he took a firm position against Arianism and attempted to mediate the conflict between the emperor Theodosius I and the usurper Magnus Maximus. Tradition credits Ambrose with promoting "antiphonal chant", a style of chanting in which one side of the choir responds alternately to the other, as well as with composing Veni redemptor gentium, an Advent hymn. He also had notable influence on Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Christianity identified Ambrose as one of its four traditional Doctors of the Church. He is considered a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and various Lutheran denominations, and venerated as the patron saint of Milan. 1 Life 1.1 Early life 1.2 Bishop of Milan 1.3 Arianism 1.4 Imperial relations 1.5 Attitude towards Jews 1.6 Attitude towards pagans 1.7 Later years and death 1.8 Character 2 Theology 2.1 Giving to the poor 2.2 Mariology 3 Writings 4 Church music 5 Augustine 5.1 Reading 6 Bibliography 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Citations 8.3 Works cited 9 External links life[edit] was born into a Roman Christian family about 340 and was raised in Gallia Belgica, the capital of which was Augusta Treverorum.[3] His father is sometimes identified with Aurelius Ambrosius,[4][5] a praetorian prefect of Gaul;[6] but some scholars identify his father as an official named Uranius who received an imperial constitution dated 3 February 339 (addressed in a brief extract from one of the three emperors ruling in 339, Constantine II, Constantius II, or Constans, in the Codex Theodosianus, book XI.5).[7][8][9] mother was a woman of intellect and piety[10] and a member of the Roman family Aurelii Symmachi,[11] and thus Ambrose was cousin of the orator Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. He was the youngest of three children, who included Marcellina and Satyrus (who is the subject of Ambrose's De excessu fratris Satyri), also venerated as saints.[12] There is a legend that as an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle, leaving behind a drop of honey. His father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saint's symbology. the year 354 Ambrosius, the father, died, whereupon the family moved to Rome.[13] There he studied literature, law, and rhetoric. He then followed in his father's footsteps and entered public service. Praetorian Prefect Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus first gave him a place in the council and then in about 372 made him governor of Liguria and Emilia, with headquarters at Milan.[6] In 286 Diocletian had moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum (Milan). was the Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in northern Italy until 374, when he became the Bishop of Milan. Ambrose was a very popular political figure, and since he had been the Governor in the effective capital in the Roman West, he was a recognizable figure in the court of Valentinian I. of Milan[edit] the late 4th century there was a deep conflict in the diocese of Milan between the Nicene Church and Arians.[14][15] In 374 the bishop of Milan, Auxentius, an Arian, died, and the Arians challenged the succession. Ambrose went to the church where the election was to take place, to prevent an uproar, which was probable in this crisis. His address was interrupted by a call, "Ambrose, bishop!", which was taken up by the whole assembly.[15] was known to be Nicene Christian in belief, but also acceptable to Arians due to the charity shown in theological matters in this regard. At first he energetically refused the office, for which he was in no way prepared: Ambrose was neither baptized nor formally trained in theology.[6] Upon his appointment, Ambrose fled to a colleague's home seeking to hide. Upon receiving a letter from the Emperor Gratian praising the appropriateness of Rome appointing individuals evidently worthy of holy positions, Ambrose's host gave him up. Within a week, he was baptized, ordained and duly consecrated bishop of Milan. bishop, he immediately adopted an ascetic lifestyle, apportioned his money to the poor, donating all of his land, making only provision for his sister Marcellina (who had become a nun). This raised his popularity even further, giving him considerable political leverage over even the emperor. Upon the unexpected appointment of Ambrose to the episcopate, his brother Satyrus resigned a prefecture in order to move to Milan, where he took over managing the diocese's temporal affairs.[3] 383 Gratian was assassinated at Lyon, France, and Paulinus of Nola, who had served as governor of Campania, went to Milan to attend the school of Ambrose.[16] of Saint Ambrose with a scourge in Museo del Duomo, Milan. Unknown Lombard author, early 17 century. studied theology with Simplician, a presbyter of Rome.[10] Using to his advantage his excellent knowledge of Greek, which was then rare in the West, he studied the Old Testament and Greek authors like Philo, Origen, Athanasius, and Basil of Caesarea, with whom he was also exchanging letters.[17] He applied this knowledge as preacher, concentrating especially on exegesis of the Old Testament, and his rhetorical abilities impressed Augustine of Hippo, who hitherto had thought poorly of Christian preachers. the confrontation with Arians, Ambrose sought to theologically refute their propositions, which were contrary to the Nicene creed and thus to the officially defined orthodoxy. The Arians appealed to many high level leaders and clergy in both the Western and Eastern empires. Although the western Emperor Gratian supported orthodoxy, the younger Valentinian II, who became his colleague in the Empire, adhered to the Arian creed.[18] Ambrose did not sway the young prince's position. In the East, Emperor Theodosius I likewise professed the Nicene creed; but there were many adherents of Arianism throughout his dominions,[10] especially among the higher clergy. this contested state of religious opinion, two leaders of the Arians, bishops Palladius of Ratiaria and Secundianus of Singidunum, confident of numbers, prevailed upon Gratian to call a general council from all parts of the empire. This request appeared so equitable that he complied without hesitation. However, Ambrose feared the consequences and prevailed upon the emperor to have the matter determined by a council of the Western bishops. Accordingly, a synod composed of thirty-two bishops was held at Aquileia in the year 381. Ambrose was elected president and Palladius, being called upon to defend his opinions, declined. A vote was then taken and Palladius and his associate Secundianus were deposed from their episcopal offices.[10] the increasing strength of the Arians proved a formidable task for Ambrose. In 385[18] or 386 the emperor and his mother Justina, along with a considerable number of clergy and laity, especially military, professed Arianism. They demanded two churches in Milan, one in the city (the Basilica of the Apostles), the other in the suburbs (St Victor's), be allocated to the Arians.[18] Ambrose refused and was required to answer for his conduct before the council.[6][page needed] He went, his eloquence in defense of the Church reportedly overawing the ministers of Valentinian, so he was permitted to retire without making the surrender of the churches. The day following, when he was performing divine service in the basilica, the prefect of the city came to persuade him to give up at least the Portian basilica in the suburbs. As he still refused, certain deans or officers of the court were sent to take possession of the Portian basilica, by hanging up in it imperial escutcheons[18] to prepare for the arrival of the emperor and his mother at the ensuing festival of Easter.[19] spite of Imperial opposition, Ambrose declared, "If you demand my person, I am ready to submit: carry me to prison or to death, I will not resist; but I will never betray the church of Christ. I will not call upon the people to succour me; I will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it. The tumult of the people I will not encourage: but God alone can appease it."[19] 386 Justina and Valentinian received the Arian bishop Auxentius the younger, and Ambrose was again ordered to hand over a church in Milan for Arian usage. Ambrose and his congregation barricaded themselves inside the church, and the imperial order was rescinded.[20 relations[edit] Ambrose barring Theodosius from Milan Cathedral by Anthony van Dyck. National Gallery, London. imperial court was displeased with the religious principles of Ambrose, though his aid was soon solicited by the Emperor. When Magnus Maximus usurped the supreme power in Gaul, and was meditating a descent upon Italy, Valentinian sent Ambrose to dissuade him from the undertaking, and the embassy was successful.[19] second later embassy was unsuccessful. The enemy entered Italy and Milan was taken. Justina and her son fled but Ambrose remained at his post and did good service to many of the sufferers by causing the plate of the church to be melted for their relief.[19] I, the emperor of the East, espoused the cause of Justina, and regained the kingdom. Theodosius was excommunicated by Ambrose for the massacre of 7,000 people at Thessalonica in 390,[19] after the murder of the Roman governor there by rioters.[6][page needed] - Ambrose told Theodosius to imitate David in his repentance as he had imitated him in guilt,[19] and he readmitted the emperor to the Eucharist only after several months of penance. This shows the strong position of a bishop in the western part of the empire, even when facing a strong emperor. The controversy of John Chrysostom with a much weaker emperor a few years later in Constantinople led to a crushing defeat of the bishop. 392, after the death of Valentinian II and the fall of Eugenius, Ambrose supplicated the emperor for the pardon of those who had supported Eugenius after Theodosius was eventually victorious.[19] of St. Ambrose Saint Ambrose with scourge and book, a painting in the church of San Giuseppe alla Lungara, Rome towards Jews[edit] his treatise on Abraham, Ambrose warns against intermarriage with pagans, Jews, or heretics.[21] 388, Emperor Theodosius the Great was informed that a crowd of Christians, led by their bishop, had destroyed the synagogue at Callinicum on the Euphrates. He ordered the synagogue rebuilt at the expense of the bishop,[22] but Ambrose persuaded Theodosius to retreat from this position.[23] He wrote to the Emperor, pointing out that he was thereby "exposing the bishop to the danger of either acting against the truth or of death"; in the letter "the reasons given for the imperial rescript are met, especially by the plea that the Jews had burnt many churches".[24] Ambrose, referring to a prior incident where Magnus Maximus issued an edict censuring Christians in Rome for burning down a Jewish synagogue, warned Theodosius that the people in turn exclaimed "the emperor has become a Jew", implying that if Theodosius attempted to apply the law to protect his Jewish subjects he'd be viewed similarly.[25] In the course of the letter Ambrose speaks of the clemency that the emperor had shown with regard to the many houses of wealthy people and churches that had been destroyed by unruly mobs, with many then still not restored and then adds: "There is, then, no adequate cause for such a commotion, that the people should be so severely punished for the burning of a building, and much less since it is the burning of a synagogue, a home of unbelief, a house of impiety, a receptacle of folly, which God Himself has condemned. For thus we read, where the Lord our God speaks by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: 'And I will do to this house, which is called by My Name, wherein ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you forth from My sight, as I cast forth your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. And do not thou pray for that people, and do not thou ask mercy for them, and do not come near Me on their behalf, for I will not hear thee. Or seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah?'[Jeremiah 7:14] God forbids intercession to be made for those."[24][26] Yet, Ambrose did not oppose punishing those who were directly responsible for destroying the synagogue. his exposition of Psalm 1, Ambrose says: "Virtues without faith are leaves, flourishing in appearance, but unproductive. How many pagans have mercy and sobriety but no fruit, because they do not attain their purpose! The leaves speedily fall at the wind's breath. Some Jews exhibit purity of life and much diligence and love of study, but bear no fruit and live like leaves."[27] towards pagans[edit] article: Anti-paganism influenced by Saint Ambrose his influence, emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I carried on a persecution of paganism;[28][b][30][31] Theodosius issued the 391 "Theodosian decrees," which with increasing intensity outlawed pagan practices.[29][32]The Altar of Victory was removed by Gratian. Ambrose prevailed upon Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius to reject requests to restore the altar. years and death[edit] silver urn with the body of Ambrose (with white vestments) in the crypt of Sant'Ambrose, with the skeletons of Gervase and Protase. April 393 Arbogast, magister militum of the West and his puppet Emperor Eugenius, marched into Italy to consolidate their position in regard to Theodosius I and his son, Honorius, whom Theodosius had appointed Augustus to govern the western portion of the empire. Arbogast and Eugenius courted Ambrose's support by very obliging letters; but before they arrived at Milan, he had retired to Bologna, where he assisted at the translation of the relics of Saints Vitalis and Agricola. From there he went to Florence, where he remained until Eugenius withdrew from Milan to meet Theodosius in the Battle of the Frigidus in early September 394.[33] after acquiring the undisputed possession of the Roman Empire, Theodosius died at Milan in 395, and two years later (4 April 397) Ambrose also died. He was succeeded as bishop of Milan by Simplician.[19] Ambrose's body may still be viewed in the church of Saint Ambrogio in Milan, where it has been continuously venerated“ along with the bodies identified in his time as being those of Saints Gervase and Protase. Drawing based on a statue of Saint Ambrose circumstances in the history of Ambrose are characteristic of the general spirit of the times. The chief causes of his victory over his opponents were his great popularity and the reverence paid to the episcopal character at that period. He used several indirect means to obtain and support his authority with the people.[19] was his custom to comment severely in his preaching on the public characters of his times; and he introduced popular reforms in the order and manner of public worship. It is alleged, too, that at a time when the influence of Ambrose required vigorous support, he was admonished in a dream to search for, and found under the pavement of the church, the remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and Protasius. The saints, although they would have had to have been hundreds of years old, looked as if they had just died. The applause of the people was mingled with the derision of the court party.[19] joins Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great as one of the Latin Doctors of the Church. Theologians compare him with Hilary, who they claim fell short of Ambrose's administrative excellence but demonstrated greater theological ability. He succeeded as a theologian despite his juridical training and his comparatively late handling of Biblical and doctrinal subjects.[19] intense episcopal consciousness furthered the growing doctrine of the Church and its sacerdotal ministry, while the prevalent asceticism of the day, continuing the Stoic and Ciceronian training of his youth, enabled him to promulgate a lofty standard of Christian ethics. Thus we have the De officiis ministrorum, De viduis, De virginitate and De paenitentia.[19] displayed a kind of liturgical flexibility that kept in mind that liturgy was a tool to serve people in worshiping God, and ought not to become a rigid entity that is invariable from place to place. His advice to Augustine of Hippo on this point was to follow local liturgical custom. "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are."[34][35] Thus Ambrose refused to be drawn into a false conflict over which particular local church had the "right" liturgical form where there was no substantial problem. His advice has remained in the English language as the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." interpretation of Ambrose's writings is that he was a Christian universalist.[36] It has been noted that Ambrose's theology was significantly influenced by that of Origen and Didymus the Blind, two other early Christian universalists.[36] quotation cited in favor of this belief is: Our Savior has appointed two kinds of resurrection in the Apocalypse. 'Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection,' for such come to grace without the judgment. As for those who do not come to the first, but are reserved unto the second resurrection, these shall be disciplined until their appointed times, between the first and the second resurrection.[37] could interpret this passage as being another example of the mainstream Christian belief in a general resurrection (that both those in heaven and in hell undergo a bodily resurrection), or an allusion to purgatory (that some destined for heaven must first undergo a phase of purification). Several other works by Ambrose clearly teach the mainstream view of salvation. For example: "The Jews feared to believe in manhood taken up into God, and therefore have lost the grace of redemption, because they reject that on which salvation depends."[38] to the poor[edit] was also interested in the condition of contemporary Italian society.[39] Ambrose considered the poor not a distinct group of outsiders, but a part of the united, solidary people. Giving to the poor was not to be considered an act of generosity towards the fringes of society but a repayment of resources that God had originally bestowed on everyone equally and that the rich had usurped.[40] The theological treatises of Ambrose of Milan would come to influence Popes Damasus, Siricius and Leo XIII. Central to Ambrose is the virginity of Mary and her role as Mother of God.[41] virgin birth is worthy of God. Which human birth would have been more worthy of God, than the one in which the Immaculate Son of God maintained the purity of his immaculate origin while becoming human?[42] confess that Christ the Lord was born from a virgin, and therefore we reject the natural order of things. Because she conceived not from a man but from the Holy Spirit.[43] is not divided but one. If we adore him as the Son of God, we do not deny his birth from the virgin. ... But nobody shall extend this to Mary. Mary was the temple of God but not God in the temple. Therefore, only the one who was in the temple can be worshiped.[44] truly blessed for having surpassed the priest (Zechariah). While the priest denied, the Virgin rectified the error. No wonder that the Lord, wishing to rescue the world, began his work with Mary. Thus she, through whom salvation was being prepared for all people, would be the first to receive the promised fruit of salvation.[45] viewed celibacy as superior to marriage and saw Mary as the model of virginity.[46] Roman Saint, 367-420, Jerome ; AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430); JEROME, SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, AND THEOLOGIAN (30 SEP 420); St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 360-397, Bishop of Milan, Ambrose, against Arianism, antiphonal chant, Augistine of H
