Emperor Theodosius was baptized after a serious illness in 380 AD by Bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica, after being assured the Bishop was not Arian. St. Theodosius then summoned the new ecumenical council at Constantinople, to heal the rift between East and West over Nicene Christianity. “Heal” is one way to put it, but Theodosius, being a Roman warrior as well as an Emperor, and staunch, baptized, believer in Nicene Christianity, issued an edict without ecclesiastical approval, declaring the Holy Spirit portion of the Nicene Creed. The Council later approved it in 381, and from there, until this day, we recite the Creed updated and handed to us from Emperor Theodosius.

In 391, Emperor Theodosius took up residence in Milan, where he met Bishop Ambrose. They were contemporaries and prominent leaders in their respective positions, so they knew each other and became friends. St. Ambrose certainly kept an eye on Emperor Theodosius, and made an effort to keep him aligned with the teaching of Jesus Christ. One such episode was as event that happened in the very place of Theodosius’s baptism – Thessalonica. 

During this period in history, charioteers were the major sport of the time. They were idolized much like today in sports and celebrity culture, with legions of fans defending their image and honor, and again much like today, regardless if the “hero” is a decent person or not. Around April 390, a popular charioteer was jailed by a Gothic (German) Roman commander named Bothoric for pedastry, or homosexuality, different sources state different offenses. 

The story goes that the charioteer pursued a relationship with a slave of Bothoric. In late antiquity Thessalonica, Greece, mind you, this was something permissible for quite some time. It was a cultural model of relationships, and practiced as common and not the exception. 

While Greece was still struggling with adapting Christian thought, Emperor Theodosius had no problem outlawing homosexuality in the Empire, returning to Mosaic Law:

“All persons who have the shameful custom of condemning a man's body, acting the part of a woman's, to the sufferance of an alien sex (for they appear not to be different from women), shall expiate a crime of this kind in avenging flames in the sight of the people.”

Emperor Theodosius made it clear he was not tolerating it anymore. 

Well, the people of Thessalonica weren’t too happy about having a favorite charioteer in the lockup, over something, to them at least, was a non-offense. So they attacked Commander Bothoric, and literally tore him apart. They murdered him, and released their charioteer.

Emperor Theodosius, now releasing edicts on paganism (we’ll get to that later,) wasn’t having it. In his Emperor-like anger, he released the fury of the Roman Military on Thessalonica, and murdered an estimated 7000 people while they were gathered in the Hippodrome for their chariot race/public execution/whatever they were there for. 


Theodosius apparently tried to rescind the order, but it was too late. The Roman military was efficient, and brutal, as they are historically known for, and the order was started, executed, and complete in three hours. 

St. Ambrose learned of this massacre, as everyone else in the Empire, and wrote a letter to Emperor Theodosius. He informed him that his acts were not in line with Christianity, stated he must do public penance, and denied him the right to receive the Eucharist. He was excommunicated from the Holy Church. This went on for several months.

St. Ambrose wrote to the Emperor:
What could I do? Should I not hear? But I could not clog my ears with wax, as old fables tell. Should I then speak about what I heard? But I was obliged to avoid precisely what I feared could be brought about by your orders, that is, a bloodshed. Should I remain silent? But then the worst thing would happen as my conscience would be bound and my words taken away. And where would they be then? When a priest does not talk to a sinner, then the sinner will die in his sin, and the priest will be guilty because he failed to correct him.
Emperor Theodosius could not bear life without receiving the Holy Eucharist, and finally repented in sackcloth, without his imperial robes, crying in public in front of St. Ambrose. Bishop Ambrose finally opened Holy Eucharist back to Emperor Theodosius on Christmas Day.

While this may seem like a brutal event, the impact on the destruction of paganism was just beginning. In the next blog post, I will discuss Emperor Theodosius’s crackdown on paganism. Once we get to St. Augustine’s City of God, the picture will become much clearer on why he wrote the book.

IHS, 
Jill