Episode 7 – Ambrose of Milan

* At the end of episode 6, the Augustii Valens and Gratian were dead. * Valens burned alive in a cottage by the Goths. * Gratian assassinated by a rebel general under Magnus Maximus. * One story about that. * While he was hunting down Gratian, The general, Andragathius, apparently hid himself in a litter carried by mules. * He ordered his guards to send out a report that the litter contained the wife of Gratian. * Sneaky fucker. * So that was in 383. * The only Augustus left with any real authority is Theodosius. * But there’s also the kid emperor, Valentinian II. * He’s about 12. * Now in the last episode we also mentioned the Bishop Ambrose of Milan * He is also an important guy in this story. * Ambrose was born in into a Roman Christian family somewhere around 340 in Gallia Belgica, aka Belgium. * His father was some kind of official, perhaps a praetorian prefect of Gaul. * Ambrose followed him into public service and ended up the governor of the Aemilia-Liguria region in northern Italy. * Which was a pretty important region, because it’s capital was Milan. * And the imperial court had been based in Milan, or Mediolanum as it was called, since Diocletian moved it there in 286. * After he moved to Nicomedia, Maximian, who BTW was the spitting image of Orson Welles, based his court in Milan, making it the court of the Western Empire. * Rome was still the capital of the empire, and the Senate was still based there. * But Milan was just closer to the rest of the empire for a few good reasons. * It was kind of in the middle of the Western empire. * Which is why it’s called Mediolanum. * I think it actually means “middle of the plains”. * But you get the idea. * So by being closer to Gaul, it saved the emperor and field army weeks of travel time in an emergency; * it was also more politically independent of the Senate (there was a lot of friction between the emperors and the Senate in the period when the former were Christian while the latter was still predominantly pagan), * and it was safer from a potential sea attack from Africa (which was periodically in rebellion, and later occupied by the Vandals). * Strategically speaking, Rome was not well-placed to address effectively the threats faced by the Late Roman Empire. * Emperors needed to be on borders, to defend actively provinces against external pressure. * Rome, precisely, was not on any Roman border—an attractive position in terms of safety, not of reactivity. * But also not so great in terms of safety. * As we’ll see when the Goths decide to make their home in Rome. * So Ambrose is the governor of the region where Milan is based. * He was given the position by one of the richest Roman aristocrats of the time – Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus. * AKA Sexy Claudy PP. * He was a Christian who had been Proconsul of Africa and then Praetorian prefect four times in various regions. * And then he was co-consul with the Emperor Gratian. * For some reason, maybe he knew his father, he made Ambrose governor of Aemilia-Liguria. * It’s a pretty good gig and he holds that position for a couple of years. * Then in 374, the bishop of Milan, an Arian, died. * There’s a power struggle between the Arians and the Nicenes as to who should replace him. * Ambrose goes to the place where the elections are taking place to try to keep the peace. * Before you know it, someone has suggested he takes up the job as the new bishop. * The only problem is – Ambrose wasn’t even baptised. * And he had zero training in theology. * But hey – they are just hiccups. * Hiccups for the bishupps. * Gratian is still alive at this stage and says he thinks its a good idea that good men are made bishops,