Northern Italy, 360-397, Bishop of Milan, Ambrose, against Arianism, antiphonal chant, Augistine of H; (born Aurelius Ambrosius; c. 340 -“ 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose[a], was the Bishop of Milan, a theologian, and one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. was serving as the Roman governor of Aemilia-Liguria in Milan when he was unexpectedly made Bishop of Milan in 374 by popular acclamation. As bishop, he took a firm position against Arianism and attempted to mediate the conflict between the emperor Theodosius I and the usurper Magnus Maximus. Tradition credits Ambrose with promoting "antiphonal chant", a style of chanting in which one side of the choir responds alternately to the other, as well as with composing Veni redemptor gentium, an Advent hymn. He also had notable influence on Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Christianity identified Ambrose as one of its four traditional Doctors of the Church. He is considered a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and various Lutheran denominations, and venerated as the patron saint of Milan. 1 Life 1.1 Early life 1.2 Bishop of Milan 1.3 Arianism 1.4 Imperial relations 1.5 Attitude towards Jews 1.6 Attitude towards pagans 1.7 Later years and death 1.8 Character 2 Theology 2.1 Giving to the poor 2.2 Mariology 3 Writings 4 Church music 5 Augustine 5.1 Reading 6 Bibliography 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Notes 8.2 Citations 8.3 Works cited 9 External links life[edit] was born into a Roman Christian family about 340 and was raised in Gallia Belgica, the capital of which was Augusta Treverorum.[3] His father is sometimes identified with Aurelius Ambrosius,[4][5] a praetorian prefect of Gaul;[6] but some scholars identify his father as an official named Uranius who received an imperial constitution dated 3 February 339 (addressed in a brief extract from one of the three emperors ruling in 339, Constantine II, Constantius II, or Constans, in the Codex Theodosianus, book XI.5).[7][8][9] mother was a woman of intellect and piety[10] and a member of the Roman family Aurelii Symmachi,[11] and thus Ambrose was cousin of the orator Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. He was the youngest of three children, who included Marcellina and Satyrus (who is the subject of Ambrose's De excessu fratris Satyri), also venerated as saints.[12] There is a legend that as an infant, a swarm of bees settled on his face while he lay in his cradle, leaving behind a drop of honey. His father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saint's symbology. the year 354 Ambrosius, the father, died, whereupon the family moved to Rome.[13] There he studied literature, law, and rhetoric. He then followed in his father's footsteps and entered public service. Praetorian Prefect Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus first gave him a place in the council and then in about 372 made him governor of Liguria and Emilia, with headquarters at Milan.[6] In 286 Diocletian had moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum (Milan). was the Governor of Aemilia-Liguria in northern Italy until 374, when he became the Bishop of Milan. Ambrose was a very popular political figure, and since he had been the Governor in the effective capital in the Roman West, he was a recognizable figure in the court of Valentinian I. of Milan[edit] the late 4th century there was a deep conflict in the diocese of Milan between the Nicene Church and Arians.[14][15] In 374 the bishop of Milan, Auxentius, an Arian, died, and the Arians challenged the succession. Ambrose went to the church where the election was to take place, to prevent an uproar, which was probable in this crisis. His address was interrupted by a call, "Ambrose, bishop!", which was taken up by the whole assembly.[15] was known to be Nicene Christian in belief, but also acceptable to Arians due to the charity shown in theological matters in this regard. At first he energetically refused the office, for which he was in no way prepared: Ambrose was neither baptized nor formally trained in theology.[6] Upon his appointment, Ambrose fled to a colleague's home seeking to hide. Upon receiving a letter from the Emperor Gratian praising the appropriateness of Rome appointing individuals evidently worthy of holy positions, Ambrose's host gave him up. Within a week, he was baptized, ordained and duly consecrated bishop of Milan. bishop, he immediately adopted an ascetic lifestyle, apportioned his money to the poor, donating all of his land, making only provision for his sister Marcellina (who had become a nun). This raised his popularity even further, giving him considerable political leverage over even the emperor. Upon the unexpected appointment of Ambrose to the episcopate, his brother Satyrus resigned a prefecture in order to move to Milan, where he took over managing the diocese's temporal affairs.[3] 383 Gratian was assassinated at Lyon, France, and Paulinus of Nola, who had served as governor of Campania, went to Milan to attend the school of Ambrose.[16] of Saint Ambrose with a scourge in Museo del Duomo, Milan. Unknown Lombard author, early 17 century. studied theology with Simplician, a presbyter of Rome.[10] Using to his advantage his excellent knowledge of Greek, which was then rare in the West, he studied the Old Testament and Greek authors like Philo, Origen, Athanasius, and Basil of Caesarea, with whom he was also exchanging letters.[17] He applied this knowledge as preacher, concentrating especially on exegesis of the Old Testament, and his rhetorical abilities impressed Augustine of Hippo, who hitherto had thought poorly of Christian preachers. the confrontation with Arians, Ambrose sought to theologically refute their propositions, which were contrary to the Nicene creed and thus to the officially defined orthodoxy. The Arians appealed to many high level leaders and clergy in both the Western and Eastern empires. Although the western Emperor Gratian supported orthodoxy, the younger Valentinian II, who became his colleague in the Empire, adhered to the Arian creed.[18] Ambrose did not sway the young prince's position. In the East, Emperor Theodosius I likewise professed the Nicene creed; but there were many adherents of Arianism throughout his dominions,[10] especially among the higher clergy. this contested state of religious opinion, two leaders of the Arians, bishops Palladius of Ratiaria and Secundianus of Singidunum, confident of numbers, prevailed upon Gratian to call a general council from all parts of the empire. This request appeared so equitable that he complied without hesitation. However, Ambrose feared the consequences and prevailed upon the emperor to have the matter determined by a council of the Western bishops. Accordingly, a synod composed of thirty-two bishops was held at Aquileia in the year 381. Ambrose was elected president and Palladius, being called upon to defend his opinions, declined. A vote was then taken and Palladius and his associate Secundianus were deposed from their episcopal offices.[10] the increasing strength of the Arians proved a formidable task for Ambrose. In 385[18] or 386 the emperor and his mother Justina, along with a considerable number of clergy and laity, especially military, professed Arianism. They demanded two churches in Milan, one in the city (the Basilica of the Apostles), the other in the suburbs (St Victor's), be allocated to the Arians.[18] Ambrose refused and was required to answer for his conduct before the council.[6][page needed] He went, his eloquence in defense of the Church reportedly overawing the ministers of Valentinian, so he was permitted to retire without making the surrender of the churches. The day following, when he was performing divine service in the basilica, the prefect of the city came to persuade him to give up at least the Portian basilica in the suburbs. As he still refused, certain deans or officers of the court were sent to take possession of the Portian basilica, by hanging up in it imperial escutcheons[18] to prepare for the arrival of the emperor and his mother at the ensuing festival of Easter.[19] spite of Imperial opposition, Ambrose declared, "If you demand my person, I am ready to submit: carry me to prison or to death, I will not resist; but I will never betray the church of Christ. I will not call upon the people to succour me; I will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it. The tumult of the people I will not encourage: but God alone can appease it."[19] 386 Justina and Valentinian received the Arian bishop Auxentius the younger, and Ambrose was again ordered to hand over a church in Milan for Arian usage. Ambrose and his congregation barricaded themselves inside the church, and the imperial order was rescinded.[20 relations[edit] Ambrose barring Theodosius from Milan Cathedral by Anthony van Dyck. National Gallery, London. imperial court was displeased with the religious principles of Ambrose, though his aid was soon solicited by the Emperor. When Magnus Maximus usurped the supreme power in Gaul, and was meditating a descent upon Italy, Valentinian sent Ambrose to dissuade him from the undertaking, and the embassy was successful.[19] second later embassy was unsuccessful. The enemy entered Italy and Milan was taken. Justina and her son fled but Ambrose remained at his post and did good service to many of the sufferers by causing the plate of the church to be melted for their relief.[19] I, the emperor of the East, espoused the cause of Justina, and regained the kingdom. Theodosius was excommunicated by Ambrose for the massacre of 7,000 people at Thessalonica in 390,[19] after the murder of the Roman governor there by rioters.[6][page needed] - Ambrose told Theodosius to imitate David in his repentance as he had imitated him in guilt,[19] and he readmitted the emperor to the Eucharist only after several months of penance. This shows the strong position of a bishop in the western part of the empire, even when facing a strong emperor. The controversy of John Chrysostom with a much weaker emperor a few years later in Constantinople led to a crushing defeat of the bishop. 392, after the death of Valentinian II and the fall of Eugenius, Ambrose supplicated the emperor for the pardon of those who had supported Eugenius after Theodosius was eventually victorious.[19] of St. Ambrose Saint Ambrose with scourge and book, a painting in the church of San Giuseppe alla Lungara, Rome towards Jews[edit] his treatise on Abraham, Ambrose warns against intermarriage with pagans, Jews, or heretics.[21] 388, Emperor Theodosius the Great was informed that a crowd of Christians, led by their bishop, had destroyed the synagogue at Callinicum on the Euphrates. He ordered the synagogue rebuilt at the expense of the bishop,[22] but Ambrose persuaded Theodosius to retreat from this position.[23] He wrote to the Emperor, pointing out that he was thereby "exposing the bishop to the danger of either acting against the truth or of death"; in the letter "the reasons given for the imperial rescript are met, especially by the plea that the Jews had burnt many churches".[24] Ambrose, referring to a prior incident where Magnus Maximus issued an edict censuring Christians in Rome for burning down a Jewish synagogue, warned Theodosius that the people in turn exclaimed "the emperor has become a Jew", implying that if Theodosius attempted to apply the law to protect his Jewish subjects he'd be viewed similarly.[25] In the course of the letter Ambrose speaks of the clemency that the emperor had shown with regard to the many houses of wealthy people and churches that had been destroyed by unruly mobs, with many then still not restored and then adds: "There is, then, no adequate cause for such a commotion, that the people should be so severely punished for the burning of a building, and much less since it is the burning of a synagogue, a home of unbelief, a house of impiety, a receptacle of folly, which God Himself has condemned. For thus we read, where the Lord our God speaks by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: 'And I will do to this house, which is called by My Name, wherein ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you forth from My sight, as I cast forth your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. And do not thou pray for that people, and do not thou ask mercy for them, and do not come near Me on their behalf, for I will not hear thee. Or seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah?'[Jeremiah 7:14] God forbids intercession to be made for those."[24][26] Yet, Ambrose did not oppose punishing those who were directly responsible for destroying the synagogue. his exposition of Psalm 1, Ambrose says: "Virtues without faith are leaves, flourishing in appearance, but unproductive. How many pagans have mercy and sobriety but no fruit, because they do not attain their purpose! The leaves speedily fall at the wind's breath. Some Jews exhibit purity of life and much diligence and love of study, but bear no fruit and live like leaves."[27] towards pagans[edit] article: Anti-paganism influenced by Saint Ambrose his influence, emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I carried on a persecution of paganism;[28][b][30][31] Theodosius issued the 391 "Theodosian decrees," which with increasing intensity outlawed pagan practices.[29][32]The Altar of Victory was removed by Gratian. Ambrose prevailed upon Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius to reject requests to restore the altar. years and death[edit] silver urn with the body of Ambrose (with white vestments) in the crypt of Sant'Ambrose, with the skeletons of Gervase and Protase. April 393 Arbogast, magister militum of the West and his puppet Emperor Eugenius, marched into Italy to consolidate their position in regard to Theodosius I and his son, Honorius, whom Theodosius had appointed Augustus to govern the western portion of the empire. Arbogast and Eugenius courted Ambrose's support by very obliging letters; but before they arrived at Milan, he had retired to Bologna, where he assisted at the translation of the relics of Saints Vitalis and Agricola. From there he went to Florence, where he remained until Eugenius withdrew from Milan to meet Theodosius in the Battle of the Frigidus in early September 394.[33] after acquiring the undisputed possession of the Roman Empire, Theodosius died at Milan in 395, and two years later (4 April 397) Ambrose also died. He was succeeded as bishop of Milan by Simplician.[19] Ambrose's body may still be viewed in the church of Saint Ambrogio in Milan, where it has been continuously venerated“ along with the bodies identified in his time as being those of Saints Gervase and Protase. Drawing based on a statue of Saint Ambrose circumstances in the history of Ambrose are characteristic of the general spirit of the times. The chief causes of his victory over his opponents were his great popularity and the reverence paid to the episcopal character at that period. He used several indirect means to obtain and support his authority with the people.[19] was his custom to comment severely in his preaching on the public characters of his times; and he introduced popular reforms in the order and manner of public worship. It is alleged, too, that at a time when the influence of Ambrose required vigorous support, he was admonished in a dream to search for, and found under the pavement of the church, the remains of two martyrs, Gervasius and Protasius. The saints, although they would have had to have been hundreds of years old, looked as if they had just died. The applause of the people was mingled with the derision of the court party.[19] joins Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great as one of the Latin Doctors of the Church. Theologians compare him with Hilary, who they claim fell short of Ambrose's administrative excellence but demonstrated greater theological ability. He succeeded as a theologian despite his juridical training and his comparatively late handling of Biblical and doctrinal subjects.[19] intense episcopal consciousness furthered the growing doctrine of the Church and its sacerdotal ministry, while the prevalent asceticism of the day, continuing the Stoic and Ciceronian training of his youth, enabled him to promulgate a lofty standard of Christian ethics. Thus we have the De officiis ministrorum, De viduis, De virginitate and De paenitentia.[19] displayed a kind of liturgical flexibility that kept in mind that liturgy was a tool to serve people in worshiping God, and ought not to become a rigid entity that is invariable from place to place. His advice to Augustine of Hippo on this point was to follow local liturgical custom. "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are."[34][35] Thus Ambrose refused to be drawn into a false conflict over which particular local church had the "right" liturgical form where there was no substantial problem. His advice has remained in the English language as the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." interpretation of Ambrose's writings is that he was a Christian universalist.[36] It has been noted that Ambrose's theology was significantly influenced by that of Origen and Didymus the Blind, two other early Christian universalists.[36] quotation cited in favor of this belief is: Our Savior has appointed two kinds of resurrection in the Apocalypse. 'Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection,' for such come to grace without the judgment. As for those who do not come to the first, but are reserved unto the second resurrection, these shall be disciplined until their appointed times, between the first and the second resurrection.[37] could interpret this passage as being another example of the mainstream Christian belief in a general resurrection (that both those in heaven and in hell undergo a bodily resurrection), or an allusion to purgatory (that some destined for heaven must first undergo a phase of purification). Several other works by Ambrose clearly teach the mainstream view of salvation. For example: "The Jews feared to believe in manhood taken up into God, and therefore have lost the grace of redemption, because they reject that on which salvation depends."[38] to the poor[edit] was also interested in the condition of contemporary Italian society.[39] Ambrose considered the poor not a distinct group of outsiders, but a part of the united, solidary people. Giving to the poor was not to be considered an act of generosity towards the fringes of society but a repayment of resources that God had originally bestowed on everyone equally and that the rich had usurped.[40] The theological treatises of Ambrose of Milan would come to influence Popes Damasus, Siricius and Leo XIII. Central to Ambrose is the virginity of Mary and her role as Mother of God.[41] virgin birth is worthy of God. Which human birth would have been more worthy of God, than the one in which the Immaculate Son of God maintained the purity of his immaculate origin while becoming human?[42] confess that Christ the Lord was born from a virgin, and therefore we reject the natural order of things. Because she conceived not from a man but from the Holy Spirit.[43] is not divided but one. If we adore him as the Son of God, we do not deny his birth from the virgin. ... But nobody shall extend this to Mary. Mary was the temple of God but not God in the temple. Therefore, only the one who was in the temple can be worshiped.[44] truly blessed for having surpassed the priest (Zechariah). While the priest denied, the Virgin rectified the error. No wonder that the Lord, wishing to rescue the world, began his work with Mary. Thus she, through whom salvation was being prepared for all people, would be the first to receive the promised fruit of salvation.[45] viewed celibacy as superior to marriage and saw Mary as the model of virginity.[46] St Monica, Commemorated on May 4; Saint Bassian, Bishop of Lodi in Lombardy, Commemorated on June 10; AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430);

