Select Letters of St. Ambrose

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Ambrose became bishop of Milan in 374, when, as governor of the Italian province Aemilia et Liguria, he intervened n the civic disturbances which on this occasion accompanied the election of a new bishop at Milan. Born c. 334 or c. 340, when his father was praetorian prefect in Gaul, Ambrose had had a traditional education and was following a normal career path, serving as an advocate, then an assessor in the civil bureaucracy before becoming governor. He belonged to the Roman aristocracy and seems, in fact, to have been a relative of Symmachus, his great opponent. He was bishop of Milan fro 374 until his death in 397 and may reasonably be regarded as the first bishop to stand independently against the will of emperor on some occasions. The letters below illustrate some of these occasions, in addition to a few relating to other matters of ecclesiastical and/or secular politics and relations with his sister Marcellina. A longer letter on characteristics suitable for a bishop may be found in another document.