Rome, 364-378, Emperor, Valentian I in the West, Orthodox, last great western emperor
Roman Emperor, 364-378, Valentian I in the West ; Valentinian I (Latin: Flavius Valentinianus; 3 July 321 -“ 17 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great,[2][3][4][5] was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west. his reign, Valentinian fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 367 at the Battle of Solicinium. His brilliant general Count Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scots, and Saxons. Valentinian was also the last emperor to conduct campaigns across both the Rhine and Danube rivers. Valentinian rebuilt and improved the fortifications along the frontiers, even building fortresses in enemy territory. to the successful nature of his reign and the rapid decline of the empire after his death, he is often considered to be the "last great western emperor". He founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; Greatmartyr Nicetas the Goth, Commemorated on September 15; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated on January 23; Martyr Bathusius in the Crimea, Commemorated on March 26; Hieromartyr Zeno the Bishop of Verona, Commemorated on April 12 ; St Epiphanius the Bishop of Cyprus, Commemorated on May 12 ; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 364-378, Emperor, Valens in the East, Arian, died and lost to Goths at Adrianople, bad g, good a
Roman Emperor, 364-375, Valens in the East ; Valens (328 -“ 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was the younger brother of the emperor Valentinian I, who gave Valens the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. Before 364, Valens had a largely unremarkable military career. In 378, Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the invading Goths, which astonished contemporaries and marked the beginning of barbarian encroachment into Roman territory. emperor Valens continually faced threats both internal and external.[6] He defeated, after some dithering, the usurper Procopius in 366, and campaigned against the Goths across the Danube in 367 and 369. In the following years, Valens focused on the eastern frontier, where he faced the perennial threat of Persia, particularly in Armenia, as well as additional conflicts with the Saracens and Isaurians. Domestically, he inaugurated the Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople, which was longer than all the aqueducts of Rome. In 376-77, the Gothic War broke out, following a mismanaged attempt to settle the Goths in the Balkans. Valens returned from the east to fight the Goths in person, but lack of coordination with his nephew, the western emperor Gratian (Valentinian I's son), as well as poor battle tactics, led to Valens and much of the eastern Roman army dying at a battle near Adrianople in 378. Valens is described as indecisive, impressionable, a mediocre general and overall "utterly undistinguished", he was also a conscientious and capable administrator,[7] and a notable achievement of his was to significantly relieve the burden of taxation on the population.[8] At the same time, his suspicious and fearful disposition, and excessive concern for personal safety, resulted in numerous treason trials and executions, which heavily stained his reputation. Valens was a Arian Christian “ (the last Roman emperor to profess this denomination)“ and unenthusiastically persecuted eastern Catholics while interfering little in the affairs of the pagans.[8][9] AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; Greatmartyr Nicetas the Goth, Commemorated on September 15; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; Martyr Bathusius in the Crimea, Commemorated on March 26; Hieromartyr Zeno the Bishop of Verona, Commemorated on April 12 ; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 366-384, Pope, Damasus I, presided over canon of scripture, encouraged Vulgate and martyr veneration
Pope, 366-384, Pope Damasus I; I (c. 305 - 11 December 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture.[1] He spoke out against major heresies in the church (including Apollinarianism and Macedonianism) and encouraged production of the Vulgate Bible with his support for Jerome. He helped reconcile the relations between the Church of Rome and the Church of Antioch, and encouraged the veneration of martyrs. well as various prose letters and other pieces Damasus was the author of Latin verse. Alan Cameron describes his epitaph for a young girl called Projecta (of great interest to scholars as the Projecta Casket in the British Museum may have been made for her) as "a tissue of tags and clichés shakily strung together and barely squeezed into the meter".[2] Damasus has been described as "the first society Pope",[3] and was possibly a member of a group of Spanish Christians, largely related to each other, who were close to the Spaniard Theodosius I.[4] number of images of "DAMAS" in gold glass cups probably represent him and seem to be the first contemporary images of a pope to survive, though there is no real attempt at a likeness. "Damas" appears with other figures, including a Florus who may be Projecta's father. It has been suggested that Damasus or another of the group commissioned and distributed these to friends or supporters, as part of a programme "insistently inserting his episcopal presence in the Christian landscape".[5] is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church; his feast day is 11 December.[6] In the Eastern Orthodox Church his feast day is 13 November.[7] JEROME, SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, AND THEOLOGIAN (30 SEP 420); Venerable Arsenius the Great, Commemorated on May 8; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 367-420, Roman Saint, Jerome, scholar, translator, theologian
Roman Saint, 367-420, Jerome ; AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430); JEROME, SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, AND THEOLOGIAN (30 SEP 420); was the foremost biblical scholar of the ancient Church. His translation of the Bible, along with his commentaries and homilies on the biblical books, have made him a major intellectual force in the Western Church. was born in about 347, and was converted and baptized during his student days in Rome. a visit to Trier, he found himself attracted to the monastic life, which he tested in a brief but unhappy experience as a hermit in the deserts of Syria. Antioch, he continued his studies in Hebrew and Greek. In 379, he went to Constantinople where he studied under Gregory of Nazianzus. 382 to 384 he was secretary to Pope Damasus I, and spiritual director of many noble Roman ladies who were becoming interested in the monastic life. It was Damasus who set him the task of making a new translation of the Bible into Latin -- into the popular form of the language, hence the name of the translation: the Vulgate. the death of Damasus, Jerome returned to the East, and established a monastery at Bethlehem, where he lived and worked until his death on 30 September 420. is best known as the translator of the Bible into Latin. A previous version (now called the Old Latin) existed, but Jerome's version far surpassed it in scholarship and in literary quality. was well versed in classical Latin (as well as Greek and Hebrew), but deliberately translated the Bible into the style of Latin that was actually spoken and written by the majority of persons in his own time. This kind of Latin is known as Vulgate Latin (meaning the Latin of the common people), and accordingly Jerome's translation is called the Vulgate. Vulgate Latin is classical Latin in the first stages of evolving into such modern languages as Spanish, French, and Italian. It has begun the process of changing from an inflected language (in which words have various endings, or inflections, which are used to show the relation of the word to other words in the sentence) to a separate-word language like English (in which additional words, such as prepositions, are used, along with word order, to show the function of the word). Thus, in classical Latin, "He spoke to me," is dix it mihi or mihi dixit, but in Vulgate Latin it is dixit ad me. In the second century BC, Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, had translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Tradition had it that this translation was the work of 70 (or 72) scholars, and accordingly the result was known as the Septuagint (often written as LXX). The LXX contains six or more books (there is some leeway here) not found in the standard Hebrew text, known as the Masoretic Text (or MT), and sometimes reads differently from the MT in particular verses. New Testament writers, except for Matthew, when they are quoting the Old Testament, usually quote from the LXX. The differences in readings between the MT and the LXX were formerly explained by assuming that the LXX translators were sometimes not very good translators. very ancient Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible, recently found at Qumran and elsewhere, often agree with the LXX against the MT. Accordingly, it is now generally supposed that the LXX is a fairly accurate translation of Hebrew manuscripts available at the time, and that sometimes the manuscripts that the LXX translators worked from differed from the manuscripts that became the basis for the standardized Hebrew text that we know today. The early Christians, most of whom knew Greek but not Hebrew, were accustomed to use the LXX as their version of the Old Testament Scriptures. (So, for that matter, did most Jews living in the Roman Empire outside of the land of Israel itself.) Old Latin translation had been made from the Greek. But Jerome was determined to make his translation from the Hebrew, partly because he considered it to be more accurate, and partly because he wanted a text that he could use as a basis for argument with Jewish opponents, without having them object, "But that is not what the Hebrew text says." a translation from the Hebrew, he ran into a difficulty with the Psalms. They were used regularly in public and private worship, and many Christians knew them well enough to notice and resent any radical changes from the wording they had always used. So Jerome translated the Psalms from the Greek, and salved his scholarly feelings by publishing a translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew in an Appendix. The history of the Psalms in English is in some ways similar. 1611, the King James Version of the Bible was published, and generally accepted by English-speakers. However, the Psalms in English were already an established part of public worship in the Coverdale translation of 1536 or thereabouts. For roughly 75 years worshippers in England had been reading, saying, singing, or chanting the Psalms in the Coverdale translation (also called the Prayer Book Version). Their response to the Psalms in the King James Version was: "What is this nonsense! Take away this new-fangled modern translation, and leave me to recite the Psalms in the good old-fashioned version that I learned at the knee of my dear old silver-haired mother, the most magnificent version that the pen of man has ever written, the version that has comforted and sustained me all the days of my life." So, when you attend an Anglican funeral, and you hear the choir chanting, The LORD is my shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. are hearing the Coverdale Psalter. And for some of us, at least, it is a great tree, deeply rooted in the soil of English Christianity, and full of complex associations that make reading it a deeply moving experience. (I have heard rumors that there are versions of the Psalter used in some circles, that are even more modern and trendy than the King James. Hmmph!) was intemperate in controversy, and any correspondence with him tended to degenerate into a flame war. (His friendship with Augustine, conducted by letter, nearly ended before it began. Fortunately Augustine sized him up correctly, soothed his feelings, and was extremely tactful thereafter.) His hot temper, pride of learning, and extravagant promotion of asceticism involved him in many bitter controversies over questions of theology and of Bible interpretation. However, he was candid at times in admitting his failings, and was never ambitious for either worldly or churchly honors. He was a militant champion of orthodoxy, a tireless worker, and a scholar of rare gifts. by James Kiefer Martyr Pamphilius the Presbyter at Caesarea, in Palestine, Commemorated on February 16; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15; Jerome of Stridon was born into a Christian family in the city of Stridon located on the border between Dalmatia and Pannonia. full name is Eusebius Hieronymos Sophronius. His parents sent him to Rome, where he studied the secular sciences. At the beginning of his life in the capital, the youth was captivated by worldly vanities and fell into temptation. At the end of his time in Rome, Jerome resolved to change his life and to live in goodness and purity. the youth was about 20 years old, he accepted holy Baptism. After this he visited in Gaul (France). Then Saint Jerome decided to dedicate himself totally to God, and to become a monk. about the year 372 Saint Jerome returned to his native city, but his parents had already departed this life. On him fell the responsibility of raising his younger sisters and his brother Paulinian. These cares forced him to put aside his plans to enter a monastery, at least for a time. made arrangements for the care of his siblings, he journeyed to the East with several of his friends. 374, he decided to dwell in the desert of Chalcis southeast of Antioch. There he remained for about 5 years, combining work on the Holy Scriptures with austere ascetic deeds. Besides this, Saint Jerome mastered the Hebrew and Chaldean languages. this period he began his correspondence with numerous persons upon a variety of questions. About 120 letters, considered as authentically written by Saint Jerome, have been preserved. the beginning of the 360s there arose a controversy between the proponents of bishops Meletius, Paulinos and Vitalis. The controversy also reached the monastery where Saint Jerome toiled. In consequence, the disputes caused him to leave the monastery and go to Antioch. Here Bishop Paulinos ordained him to the priesthood. Saint Jerome visited Constantinople and conversed with the holy hierarchs Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa the year 381 he set off for Rome. At Rome he continued his studies. The holy Pope Damasus I (366-384), who also devoted much of his time to the study of Holy Scripture, made Jerome his secretary. because the saint denounced the morals of the contemporary Christian society, a whole party of those bearing malice towards the saint came forward to spread slanders about him. a three year stay at Rome, Saint Jerome felt compelled to abandon this city for good. Together with his brother Paulinian and friends, Saint Jerome visited the Holy Land, and also the monks of the Nitria wilderness monastery. the year 386 he settled into a cave at Bethlehem near the cave where Christ was born, and there he began a life of austere asceticism. was the period of blossoming of his creative activity. Attending to the studies of his time, Saint Jerome left to the Church a rich written legacy: collections of dogmatic-polemic works, moral-ascetic works, commentaries on Scripture, and historical works. the most important of his works was a new translation the books of the Old and New Testaments into the Latin language. This Latin translation is called the “Vulgate,” and it passed into general use throughout the Western Church. Jerome lived through the fall of his beloved city Rome, which was sacked by the Goths in the year 410. In the year 411 a new ordeal beset the saint, Bethlehem was invaded by wild Bedouin Arabs. Only through the mercy of God was the community of the aged ascetic saved from complete destruction. He finished his life at the cave in Bethlehem. Saint Jerome is believed to have reposed in 420. relics were transferred from Bethlehem to Rome in 642, but their present location is unknown. His hand is enshrined in a church near Rome’s Piazza Farnese.

Rome, 374-430, Saint Augustine, Hippo, Rome, Milan, western theologian, Mani, Gnostic, reason vs authority, Ambrose
Rome, 374-430, Saint Augustine of Hippo; (Aurelius Augustinus) was one of the greatest theologians of Western Christianity. (In his day the Mediterranean world consisted of an Eastern, Greek-speaking half and a Western, Latin-speaking half, with different ways of looking at things, and different habits of thought.) was born 13 November 354 in North Africa, about 45 miles south of the Mediterranean, in the town of Tagaste in Numidia (now Souk-Ahras in Algeria), near ancient Carthage (modern Tunis). mother, Monnica, was a Christian (see 4 May), and his father for many years a pagan (although he became a Christian before his death). mother undertook to bring him up as a Christian, and on one level he always found something attractive about Christ, but in the short run he was more interested in the attractions of sex, fame, and pride in his own cleverness. a moderate amount of running around as a teen-ager, he took a mistress, who bore him a son when he was about eighteen. Theirs was a long-term relationship, apparently with faithfulness on both sides, and the modern reader is left wondering why he did not simply marry the girl. He never tells us this (and in fact never tells us her name), so that we can only guess. It seems likely that she was a freedwoman, and the laws forbade marriage between a free-born Roman citizen and a slave, or an ex-slave. he was 19 and a student at Carthage, he read a treatise by Cicero that opened his eyes to the delights of philosophy. He was from the beginning a brilliant student, with an eager intellectual curiosity, but he never mastered Greek -- he tells us that his first Greek teacher was a brutal man who constantly beat his students, and Augustine rebelled and vowed never to learn Greek. By the time he realized that he really needed to know Greek, it was too late; and although he acquired a smattering of the language, he was never really at home in it. However, his mastery of Latin was another matter. He became an expert both in the eloquent use of the language and in the use of clever arguments to make his points. became a teacher of rhetoric in Carthage, but was dissatisfied. It was the custom for students to pay their fees to the professor on the last day of the term, and many students attended faithfully all term, and then did not pay. In his late twenties, Augustine decided to leave Africa and seek his fortune in Rome. Augustine teaching in Rome, by Gozzoli Augustine teaching in Rome, by Gozzoli a long time Augustine was attracted by the teachings of Manicheeism, named for Mani, a Persian who had preached kind of synthesis of Christianity with Zoroastrianism, the dominant religion of Persia. Zoroaster had taught the existence of a power of light, God, the supreme Creator, and of a dark and evil power that opposed him. On the Zoroastrian (Parsi) view, the dark power was a rebel against his creator, and doomed to ultimate defeat. Mani, on the other hand, was a thoroughgoing dualist, who taught that there are two gods of equal power and eternity, and that the universe is the scene of an unending battle between light and darkness, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, soul and body, etc. Manichees as they moved west into the Roman Empire adopted many traits of what is generically called Gnosticism. In particular, they advertised themselves as being not an alternative to Christianity but as the advanced version of Christianity, as the faith for the spiritually mature, the intellectually gifted. They claimed that their beliefs were based on reason rather than authority, and that they had answers for everything, at least as soon as the learner was sufficiently advanced to comprehend them. differed from the classical Gnostics by not contrasting spirit with matter. On their view, everything was composed of material particles, but these were either light or dark. Since the mind was composed of light particles, imprisoned in the body, a cage made of dark particles, something like the Gnostic contrast between spirit and matter was there. Members were divided into an inner circle, the "elect," who were expected to be celibate and vegetarian, so as to avoid all those dark particles, and the "learners," of whom considerably less was expected. Augustine signed up as a learner. He was at first completely captivated, but then met with a series of disappointments. The rank and file of the movement did not seem to be very clear thinkers. He met the leaders, who were advertised as the Towering Intellects of the Ages, and was not impressed. prospered in Rome, and was eventually appointed chief professor of rhetoric for the city of Milan, at that time the capital city of the Empire in the West. It should be noted that this was an extremely prestigious appointment. In classical times, when laws were often made and issues voted on by huge public assemblies, when even juries typically had several hundred members, and when a man's public influence, or even on occasion his life, depended on his ability to sway large audiences, rhetoric -- the art of manipulating an audience -- was a skill that few men thought they could afford to neglect. (Socrates was one of the few, and we know what happened to him!) The art, at first intensely practical, had by Augustine's day become a display form admired for its own sake. However, the admiration was there. Every lawyer, arguing a case, was expected to give an eloquent speech, full of classical allusions and standard rhetorical flourishes. And Augustine was at the top of the field. St. Augustine entering Milan, by Gozzoli St. Augustine entering Milan, by Gozzoli Milan Augustine met the bishop Ambrose, and was startled to find in him a reasonableness of mind and belief, a keenness of thought, and an integrity of character far in excess of what he had found elsewhere. For the first time, Augustine saw Christianity as a religion fit for a philosopher. Soon after his arrival in Milan, Augustine was plunged into two crises. First, his mother arrived from Africa, and persuaded him that he ought to give up his mistress and get married. He agreed to a betrothal to a suitable young lady; but his betrothed was too young for immediate marriage, and so the actual wedding was postponed for two years. Meanwhile the mistress had been sent back to Africa. Augustine, not ready for two years of sexual abstinence, lapsed back into promiscuity. The second crisis was that Augustine became a neo-Platonist. Plato, as interpreted by his later spokesmen, in particular by Plotinus, taught that only God is fully real, and that all other things are degenerations in varying degrees from the One--things are progressively less good, less spiritual, and less real as one goes rung by rung down the cosmic ladder. By contemplating spiritual realities, directing one's attention first to one's own mind and then moving up the ladder rung by one to the contemplation of God, one acquires true wisdom, true self-fulfilment, true spirituality, and union with God, or the One. Augustine undertook this approach, and believed that he had in fact had an experience of the presence of God, but found that this only made him more aware of the gulf between what he was and what he realized that he ought to be. he continued to hear Bishop Ambrose. And finally, partly because Ambrose had answers for his questions, partly because he admired Ambrose personally, and chiefly (or so he believed) because God touched his heart, he was converted to Christianity in 386 and was baptised by Ambrose at Easter of 387. About 12 years later he wrote an account of his life up to a time shortly after his conversion, a book called the Confessions, a highly readable work available in English. Ostensibly an autobiography, it is more an outpouring of penitence and thanksgiving. "Take and Read", by Gozzoli "Take and Read", by Gozzoli a well-known chapter, Augustine describes his conversion. His intellectual objections had lost their force, and he was at a point where the difficulty was that he seemed unable to make a commitment to living chastely, or unable to make a commitment, period. He heard of a group of young men, Christians, one of whom decided to become a desert hermit, whereupon the others, one at a time, made the same commitment, encouraged and inspired by the examples of those in the group who had already done so. (In many circles at that time, becoming a desert hermit had the same overtones as joining the Peace Corps did for many young persons in the 1960's, or joining the armed forces for many in the weeks immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor.) Augustine went aside to ponder the question, "How is it that these young men can make so drastic a commitment, and I cannot take even the first step of declaring myself a Christian?" He heard what seemed to be a child's voice coming from next door, saying over and over, "Tolle, lege; tolle, lege," or, "Pick up and read; pick up and read." Since he could not think of any reason why a child would be saying that, he took it as an omen, and picked up a copy of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. As he opened it, his eye fell on the end of the thirteenth chapter: The night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. he read, he experienced this as God speaking directly to him, convicting him of his past sins, and offering him forgiveness; calling him to amend his life, and promising him the grace and power to do it. He burst into tears, and surrendered. Later, he wrote: Late have I loved Thee, O Lord; and behold, Thou wast within and I without, and there I sought Thee. Thou was with me when I was not with Thee. Thou didst call, and cry, and burst my deafness. Thou didst gleam, and glow, and dispell my blindness. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy peace. For Thyself Thou hast made us, and restless our hearts until in Thee they find their ease. Late have I loved Thee, Thou Beauty ever old and ever new. Thou hast burst my bonds asunder; unto Thee will I offer up an offering of praise. written as an account of his life, the Confessions keeps digressing into speculations about the nature of time, the nature of causality, the nature of free will, the motives of human action, etc. Louis deWohl has written a novel about Augustine, based mostly on the Confessions, called The Restless Flame. It is an excellent introduction to the man. his conversion, Augustine went back to his native Africa in 387, where he was ordained a priest in 391 and consecrated bishop of Hippo in 396. It was not his intention to become a priest. He was visiting the town of Hippo (or Hippo Regius, now Annaba, 36:55 N 7:47 E), was in church hearing a sermon, and the bishop, without warning, said, "This congregation is in need of more priests, and I believe that the ordination of Augustine would be to the glory of God." Willing hands dragged Augustine forward, and the bishop together with his council of priests laid hands on Augustine and ordained him to the priesthood. (The experience may have colored Augustine's perception of such questions as, "Does a man come to God because he has chosen to do so, or because God has chosen him, and drawn him to Himself?") A few years later, when the Bishop of Hippo died, Augustine was chosen to succeed him. was a diligent shepherd of his flock, but he also found time to write extensively. He was an admirer of Jerome, and wrote him a letter hoping to establish a friendship, but the letter went astray. (In those days there was no public post office, and if you wanted to send a letter to a friend in Athens, you entrusted it to someone you knew who was travelling to Athens, or at least in that general direction, with instructions to deliver it or pass it on to someone else who would oblige.) Jerome did not get the letter, and the contents became public knowledge before he heard of it. Augustine, in addition to saying how much he admired Jerome, had offered some criticisms of something Jerome had written. Jerome was furious, and came close to writing Augustine off altogether. However, Augustine wrote him a second letter, apologizing and explaining what had happened, and Jerome was mollified. They had a long and intellectually substantial correspondence. written output was vast, and largely responsible for the fact that the entry for him in the index of the Encyc. Brit. is more than a column long. His surviving works (and it is assumed that the majority did not survive) include 113 books and treatises, over 200 letters, and over 500 sermons. His work greatly influenced Luther and Calvin, to the point where for a while Roman Catholic speakers and writers were wary of quoting him lest they be suspected of Protestant tendencies. have already mentioned his Confessions. A second great work of his is the book, De Civitatae Dei (The City of God). This was written after Rome had been sacked by invaders led by Alaric the Visigoth. It is a reply to those who said that the Roman Empire was falling apart because the Christians had taken over; he discusses the work of God in history, and the relation between the Christian as citizen of an earthly commonwealth and the Christian as citizen of Heaven. third great work is his De Trinitate (On the Trinity). Here, he discusses the doctrine of the Trinity by undertaking to compare the mind of man with the mind of God, since man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Augustine begins by pointing out a Trinitarian structure in the act of knowing something. He continues by pointing out a Trinitarian structure in the act of self-awareness. He concludes by pointing out a Trinitarian structure in the act of religious contemplation by which man sees himself as made in the image of God. Roman Saint, 367-420, Jerome ; AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430); JEROME, SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, AND THEOLOGIAN (30 SEP 420); Martyr Pamphilius the Presbyter at Caesarea, in Palestine, Commemorated on February 16; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 374-450, Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine Saint, Arsenius the Great, educated, hide from people, silence, tears
Egypt, 370-445, Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine Saint, Arsenius the Great; Venerable Arsenius the Great, Commemorated on May 8 ; Arsenius the Great was born in the year 354 at Rome into a pious Christian family, which provided him a fine education and upbringing. studied rhetoric and philosophy, and mastered the Latin and Greek languages. Saint Arsenius gave up philosophy and the vanity of worldly life, seeking instead the true wisdom praised by Saint James “pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits” (Jas. 3:17). He entered the ranks of the clergy as a deacon in one of the Roman churches, dedicating himself to the service of God. emperor Theodosius (379-395), who ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire, heard about his erudition and piety, and he wished to entrust Arsenius with the education of his sons Arcadius and Honorius. however, protested that he had given up secular studies in order to serve God. Against his will, but in obedience to the will of Pope Damasus (December 11), Saint Arsenius agreed to teach the imperial children, hoping to teach them Christian piety as well. he arrived at Constantinople, Arsenius was received with great honor by the emperor Theodosius, who charged him to educate his sons not only in wisdom, but also in piety, guarding them from the temptations of youth. “Forget that they are the emperor’s sons,” said Theodosius, “for I want them to submit to you in all things, as to their father and teacher.” fervor the saint devoted himself to the education of the youths, but the high esteem in which he was held troubled his spirit, which yearned for the quietude of monastic life. Saint Arsenius entreated the Lord to show him the way to salvation. The Lord heard his prayer and one time he heard a voice telling him, “Arsenius, flee from men, and you shall be saved.” And then, removing his rich clothing and replacing it with old and tattered garments, he secretly left the palace, boarded a ship for Alexandria, and he made his way to Sketis, a monastery in the midst of the desert. at the church, he asked the priests to accept him into the monastic brotherhood, calling himself a wretched wanderer, though his very manner betrayed him as a cultivated man. The brethren led him to Abba John the Dwarf (November 9), famed for his holiness of life. He, wishing to test the newcomer’s humility, did not seat Arsenius with the monks for the trapeza meal. He threw him a piece of dry bread saying, “Eat if you wish.” Saint Arsenius got down on his hands and knees, and picked up the bread with his mouth. Then he crawled off into a corner and ate it. Seeing this, Elder John said, “He will be a great ascetic!” Then accepting Arsenius with love, he tonsured him into monasticism. Arsenius zealously passed through his obediences and soon he surpassed many of the desert Fathers in asceticism. The saint again heard the Voice while he was praying, “Arsenius, hide from people and dwell in silence, this is the root of virtue.” From that moment Saint Arsenius settled in a solitary cell deep in the desert. taken on the struggle of silence he seldom left his seclusion. He came to church only on Sundays and Feast days, observing complete silence and conversing with no one. When Abba Moses asked him why he hid himself from people, Saint Arsenius replied, “God knows that I love you, but I cannot remain with God and with men at the same time. The Heavenly Powers all have one will and praise God together. On earth, however, there are many human wills, and each man has his own thoughts. I cannot leave God in order to live with people.” absorbed in constant prayer, the saint did not refuse visiting monks with his counsel and guidance, giving short, but perceptive answers to their questions. Once, a monk from Sketis saw the great Elder through a window standing at prayer, surrounded by a flame. handicraft of Saint Arsenius was to weave baskets, for which he used the fronds of date palms soaked in water. For a whole year Saint Arsenius did not change the water in the container, but merely added a little water to it from time to time. This caused his cell to be permeated with a foul stench. When asked why he did this, the saint replied that it was fitting for him to humble himself in this way, because in the world he had used incense and fragrant oils. He prayed that after death he would not experience the stench of hell. fame of the great ascetic spread far, and many wanted to see him, and they disturbed his tranquility. As a result, the saint was forced to move around from place to place. But those thirsting to receive his guidance and blessing still found him. Arsenius taught that many take upon themselves great deeds of repentance, fasting, and vigil, but it is rare for someone to guard his soul from pride, greed, jealousy, hatred of one’s brother, remembrance of wrongs, and judgment. In this they resemble graves which are decorated outwardly, but filled with stinking bones. certain monk once asked Saint Arsenius what he should do when he read the Holy Scriptures and did not comprehend their meaning. The Elder answered, “My child, you must study and learn the Holy Scriptures constantly, even if you do not understand their power... For when we have the words of the Holy Scriptures on our lips, the demons hear them and are terrified. Then they flee from us, unable to bear the words of the Holy Spirit Who speaks through His apostles and prophets.” monks heard how the saint often urged himself on in his efforts with the words, “Rouse yourself, Arsenius, work! Do not remain idle! You have not come here to rest, but to labor.” He also said, “I have often regretted the words I have spoken, but I have never regretted my silence.” great ascetic and keeper of silence was given the gift of tears with which his eyes were constantly filled. He spent fifty-five years at monastic labors and struggles. He spent forty years at Sketis, and ten years on the mountain of Troe near Memphis. Then he spent three years at Canopus, and two more years at Troe, where he fell asleep in the Lord. holy, God-bearing Father Arsenius reposed when he was nearly one hundred years old, in the year 449 or 450. only disciples seem to have been Alexander, Zoilos, and Daniel (June 7).

Rome, 375-392, Emperor, Valentian II, figurehead, 4 year old Agustus, set up by south western generals
Roman Emperor, 375-392, Valentian II ; II (371- 15 May 392) was Roman emperor from AD 375 to 392. 1 Early life and accession (371-375) 2 Reign from Milan (375-“387) 3 Reign from Vienne (388-“392) 4 Significance 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External links life and accession (371-375)[edit] Valentinianus was born to Emperor Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina. He was the half-brother of Valentinian's other son, Gratian, who had shared the imperial title with his father since 367. He had three sisters: Galla, Grata and Justa. The elder Valentinian died on campaign in Pannonia in 375. Neither Gratian (then in Trier) nor his uncle Valens (emperor for the East) were consulted by the army commanders on the scene. Instead of merely acknowledging Gratian as his father's successor, Valentinian I's generals acclaimed the four-year-old Valentinian augustus on 22 November 375. The army, and its Frankish general Merobaudes, may have been uneasy about Gratian's lack of military ability, and so raised a boy who would not immediately aspire to military command.[2][3] from Milan (375-“387)[edit] of Valentinian II forced to accommodate the generals who supported his half-brother, governed the trans-alpine provinces (including Gaul, Hispania, and Britain), while Italy, part of Illyricum, and North Africa were under the rule of Valentinian. 378, their uncle, the Emperor Valens, was killed in battle with the Goths at Adrianople, and Gratian invited the general Theodosius to be emperor in the East. a child, Valentinian II was under the influence of his Arian mother, the Empress Justina, and the imperial court at Milan, an influence contested by the Nicene bishop of Milan, Ambrose.[4] used her influence over her young son to oppose the Nicean party which was championed by Ambrose. 385 Ambrose refused an imperial request to hand over the Portian basilica for the celebration of Easter by the Imperial court.[5] When he was summoned to be punished to the Imperial palace, the orthodox populace rioted, and Justina's Gothic troops were prevented by the arch-bishop himself, standing in the doorway, from entering the Basilica. Justina was forced to back down.[6] Afterwards, Justina ordered legislation to rescind the penalties enacted by Gratian and Valentinian against heresy, proclaiming universal toleration.[7] Ambrose was found, as no doubt she had intended, to have determinedly infracted the new laws, Justina again tried to have him banished, and Ambrose was forced to barricade himself, with the enthusiastic backing of the people, within the walls of the Basilica. The Imperial troops besieged him, but Ambrose held on, reinforcing the resolution of his followers by allegedly unearthing, beneath the foundations of the church, the bodies of two ancient martyrs.[8] the orthodox emperor of the east, interceded, forcing Justina to again relent.[9] Magnus Maximus was to use the emperor's heterodoxy against him. also tried to restrain the despoiling of pagan temples in Rome. Buoyed by this instruction, the pagan senators, led by Aurelius Symmachus, the Prefect of Rome, petitioned in 384 for the restoration of the Altar of Victory in the Senate House, which had been removed by Gratian in 382. Valentinian, at the insistence of Ambrose, refused the request and, in so doing, rejected the traditions and rituals of pagan Rome to which Symmachus had appealed. 383, Magnus Maximus, commander of the armies in Britain, declared himself Emperor and established himself in Gaul and Hispania. Gratian died while fleeing him. For a time the court of Valentinian, through the mediation of Ambrose, came to an accommodation with the usurper, and Theodosius recognized Maximus as co-emperor of the West. In 386 or 387, Maximus crossed the Alps into the Po valley and threatened Milan. Valentinian II and Justina fled to Theodosius in Thessalonica. The latter came to an agreement, cemented by his marriage to Valentinian's sister Galla, to restore the young emperor in the West.[4] In 388, Theodosius marched west and defeated Maximus. Although he was to appoint both of his sons emperor (Arcadius in 383, Honorius in 393), Theodosius remained loyal to the dynasty of Valentinian I. from Vienne (388-“392)[edit] solidus minted by Valentinian II. On the reverse, both Valentinian and Theodosius I are celebrated as victorious. the defeat of Maximus, Theodosius remained in Milan until 391. Valentinian took no part in Theodosius's triumphal celebrations over Maximus. Valentinian and his court were installed at Vienne in Gaul, while Theodosius appointed key administrators in the West and had coins minted, which implied his guardianship over the 17-year-old.[10] had already died, and Vienne was far away from the influence of Ambrose. Theodosius's trusted general, the Frank Arbogast, was appointed magister militum for the Western provinces (bar Africa) and guardian of Valentinian. Acting in the name of Valentinian, Arbogast was actually subordinate only to Theodosius.[11] While the general campaigned successfully on the Rhine, the young emperor remained at Vienne, in contrast to his warrior father and his older brother, who had campaigned at his age. Arbogast's domination over the emperor was considerable, and the general even murdered Harmonius, a friend of Valentinian suspected of taking bribes, in the emperor's presence.[12] crisis reached a peak when Arbogast prohibited the emperor from leading the Gallic armies into Italy to oppose a barbarian threat. Valentinian, in response, formally dismissed Arbogast. The latter ignored the order, publicly tearing it up and arguing that Valentinian had not appointed him in the first place. The reality of where the power lay was openly displayed. Valentinian wrote to Theodosius and Ambrose complaining of his subordination to his general. In explicit rejection of his earlier Arianism, he invited Ambrose to come to Vienne to baptize him. 15 May 392, Valentinian was found hanged in his residence in Vienne. Arbogast maintained that the emperor's death was suicide. Most sources agree, however, that Arbogast murdered him with his own hands, or paid the Praetorians. Zosimus writing in the early sixth century from Constantinople, states that Arbogast had Valentinian murdered;[13] ancient authorities being divided in their opinion.[14][page needed] Ambrose's eulogy is the only contemporary Western source for Valentinian's death.[15] It is ambiguous on the question of the emperor's death, which is not surprising, as Ambrose represents him as a model of Christian virtue. Suicide, not murder, would make the bishop dissemble on this key question.[16] young man's body was conveyed in ceremony to Milan for burial by Ambrose, mourned by his sisters Justa and Grata. He was laid in a porphyry sarcophagus next to his brother Gratian, most probably in the Chapel of Sant'Aquilino attached to San Lorenzo.[a] He was deified with the consecratio: Divae Memoriae Valentinianus, lit. 'the Divine Memory of Valentinian'.[18] first Arbogast recognized Theodosius's son Arcadius as emperor in the West, seemingly surprised by his charge's death.[19] After three months, during which he had no communication from Theodosius, Arbogast selected an imperial official, Eugenius, as emperor. Theodosius initially tolerated this regime but, in January 393, elevated the eight-year-old Honorius as augustus to succeed Valentinian II. Civil war ensued and, in 394, Theodosius defeated Eugenius and Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus River. himself seems to have exercised no real authority, and was a figurehead for various powerful interests: his mother, his co-emperors, and powerful generals. the Crisis of the Third Century the empire had been ruled by powerful generals, a situation formalised by Diocletian and his collegiate system which collapsed a year after his abdication in 305. Constantine I and his sons, strong military figures, re-established the practice of hereditary succession adopted by Valentinian I.[contradictory] The obvious flaw in these two competing requirements came in the reign of Valentinian II, a child.[20] His reign was a harbinger of the fifth century, when children or nonentities, reigning as emperors, were controlled by powerful generals and officials in the West and in the East until mid-century. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated on January 23; Martyr Bathusius in the Crimea, Commemorated on March 26; MONNICA, MOTHER OF AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (4 MAY 387); St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 375-383, Emperor, Gratian in the North West, moved seat from Trier to Milan, Orthodox
Roman Emperor, 375-383, Gratian in the West ; Gratian (18 April 359 - 25 August 383) was Roman emperor from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and was raised to the rank of augustus in 367. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian took over government of the west while his half-brother Valentinian II was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia. Gratian governed the western provinces of the empire, while his uncle Valens was already the emperor over the east. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, attacked the Lentienses, and forced the tribe to surrender. That same year, the eastern emperor Valens was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople, which led to Gratian elevating Theodosius to replace him in 379. Gratian favoured Nicene Christianity over traditional Roman religion, issuing the Edict of Thessalonica, refusing the office of pontifex maximus, and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate's Curia Julia. The city of Cularo on the Isure river in Roman Gaul was renamed after him, becoming Grenoble from Latin: Gratianopolis. In 383, faced with rebellion by the usurper Magnus Maximus, Gratian marched his army towards Lutetia (Paris). His army deserted him, he fled to Lyons, and was later murdered. Contents 1 Early life 2 Reign 2.1 Junior augustus 2.2 Senior augustus 3 Death and burial 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Sources 8 External links Early life[edit] According to the Chronicle of Jerome and the Chronicon Paschale, Valentinian's eldest son Gratian was born on 18 April 359 at Sirmium, now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia, the capital of Pannonia Secunda, to Valentinian's first wife Marina Severa.[2][3][4][5] Gratian was his parents' only son together.[4][5] At the time of his birth Gratian's father was living in exile.[6] Gratian was named after his grandfather Gratian the Elder, who was a tribune and later comes of Britannia for Constantine the Great (r. 306-“337).[7] Following the death of the emperor Jovian (r. 363-“364), on 26 February 364, Valentinian was proclaimed augustus (emperor).[8] Within a month, motivated by senior officers, he proclaimed his brother Valens, Gratian's uncle, augustus of the Eastern empire.[8] Gratian was appointed consul in 366 and was entitled nobilissimus puer by his father.[a][2][9] Gratian was seven when entitled nobilissimus puer, which indicated he was to be proclaimed augustus.[9] Gratian's tutor was the rhetor Ausonius, who mentioned the relationship in his epigrams and a poem.[2] Reign[edit] In summer 367, Valentinian became ill at Civitas Ambianensium (Amiens), raising questions about his succession. On recovery, he presented his then eight-year-old son to his troops on 27 August, as his co-augustus (r. 367 to “383), passing over the customary initial step of caesar.[3][2][10][11] Solidus of Valentinian I showing Valentinian and Gratian on the reverse, marked: victores augusti ("the Victors Augusti"). A palm bough is between them and Victory crowns each with a wreath Junior augustus[edit] On 24 August 367[contradictory] Gratian received from his father Valentinian the title of augustus.[9] Valentinian, concerned with Gratian's age and inexperience, stated his son would assist commanders with upcoming campaigns.[12] The magister peditum Merobaudes, together with the comes rei militaris Sebastianus, was sent by Valentinian to campaign against the Quadi.[13] Around 370, Gratian's mother Marina Severa died and was interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles.[10] Valentinian married again, wedding Justina.[10] On the 9 April 370, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana and the Chronicon Paschale, the Church of the Holy Apostles adjoining the Mausoleum of Constantine in Constantinople was inaugurated.[14] In autumn 371, Gratian's half brother, called Valentinian, was born to Justina, possibly at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).[15][16] Gratian, who was then 15, was married in 374 to Constantius II's 13 year-old posthumous daughter Flavia Maxima Constantia at Trier.[2][3][17][18][19] This marriage consolidated the dynastic link to Constantinian dynasty, as had his Valentinian I's second marriage to Justina, with her family connections.[20] When a party of Alamanni visited Valentinian's headquarters to receive the customary gifts towards the end of 364, Ursatius, the magister officiorum made them an offering they considered inferior to that of his predecessor. Angered by Ursatius' attitude, they vowed revenge and crossed over the Rhine into Roman Germania and Gaul in January 365, overwhelming the Roman defences.[21][22] Although at first unsuccessful, eventually Jovinus, the magister equitum in Gaul inflicted heavy losses on the enemy at Scarpona (Dieulouard) and at Catalauni (ChÃ¢lons-sur-Marne), forcing them to retire.[22] An opportunity to further weaken the Alamanni occurred in the summer of 368, when king Vithicabius was murdered in a coup, and Valentinian and his son Gratian crossed the river Moenus (the Main) laying waste to Alamannic territories.[3][23] Gratian was awarded the victory titles of Germanicus Maximus and Alamannicus Maximus, and Francicus Maximus and Gothicus Maximus in 369.[3] Valentinian fortified the frontier from Raetia in the east to the Belgic channel, but the construction was attacked by Alamanni at Mount Pirus (the Spitzberg, Rottenburg am Neckar). In 369 (or 370) Valentinian then sought to enlist the help of the Burgundians, who were involved in a dispute with the Alamanni, but a communication failure led to them returning to their lands without joining forces with the Romans.[21] It was then that the magister equitum, Theodosius the Elder and his son Theodosius (the Theodosi) attacked the Alamanni through Raetia, taking many prisoners and resettling them in the Po Valley in Italy.[24][21][10] Valentinian made one attempt to capture Macrianus in 372, but eventually made peace with him in 374.[21] The necessity to make peace was the increasing threat from other peoples, the Quadi and the Sarmatians. Valentinian's decision to establish garrisons across the Danube had angered them, and the situation escalated after the Quadi king, Gabinus, was killed during negotiations with the Romans in 374. Consequently, in the autumn, the Quadi crossed the Danube plundering Pannonia and the provinces to the south.[10] The situation deteriorated further once the Sarmatians made common cause inflicting heavy losses on the Pannonica and Moesiaca legions.[10] However on encountering Theodosius' forces on the borders of Moesia in the eastern Balkans, which had previously defeated one of their armies in 373,[24] they sued for peace. Valentinian mounted a further offensive against the Quadi in August 375, this time using a pincer movement, one force attacking from the northwest, while Valentinian himself headed to Aquincum (Budapest), crossed the Danube and attacked from the southeast. This campaign resulted in heavy losses to the enemy, following which he returned to Aquincum and from there to Brigetio (Szany, Hungary) where he died suddenly in November.[25] When his father died on 17 November 375, Gratian inherited the administration of the western empire.[26] Days later, Gratian's half-brother Valentinian was acclaimed augustus by troops in Pannonia.[27] Despite Valentinian being given nominal authority over the praetorian prefectures of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, Gratian ruled the western Roman empire himself.[28] Following his death, Valentinian's body was prepared for burial and started its journey to Constantinople, where it arrived the following year,[20] on 28 December 376, but was not yet buried.[10] He was deified, as was the custom, becoming known in Latin: Divus Valentinianus Senior, lit. 'the Divine Valentinian the Elder'.[10][26] Detail of drawing of obverse of medal of Valens showing the three reigning emperors: Valens (C), Gratian (R), and Valentinian II (L) and marked: pietas d augustorum[b] Location of the battle of Argentovaria in 378. With the death of Valentinian I, in the east Valens became the senior augustus[10] and the 16 year old Gratian was the only augustus in the western empire. To complicate matters further for Gratian, certain among Valentinian's generals then promoted his four-year-old second son Valentinian II (Gratian's half brother), the army on the Danube acclaiming him augustus in a palatine coup[26] at Aquincum (Budapest) on 22 November 375, despite Gratian's existing prerogatives.[2][16] The young Valentinian II was essentially the subject of the influence of his courtiers and mother, the Arian Christian Justina.[16] Gratian's tutor, Ausonius, became his quaestor, and together with the magister militum, Merobaudes, the power behind the throne.[26] Negotiations eventually left Gratian as the senior western emperor.[26] Valens and Valentinian II were consuls for the year 376, Valens's fifth consulship.[14] Neither Gratian or Valentinian travelled much, which was thought to be due to not wanting the populace to realise how young they were. Gratian is said to have visited Rome in 376, possibly to celebrate his decennalia on 24 August,[3] but whether the visit actually took place is disputed.[26] Under the tutorage of Ausonius, Gratian issued an edict of tolerance at Sirmium in 378.[29] The edict restored bishops exiled by Valens and ensured religious freedoms to all religions.[29] Gratian's uncle Valens, returning from a campaign against the Sasanian Empire, had sent a request to Gratian for reinforcements against the Goths.[30] According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Valens also requested that Sebastianus be sent to him for the war, though according to Zosimus Sebastianus went to Constantinople of his own accord as a result of intrigues by eunuchs at the western court.[13] Once Gratian had put down the invasions in the west in early 378, he notified Valens that he was returning to Thrace to assist him in his struggle against the Goths. Late in July, Valens was informed that the Goths were advancing on Adrianople (Edirne) and Nice, and started to move his forces into the area. However, Gratian's arrival was delayed by an encounter with Alans at Castra Martis, in Dacia in the western Balkans. Advised of the wisdom of awaiting the western army, Valens decided to ignore this advice because he was sure of victory and unwilling to share the glory.[31][2] The forces Gratian sent never reached Valens due to its commander feigning illness.[32] Weeks later, Gratian had arrived in Castra Martis with a few thousand men, by which time Valens was at Adrianople (Latin: Hadrianopolis; Turkish: Edirne).[33] Aware that Gratian's forces were not going to arrive, Valens attacked the Gothic army and as a result thousands[c] of Romans died in the Battle of Adrianople along with Sebastianus and the emperor himself.[32][34][13] After his death, Valens was deified by consecratio as Latin: Divus Valens, lit. 'the Divine Valens'.[14] Marble portrait head of Gratian (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier) Solidus of Theodosius I showing Theodosius and Gratian on the reverse, marked: victoria augg ("the Victory of the Augusti") Senior augustus[edit] Following the battle of Adrianople, the Goths raided from Thrace in 378 to Illyricum the following year.[36][37] Convinced that one emperor alone was incapable of repelling the inundation of foes on several different fronts, Gratian, now senior augustus following Valens's death,[38] appointed Theodosius I augustus on 19 January 379 to govern the east.[39][40] Theodosius the Elder, who had died in 375, was then deified as: Divus Theodosius Pater, lit. 'the Divine Father Theodosius'.[24] On 3 August that year, Gratian issued an edict against heresy.[3] In 380, Gratian was made consul for the fifth time and Theodosius for the first. In September the augusti Gratian and Theodosius met, returning the Roman diocese of Dacia to Gratian's control and that of Macedonia to Valentinian II.[3][24] The same year, Gratian won a victory, possibly over the Alamanni, that was announced officially at Constantinople.[3] In the autumn of 378 Gratian issued an edict of religious toleration.[3] By 380, the Greuthungi tribe of Goths moved into Pannonia, only to be defeated by Gratian.[36] Consequently, the Vandals and Alemanni were threatening to cross the Rhine, now that Gratian had departed from the region.[41] With the collapse of the Danube frontier[d] under the incursions of the Huns and Goths, Gratian moved his seat from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) to Mediolanum (Milan) in 381,[42] and was increasingly aligned with the city's bishop, Ambrose (374 to 397), and the Roman Senate, shifting the balance of power within the factions of the western empire.[2][20][43] Under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of Mediolanum (Milan), took active steps against pagan worship.[44] On 27 February 380, Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica.[45] This edict made Nicene Christianity the only legal form of Christianity and outlawed all other forms of religion.[45] This brought to an end a period of widespread religious tolerance that had existed since the death of Julian.[46] Gratian was then forthright in his promotion of Nicene Christianity. He ordered the removal of the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate's Curia Julia in the winter of 383/383.[3][2] State endowments for pagan cults were cancelled.[2] According to the late 5th/early 6th-century Greek historian Zosimus, Gratian refused the robe of office of the pontifex maximus, though this story is not creditable, because no such garment was associated with the priesthood.[2] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Gratian's father's remains were eventually interred in the Mausoleum of Constantine, to which the Church of the Holy Apostles was attached, on 21 February 382, beside those of his first wife and the mother of Gratian, Marina Severa.[10] In 382, Gratian issued edicts that removed the statue of the winged goddess Victory from the Senate floor,[47] removed the privileges of Vestal Virgins,[48] and confiscated money designated for sacrifices and ceremonies.[49] Gratian declared that all of the pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the treasury.[50] This resulted in protests from the Roman Senate led by Symmachus, which in turn was counter-protested by Christian senators led by Pope Damasus.[51] Sometime in 383, Gratian's wife Constantia died.[3] Gratian remarried, wedding Laeta, whose father was a consularis of Roman Syria.[2] Gratian wife Constantia died in early 383.[18][19] He subsequently married Laeta.[52] Both marriages remained childless.[53] In the summer of 383 Gratian was again at war with the Alamanni in Raetia.[3] Gratian alienated the army by his favouritism towards his Alan deserters whom he made his body-guard and to whom he gave military commands. This favouritism of former enemies and the paganism of the Alans angered his Christian army. By 383 the Roman general Magnus Maximus had raised the standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army.[54] when a rebellion broke out in Britain under Magnus Maximus (r. 383 to “388), the commander of the Roman troops there. Magnus Maximus, who had served under the comes Theodosius and had won a victory over the Picts in 382, was proclaimed augustus and crossed the channel, encamping near Paris. There, his forces encountered Gratian, but much of the latter's army defected to this usurper, forcing Gratian to flee.[55][3][56][54][57] Reverse of a solidus of Gratian marked: victoria augustorum ("the Victory of the augusti") Death and burial[edit] He was pursued by Andragathius, Maximus' magister equitum and killed at Lugdunum (Lyon) on 25 August 383, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana.[55][3][56][54][57] Maximus then established his court at the former imperial residence in Trier.[58] On the death of Gratian in 383, the 12 year old Valentinian II (r. 375 to “392) became the sole legitimate augustus in the west. The body of Constantia, Gratian's first wife, who had died earlier that year, arrived in Constantinople on 12 September 383 and was buried in the complex of the Church of the Holy Apostles (Apostoleion) on 1 December, the resting place of a number of members of the imperial family, starting with Constantine in 337, under the direction of Theodosius, who had embarked on making the site a dynastic symbol. This was the last occasion that a member of the western imperial family was buried in the east, as a new mausoleum being built at St Peter's Basilica in Rome.[20][3] According to Augustine of Hippo's The City of God and Theodoret's Historia Ecclesiastica, Gratian and Constantia had had a son, who died in infancy before 383 but had been born before 379.[3] It would not be until 387, possibly even after the death of Magnus Maximus, that Gratian's remains were interred at Mediolanum in the imperial mausoleum.[59] Gratian was deified as Latin: Divus Gratianus, lit. 'the Divine Gratian'.[3][60] AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; NINIAN OF GALLOWAY, BISHOP, MISSIONARY TO SCOTLAND (16 SEP 430) ; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated on January 23; Martyr Bathusius in the Crimea, Commemorated on March 26; St Monica, Commemorated on May 4 ; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 375-392, Emperor, Theodosius I of the East, son of Elder, Orthodox, accelerated c, persecuted p
Roman Emperor, 375-392, Theodosius I of the East ; I (11 January 347-“ 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395, during Late Antiquity. reign accelerated the Christianization of the Roman Empire, achieved military successes when the frontiers of the empire were threatened by the wars of the Migration Period, and defeated two rival emperors in successive civil wars. He was the first emperor of the Theodosian dynasty (r. 379--“457), and married into the ruling Valentinianic dynasty (r. 364-“455). His decrees made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire and punished Roman paganism, Hellenistic religion, and Arianism. his capital Constantinople he commissioned the honorific Column of Theodosius, the Theodosian Walls, and the Golden Gate, among the greatest works of ancient Roman architecture. a military career and a governorship under his father Theodosius the Elder he became magister equitum and was then elevated to the imperial rank of augustus by the emperor Gratian (r. 367-“383). He replaced the latter's uncle and senior augustus Valens (r. 364-“378), who had been killed in the Battle of Adrianople. Theodosius married Gratian's half-sister Galla, daughter of Valentinian the Great (r. 364-“375), and defeated the rebellion of Magnus Maximus (r. 383-“388) on behalf of his new brother-in-law, Valentinian II (r. 375-“392). When Valentinian II died, Theodosius became the senior emperor, having already made his eldest son Arcadius his co-augustus. Theodosius then defeated the usurper Eugenius (r. 392-“394). accepting his elevation, he campaigned against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the Empire. His resources were not sufficient to destroy them or drive them out, which had been Roman policy for centuries in dealing with invaders. By treaty, which followed his indecisive victory at the end of the Gothic War, they were established as foederati, autonomous allies of the Empire, south of the Danube, in Illyricum, within the Empire's borders. They were given lands and allowed to remain under their own leaders, not assimilated as had been normal Roman practice. issued decrees that effectively made Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, including the Edict of Thessalonica.[4][5] neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of classical antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and the Serapeum in Alexandria. He dissolved the order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome's Temple of Vesta. In 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympic Games. his death, Theodosius's young and incapable sons were the two augusti. Arcadius (r. 383-“408) inherited the eastern empire and ruled from Constantinople and Honorius (r. 393-“423) the western empire, an administrative division that endured until the fall of the western Roman empire in the late 5th century. fought two destructive civil wars, successively defeating the usurpers Magnus Maximus in 387-“388 and Eugenius in 394, at great cost to the power of the Empire. His management of the empire was marked by heavy tax exactions, by the compulsory establishment of Christianity, and by a court in which according to Peter Brown "everything was for sale".[6] is considered a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches, and his feast day is on January 17.[7] 1 Early life 2 Military career 3 Accession 4 Reign 4.1 Early reign: 379â€“383 4.1.1 Temporary settlement of the Gothic Wars 4.2 First civil war: 383â€“384 4.3 Middle reign: 384â€“387 4.4 Second civil war: 387â€“388 4.5 Religious affairs: 388â€“391 4.6 Third civil war: 392â€“394 5 Death 6 Art patronage 7 Religious policy 7.1 Arianism 7.2 Definition of orthodoxy 7.3 Proscription of pagan religion 8 See also 9 References 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External links life[edit] to Polemius Silvius, Theodosius the Great was born on 11 January 347 or 346.[8] The epitome de Caesaribus places his birthplace at Cauca (Coca, Segovia) in Hispania.[8] According to the traditional texts of the chronicle of Hydatius and Zosimus, he was born at "Cauca in Gallaecia".[9][10][11] These texts are probably corrupted with interpolations, as Cauca was in fact not part of the province of Gallaecia, while according to Themistius, Claudius Claudianus, and Marcellinus Comes, he was born at Italica in Hispania Baetica.[11] These claims were probably fictitious and intended to connect Theodosius with the lineage of his distant predecessor Trajan (r. 98-“117), who had came from Italica.[8] Thedosius's father was Theodosius the Elder and his mother was Thermantia.[8] Theodosius had a brother named Honorius, a sister referred to in Aurelius Victor's De caesaribus but whose name is unknown, and a niece, Serena.[8] career[edit] accompanied his father, the comes rei militaris, on his 368-“369 campaign against the Franks, Scots, and Saxons to restore order and the rule of the emperors Valentinian I (r. 364-“375) and Valens (r. 364-“378) in Roman Britain, which had been threatened in 367 by the Great Conspiracy.[12][13][8] They also defeated the usurpation in Britain by Valentinus.[13] Previous to this in 366, Theodosius the Elder attacked and defeated the Alamanni in Roman Gaul; the defeated prisoners had been resettled in the Po Valley.[14][15] the Elder was made magister equitum in 369, and retained the post until 375.[8] Theodosius and his father son campaigned against the Alamanni 370.[8] The two Theodosi campaigned against Sarmatians in 372/373.[8] The emperors' rule in Roman Africa was disrupted by the revolt of Firmus in 373.[16] Theodosius the Elder moved to defeat the usurpation.[16] In about 373, Theodosius was made dux of the province of Moesia Prima.[17] In 374, the Quadi and their allies the Sarmatians overran the province of Valeria in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.[18] Theodosius drove the Sarmatians out of the Roman territory and then defeated the Quadi.[19][20] He is reported to have defended his province with marked ability and success.[19] the Elder fell from power in 375, and Theodosius the dux of Moesia Prima retired to his estates in the Iberian Peninsula, where he married Aelia Flaccilla in 376.[8] Their first child, Arcadius, was born around 377.[8] Pulcheria, their daughter, was born in 377 or 378.[8] Theodosius had returned to the Danube frontier by 378, when he was appointed magister equitum.[8] the death of his uncle Valens (r. 364-“378), Gratian, now the senior augustus, sought a candidate to nominate as Valens's successor. On 19 January 379, Theodosius I was made augustus over the eastern provinces at Sirmium.[8][21] His wife, Aelia Flaccilla, was accordingly raised to augusta.[8] The new augustus's territory spanned the Roman praetorian prefecture of the East, including the Roman diocese of Thrace, and the additional dioceses of Dacia and of Macedonia. Theodosius the Elder, who had died in 375, was then deified as: Divus Theodosius Pater, lit. 'the Divine Father Theodosius'.[8] administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 395, under Theodosius I. of Valentinian II showing Valentinian and Theodosius I on the reverse, each holding a mappa reign: 379-“383[edit] October 379 the Council of Antioch was convened.[8] On 27 February 380 Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.[8] In 380, Theodosius was made Roman consul for the first time and Gratian for the fifth; in September the augusti Gratian and Theodosius met, returning the Roman diocese of Dacia to Gratian's control and that of Macedonia to Valentinian II.[21][8] In autumn Theodosius fell ill, and was baptized.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius arrived at Constantinople and staged an adventus, a ritual entry to the capital, on 24 November 380.[8] issued a decree against Christians deemed heretics on 10 January 381.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, on the 11 January, Athanaric, king of the Gothic Thervingi arrived in Constantinople; he died and was buried in Constantinople on 25 January.[8] 8 May 381, Theodosius issued an edict against Manichaeism.[8] In mid-May, Theodosius convened the First Council of Constantinople, the second ecumenical council after Constantine's First Council of Nicaea in 325; the Constantinopolitan council ended on 9 July.[8] According to Zosimus, Theodosius won a victory over the Carpi and the Scirii in summer 381.[8] On 21 December, Theodosius decreed the prohibition of sacrifices with the intent of divining the future.[8] 21 February 382, the body of Theodosius's father in law Valentinian the Great was finally laid to rest in the Church of the Holy Apostles.[8] Another Council of Constantinople was held in summer 382.[8] to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, a treaty of foedus was reached with the Goths, and they were settled between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains.[8] settlement of the Gothic Wars[edit] Goths and their allies (Vandals, Taifals, Bastarnae and the native Carpians) entrenched in the provinces of Dacia and eastern Pannonia Inferior consumed Theodosius's attention. Gothic crisis was so dire that his co-Emperor Gratian relinquished control of the Illyrian provinces and retired to Trier in Gaul to let Theodosius operate without hindrance. major weakness in the Roman position after the defeat at Adrianople was the recruiting of barbarians to fight against other barbarians. In order to reconstruct the Roman Army of the East, Theodosius needed to find able bodied soldiers and so he turned to the most capable men readily at hand: the barbarians recently settled in the Empire. This caused many difficulties in the battle against barbarians since the newly recruited fighters had little or no loyalty to Theodosius. It did not help that Theodosius himself was dangerously ill during many months after his elevation, being confined to his bed in Thessalonica during much of 379.[22] suppressed the incursions into dioceses of Illyria (Pannonia and Dalmatia) by Alathaeus and Saphrax in 380.[23] He succeeded in convincing both to agree to a treaty and be settled in Pannonia.[24] was able finally to enter Constantinople in November 380, after two seasons in the field, having ultimately prevailed by offering highly favorable terms to the Gothic chiefs.[23] His task was rendered much easier when Athanaric, an aged and cautious leader, accepted Theodosius's invitation to a conference in the capital, Constantinople, and the splendor of the imperial city reportedly awed him and his fellow-chiefs into accepting Theodosius' offers.[25] himself died soon after, but his followers were impressed by the honorable funeral arranged for him by Theodosius, and agreed to defending the border of the empire.[25] The final treaties with the remaining Gothic forces, signed 3 October 382, permitted large contingents of barbarians, primarily Thervingian Goths, to settle in Thrace south of the Danube frontier.[26] The Goths now settled within the Empire would largely fight for the Romans as a national contingent, as opposed to being fully integrated into the Roman forces.[26] provinces along the Ister (Danube), showing the Roman dioceses of Thrace, Dacia, Pannonia and Italia Annonaria on the empire's northern frontier civil war: 383-“384[edit] of Theodosius, showing both he and his co-augustus Valentinian II (r. 375-“392) enthroned on the reverse, each crowned by Victory and together holding an orb victoria augg ("the Victory of the Augusti") to the Chronicon Paschale, Theodosius celebrated his quinquennalia on 19 January 383 at Constantinople; on this occasion he raised his eldest son Arcadius to co-augustus.[8] Early 383 saw the acclamation of Magnus Maximus as augustus in Britain and the appointment of Themistius as praefectus urbi in Constantinople.[8] On 25 July, Theodosius issued a new edict against gatherings of Christians deemed heretics.[8] unable to do much about Maximus due to his still inadequate military capability, opened negotiations with the Persian emperor Shapur III (r. 383-“388) of the Sasanian Empire.[27] In an attempt to curb Maximus's ambitions, Theodosius appointed Flavius Neoterius as praetorian prefect of Italy.[28] in 383, Gratian's wife Constantia died.[21] Gratian remarried, wedding Laeta, whose father was a consularis of Roman Syria.[29] On the 25 August 383, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Gratian was killed at Lugdunum (Lyon) by Andragathius, the magister equitum of the rebel augustus during the rebellion of Magnus Maximus .[21] Constantia's body arrived in Constantinople on 12 September that year and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 1 December.[21] Gratian was deified as Latin: Divus Gratianus, lit. 'the Divine Gratian'.[21] 21 January 384 all those deemed heretics were expelled from Constantinople.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius received in Constantinople an embassy from the Sasanian Empire in 384.[8] In summer 384, Theodosius met his co-augustus Valentinian II in northern Italy.[30][8] Theodosius brokered a peace agreement between Valentinian and Magnus Maximus which endured for several years.[31] of Theodosius, found in 1847 in Almendralejo, Spain reign: 384-“387[edit] second son Honorius was born on 9 December 384 and titled nobilissimus puer (or nobilissimus iuvenis).[8] The death of Aelia Flaccilla, Theodosius's first wife and the mother of Arcadius, Honorius, and Pulcheria, occurred by 386.[8] She died at Scotumis in Thrace and was buried at Constantinople, her funeral oration delivered by Gregory of Nyssa.[8][32] A statue of her was dedicated in the Byzantine Senate.[32] In 384 or 385, Theodosius's niece Serena was married to the magister militum, Stilicho.[8] On 25 May 385, Theodosius repeated the ban on sacrifices that were done in order to predict the future.[8] the beginning of 386, Theodosius's daughter Pulcheria also died.[8] That summer more Goths were defeated, and many were settled in Phrygia.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, a Roman triumph over the Gothic Greuthungi was then celebrated at Constantinople.[8] The same year, work began on the great triumphal column in the Forum of Theodosius in Constantinople, the Column of Theodosius.[8] On 19 January 387, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Arcadius celebrated his quinquennalia in Constantinople.[8] By the end of the month, there was an uprising or riot in Antioch (Antakya).[8] With a peace agreement with Persia in the Roman-“Persian Wars came a division of Armenia.[8] civil war: 387-“388[edit] peace with Magnus Maximus was broken in 387, and Valentinian escaped the west with Justina, reaching Thessalonica (Thessaloniki) in summer or autumn 387 and appealing to Theodosius for aid; Valentinian II's sister Galla was then married to the eastern augustus at Thessalonica in late autumn.[30][8] Theodosius may still have been in Thessalonica when he celebrated his decennalia on 19 January 388.[8] Theodosius was consul for the second time in 388.[8] Galla and Theodosius's first child, a son named Gratian, was born in 388 or 389.[8] 10 March 388, Christians deemed heretics were forbidden from residing in cities.[8] On 14 March, Theodosius banned the intermarriage of Jews and Christians.[8] In summer 388, Theodosius recovered Italy from Magnus Maximus for Valentinian, and in June, the meeting of Christians deemed heretics was banned by Valentinian.[30][8] armies of Theodosius and Maximus fought at the Battle of Poetovio in 388, which saw Maximus defeated. On 28 August 388 Maximus was executed.[33] Now the de facto ruler of the Western empire as well, Theodosius celebrated his victory in Rome on June 13, 389 and stayed in Milan until 391, installing his own loyalists in senior positions including the new magister militum of the West, the Frankish general Arbogast.[33] July, Magnus Maximus was defeated by Theodosius at the Battle of Save; on 28 August, Magnus Maximus was executed by Theodosius.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Arbogast killed Flavius Victor (r. 384-“388), Magnus Maximus's young son and co-augustus, in Gaul in August/September that year. Damnatio memoriae was pronounced against them, and inscriptions naming them were erased.[8] affairs: 388-“391[edit] Ambrose barring Theodosius from Milan Cathedral, Anthony van Dyck, c. 1620 came into conflict with Ambrose, bishop of Mediolanum (Milan), in October 388 over the persecution of Jews at Callincium-on-the-Euphrates (Raqqa).[8] As mentioned in the Panegyrici Latini and in a panegyric of Claudian's on the sixth consulship of Honorius, Theodosius then received another embassy from the Persians in 389.[8] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius staged an adventus on entering Rome on 13 June 389.[8] On 17 June, he issued a decree against Manichaeism.[8] Theodosiushad left Valentinian under the protection of the magister militum Arbogast, who then defeated the Franks in 389.[31][30] 390 the population of Thessalonica rioted in complaint against the presence of the local Gothic garrison. The garrison commander was killed in the violence, so Theodosius ordered the Goths to kill all the spectators in the circus as retaliation, an event known as the Massacre of Thessalonica; Theodoret, a contemporary witness to these events, reports: the anger of the Emperor rose to the highest pitch, and he gratified his vindictive desire for vengeance by unsheathing the sword most unjustly and tyrannically against all, slaying the innocent and guilty alike. It is said seven thousand perished without any forms of law, and without even having judicial sentence passed upon them; but that, like ears of wheat in the time of harvest, they were alike cut down.[34] was excommunicated by the bishop of Milan, Ambrose, for the massacre.[35] Ambrose told Theodosius to imitate David in his repentance as he had imitated him in guilt; Ambrose readmitted the emperor to the Eucharist only after several months of penance.[citation needed] spring 390, possibly in April, the Massacre of Thessalonica was perpetrated by Theodosius's army, leading to a confrontation with Ambrose.[8] Ambrose demanded that the emperor do penance for the massacre.[8] According to the 5th-century church historian Theodoret, on 25 December 390 (Christmas), Ambrose received Theodosius back into the Christian Church in his bishopric of Mediolanum.[8] According to the Chronicon Paschale, on 18 February 391, the head of John the Baptist was translated to Constantinople.[8] On the 24 February, attendance at pagan sacrifices and temples was forbidden by law.[8] In early summer 391, an uprising in Alexandria was suppressed, and the Serapeum of Alexandria was destroyed.[8] On 16 June, pagan worship was prohibited by law.[8] In 391, a delegation from the Roman Senate was snubbed in Gaul because of the reappearance of the Altar of Victory in the Curia Julia.[30] to Zosimus, Theodosius then campaigned against marauding barbarian bandits in Macedonia in autumn 391.[8] Eventually, he came to Constantinople, where according to Socrates Scholasticus's Historia Ecclesiastica he held an adventus, entering the city on 10 November 391.[8] of Eugenius (r. 392-“394), showing both he and Theodosius enthroned on the reverse, each crowned by Victory and together holding an orb. Marked: victoria augg ("the Victory of the Augusti") of the Theodosian emperors from the Hoxne Hoard: portraits of Theodosius I (top), Arcadius (left), and Honorius (right) civil war: 392-“394[edit] 15 May 392, Valentinian II died at Vienna in Gaul (Vienne), either by suicide or as part of a plot by the magister militum Arbogast.[30] Valentinian had quarrelled publicly with Arbogast, and was found hanged in his room.[36] Arbogast announced that this had been a suicide.[36] He was deified with the consecratio: Divae Memoriae Valentinianus, lit. 'the Divine Memory of Valentinian'.[30] was then sole adult emperor, reigning with his son Arcadius. Arbogast was unable to assume the role of emperor because of his non-Roman background.[36] Instead, on 22 August at the behest of Arbogast, a magister scrinii and vir clarissimus, Eugenius, was acclaimed augustus at Lugdunum.[8] Eugenius made some limited concessions to the Roman religion; like Maximus he sought Theodosius's recognition in vain.[36] On 8 November 392, all cult worship of the gods was forbidden by Theodosius.[8] to Polemius Silvius, Theodosius raised his second son Honorius to augustus on 23 January 393.[8] He cited Eugenius's illegitimacy.[36] 393 was the year of Theodosius's third consulship.[8] On 29 September 393, Theodosius issued a decree for the protection of Jews.[8] According to Zosimus, at the end of April 394, Theodosius's wife Galla died.[8] On 1 August, a colossal statue of Theodosius was dedicated in Constantinople's Forum of Theodosius, an event recorded in the Chronicon Paschale.[8] the last years of Theodosius's reign, one of the emerging leaders of the Goths, named Alaric, participated in Theodosius's campaign against Eugenius in 394, only to resume his rebellious behavior against Theodosius's son and eastern successor, Arcadius, shortly after Theodosius' death. had gathered a large army, including the Goths whom he had settled in the eastern empire as foederati, as well as Caucasian and Saracen auxiliaries, and marched against Eugenius.[37] According to Socrates Scholasticus, Theodosius defeated Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus (the Vipava) on 6 September 394.[8] battle began on 5 September 394, with Theodosius' full frontal assault on Eugenius's forces.[citation needed] Theodosius was repulsed on the first day, and Eugenius thought the battle to be all but over.[citation needed] In Theodosius's camp, the loss of the day decreased morale.[citation needed] It is said[by whom?] that Theodosius was visited by two "heavenly riders all in white" who gave him courage.[citation needed] The next day, the battle began again and Theodosius's forces were aided by a natural phenomenon known as the Bora, which produces cyclonic winds.[38] The Bora blew directly against the forces of Eugenius and disrupted the line.[citation needed] Eugenius's camp was stormed; Eugenius was captured and soon after executed.[38] On 8 September, Arbogast killed himself.[8] to Socrates, on 1 January 395, Honorius arrived in Mediolanum and a victory celebration was held there.[8] suffered from a disease involving severe edema, in Milan.[39] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius died in Mediolanum on 17 January 395.[8] His funeral was held there on 25 February.[8] Ambrose delivered a panegyric titled De obitu Theodosii in the presence Stilicho and Honorius in which Ambrose praised the suppression of paganism by Theodosius.[39] body transferred to Constantinople, where according to the Chronicon Paschale he was buried on 8 November 395 in the Church of the Holy Apostles.[8] He was deified as: Divus Theodosius, lit. 'the Divine Theodosius'.[8] He was interred in a porphyry sarcophagus that was described in the 10th century by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his work De Ceremoniis.[40] offers a laurel wreath to the victor, on the marble base of the Obelisk of Thutmosis III at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. patronage[edit] section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) oversaw the removal in 390 of an Egyptian obelisk from Alexandria to Constantinople.[41] It is now known as the obelisk of Theodosius and still stands in the Hippodrome of Constantinople,[41] the long Roman circus that was the centre of Constantinople's public life and scene of political turmoil. Re-erecting the monolith was a challenge for the technology that had been honed in the construction of siege engines. The obelisk, still recognizably a solar symbol, had been moved from Karnak to Alexandria with what is now the Lateran obelisk by Constantius II. Lateran obelisk was shipped to Rome soon afterwards, but the other one then spent a generation lying at the docks due to the difficulty involved in attempting to ship it to Constantinople. Eventually, the obelisk was cracked in transit. The white marble base is entirely covered with bas-reliefs documenting the imperial household and the engineering feat of removing it to Constantinople. Theodosius and the imperial family are separated from the nobles among the spectators in the imperial box, with a cover over them as a mark of their status. The naturalism of traditional Roman art in such scenes gave way in these reliefs to conceptual art: the idea of order, decorum and respective ranking, expressed in serried ranks of faces. This is seen as evidence of formal themes beginning to oust the transitory details of mundane life, celebrated in Roman portraiture. Forum Tauri in Constantinople was renamed and redecorated as the Forum of Theodosius, including a column and a triumphal arch in his honour.[42] of Nazianzus takes his leave of the emperor Theodosius in a miniature from the Paris Gregory, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript of the Homilies of Gregory policy[edit] 325, Constantine I convened the Council of Nicaea, which affirmed the doctrine that Jesus, the Son, was equal to God the Father and "of one substance" with the Father (homoousios in Greek). The Council condemned the teachings of Arius, who believed Jesus to be inferior to the Father. the council's ruling, controversy continued for decades, with several christological alternatives to the Nicene Creed being brought forth. Theologians attempted to bypass the Christological debate by saying that Jesus was merely like (homoios in Greek) God the father, without speaking of substance (ousia). These non-Nicenes were frequently labelled as Arians (i.e., followers of Arius) by their opponents, though not all would necessarily have identified themselves as such.[43] Emperor Valens had favored the group who used the homoios formula; this theology was prominent in much of the East and had under Constantius II gained a foothold in the West, being ratified by the Council of Ariminum, though it was later abjured by a majority of the western bishops (after Constantius II's death in 361). The death of Valens damaged the standing of the Homoian faction, especially since his successor Theodosius steadfastly held to the Nicene Creed which was the interpretation that predominated in the West and was held by the important Alexandrian church. of orthodoxy[edit] Barocci, Saint Ambrose forces Emperor Theodosius I to make penance for the Thessaloniki massacre (1603), left-side nave, Saint Ambrose Altar, Milan Cathedral. 27 February 380, together with Gratian and Valentinian II, Theodosius issued the decree "Cunctos populos", the so-called Edict of Thessalonica, recorded in the Codex Theodosianus xvi.1.2. This declared the Nicene Trinitarian Christianity to be the only legitimate imperial religion and the only one entitled to call itself Catholic; non-Christian religions or those who did not support the Trinity, he described as "foolish madmen".[44] He also ended official state support for the traditional polytheist religions and customs.[45] 26 November 380, two days after he had arrived in Constantinople, Theodosius expelled the Homoian bishop, Demophilus of Constantinople, and appointed Meletius patriarch of Antioch, and Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the Cappadocian Fathers from Cappadocia (today in Turkey), patriarch of Constantinople. Theodosius had just been baptized, by bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica, during a severe illness.[citation needed] May 381, Theodosius summoned a new ecumenical council at Constantinople to repair the schism between East and West on the basis of Nicene orthodoxy.[46] The council went on to define orthodoxy, including the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as equal to the Father and 'proceeding' from Him, whereas the Son was 'begotten' of Him.[47] The council also "condemned the Apollonarian and Macedonian heresies, clarified jurisdictions of the bishops according to the civil boundaries of dioceses and ruled that Constantinople was second in precedence to Rome."[47] of pagan religion[edit] article: Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I persecution of pagans under Theodosius I began in 381, after the first couple of years of his reign in the Eastern Roman Empire. In the 380s, Theodosius I reiterated Constantine's ban on some practices of Roman religion, prohibited haruspicy on pain of death, decreed magistrates who did not enforce laws against polytheism were subject to criminal prosecution, broke up some pagan associations and tolerated attacks on Roman temples. 391 and 392 Theodosius promulgated three laws restricting pagan religious practices. The first, issued in June 391 and addressed to the urban prefect of Rome, banned ritual sacrifice and access to temples, with heavy fines for infractors. A similar measure was addressed to Alexandria in June 392. These two laws were apparently aimed at public officials specifically and not binding on the population at large.[48] The third and more extreme law, issued in November 392, prohibited pagan worship in every form, including animal sacrifice and offerings of incense and wine, again threatening offenders with confiscation of property.[49] This measure was addressed specifically to the praetorian prefect of the East, the staunchly Christian Rufinus, and there is seemingly no evidence of its application in the West, where Theodosius himself appointed several pagans to high office to mollify them.[50] He turned pagan holidays into workdays, closed temples, confiscated Temple endowments and disbanded the Vestal Virgins.[51] The practices of taking auspices and witchcraft were punished. Theodosius refused to restore the Altar of Victory in the Senate House, as asked by non-Christian senators.[52]:115 392 until his death in 395, while non-Christians continued to request toleration,[53][54] he ordered, authorized, or at least failed to punish, the closure or destruction of many temples, holy sites, images and objects of piety throughout the empire.[55][56][57][58][59] 393 he issued a comprehensive law that prohibited any public non-Christian religious customs,[60] and was particularly oppressive to Manicheans.[61] He is likely to have discontinued the ancient Olympic Games, whose last record of celebration was in 393, though archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date.[62] AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; NINIAN OF GALLOWAY, BISHOP, MISSIONARY TO SCOTLAND (16 SEP 430) ; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated on January 23; Martyr Bathusius in the Crimea, Commemorated on March 26 ; Venerable John the Clairvoyant, Anchorite, of Egypt, Commemorated on March 27; St Theotimus the Bishop of Lesser Scythia, Commemorated on April 20; St Donatus the Bishop of Euroea in Epirus, Commemorated on April 30; St Monica, Commemorated on May 4 ; Venerable Arsenius the Great, Commemorated on May 8; Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council, Commemorated on May 22; St Augustine the Bishop of Hippo, Commemorated on June 15 ; St Jerome (Hieronymus) of Stridonium, Commemorated on June 15;

Rome, 379-395, Emperor, Theodosius I, Moved to Viminacium, Moecia Prima, Illuricum, on R R Militarica
Roman Emperor, 379-395, Theodosius I, Moved from Rome to Illuricum ; about 373, Theodosius was made dux of the province of Moesia Prima.[17] In 374, the Quadi and their allies the Sarmatians overran the province of Valeria in the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.[18] Theodosius drove the Sarmatians out of the Roman territory and then defeated the Quadi.[19][20] He is reported to have defended his province with marked ability and success.[19] the Elder fell from power in 375, and Theodosius the dux of Moesia Prima retired to his estates in the Iberian Peninsula, where he married Aelia Flaccilla in 376.[8] Their first child, Arcadius, was born around 377.[8] Pulcheria, their daughter, was born in 377 or 378.[8] Theodosius had returned to the Danube frontier by 378, when he was appointed magister equitum.[8] AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430) ; NINIAN OF GALLOWAY, BISHOP, MISSIONARY TO SCOTLAND (16 SEP 430) ; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, Commemorated on December 7; Martyr Anthusa at Rome, Commemorated on December 8; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated on January 23; Venerable John the Clairvoyant, Anchorite, of Egypt, Commemorated on March 27; St Theotimus the Bishop of Lesser Scythia, Commemorated on April 20; St Donatus the Bishop of Euroea in Epirus, Commemorated on April 30; St Monica, Commemorated on May 4 ; Venerable Arsenius the Great, Commemorated on May 8; Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council, Commemorated on May 22; St Augustine the Bishop of Hippo, Commemorated on June 15 ;

Rome, 380-435, Saint John Cassian the Roman
Rome, 380-435, Saint John Cassian the Roman; Venerable John Cassian the Roman, Commemorated on February 28; St. Germanus of Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea), Commemorated on February 29;

Rome, 395-423, Emperor, Honorius in the West, Rome sacked, his general Stilicho preserved stability until executed
Roman Emperor, 395-423, Honorius ; Flavius Honorius (9 September 384 -“ 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Arcadius, who ruled the eastern half of the empire from 395, when their father died, until his death in 408. In 410, during Honorius's reign over the western Roman Empire, Rome was sacked for the first time in almost 800 years.[2] Even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Empire, Honorius's reign was precarious and chaotic. His reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honorius's guardian (during his childhood) and his father-in-law (after the emperor became an adult). Stilicho's generalship helped preserve some level of stability, but with his execution in 408, the western Roman Empire moved closer to collapse. St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31; NINIAN OF GALLOWAY, BISHOP, MISSIONARY TO SCOTLAND (16 SEP 430) ; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397); St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated on January 16 ; St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17; Venerable Alexis the Man of God, Commemorated on March 17; Venerable Serapion of Egypt, Commemorated on April 7; Venerable Serapion of Egypt, Commemorated on May 14; Blessed Child Musa of Rome, Commemorated on May 16 ; St Augustine the Bishop of Hippo, Commemorated on June 15 ;

Rome, 395-410, Roman Visgoth, Alaric the Visgoth, Sack of Rome in 410
Roman Visgoth, 395-410, Alaric the Visgoth, Sack of Rome in 410; AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (28 AUGUST 430);