Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/157

Rh delivered hy Caesar from the payment of this tribute. In 54, Caesar placed a legion and five cohorts, under the command of Q. Titurius Sabinus and L. Auruncleius Cotta, in the territories of the Eburones for the purpose of passing the winter there. But fifteen days after they had been stationed in their territories, the Eburones revolted at the instigation of Ambiorix and Cativolcus, another chief, besieged the Roman camp, and destroyed almost all the Roman troops, after they had been induced by Ambiorix to leave their camp under promise of a safe-conduct. After their destruction Ambiorix hastened to the Aduatici and Nervii, and induced them, in conjunction with the Eburones, to attack the camp of Q. Cicero, who was stationed for the winter amopg the Nervii. The firmness of Cicero, and the defeat of the Gauls on the arrival of Cæsar, compelled Ambiorix to raise the siege. In the following years Ambiorix continued to prosecute the war against Cæsar, but though all his plans were thwarted, and the different troops he raised were defeated by Cæsar, he always escaped falling into the hands of the con- queror. (Cæs. B. G. v. 24, 26—51, vi. 5, 29—43, viii. 24, &c.; Dion Cass. xl. 5—10, 31, &c. ; Liv. Epit. 106.) According to Florus (iii. 10. § 8) he escaped the vengeance of the Romans by rieeing bevond the Rhine.

L. AMBI'VIUS TU'RPIO. [Turpio.] AMBOLOGE'RA ( from and  "delaying old age," as a surname of Aphrodite, who had a statue at Sparta under this name. (Paus. iii. 18. § 1 ; Plut. Sympos. iii. 6.) [L. S.]

AMBRA'CIA, a daughter of Augeas, from whom the town of Anibracia derived its nanic, (Steph. Byz. s. v.; Eustath. ad Dionys. Perieg. 492.) Other traditions represent her as a grand-daughter of Apollo, and a daughter of Melaneus, king of the Dryopes. (Anton. Lib. 4.) A third account derived the name of the town from Ambrax, a son of Thesprotus and grandson of Lvcaon. (Steph. Byz. l. c.) [L. S.]

'AMBRU'SIUS ALEXANDRI'-NUS, a nobleman and courtier (S. Epiph. adv. Haer. 64. [44] § 3) flourished a. d. 230. At first a Valentinian (Euseb. H. E. vii. 18) and Marcionist, he was won to the faith by Origen, whose constant fellow-student he became (Origen, Ep. ad African. vol. i. p. 29), and was ordained deacon. (S. Hier. Vir. Illustr. 56.) He plied Origen with questions, and urged him to write his Commentaries, supplying him with transcribers in abundance. He shone as a Confessor during the persecution of Julius Maximinus (Euseb. vi. 18) 236, and died between 247 and 253. His letters to Origen (praised by St. Jerome) are lost ; part of one exists ap. Origen, ''Lib. de Orat. c. 5. p. 208, (See Routh's Reliquiae Sacr. ii. p. 367.) Origen dedicated to him his Exhortation to Martyrdom; Books against Celsus; Commentary on St. John's Gospel; and On Prayer.'' [A. J. C]

AMBRO'SIUS, ST., bishop of Milan, was born probably at Augusta Trevirorum (Treves) which was the seat of government for the province (if Gaul, of which his father was prefect. His biographers differ as to whether the date of his birth was 333 or 340, but the latter is probably the true date. Circumstances occurred in his infancy which were understood to portend his future greatness. His father having died, Ambrose, then a boy, accompanied his mother to Rome, where he received the education of an advocate under Anicius Probus and Symmachus. He began pleading causes at Milan, then the imperial residence, and soon gained a high reputition for forensic eloquence. This success, together with the influence of his family, led to his appointment (about 370 , or a little later) as consular prefect of the provinces of Liguria and Aemilia, whose seat of government was Milan.

The struggle between the Catholics and Arianu was now at its height in the Western Church, and upon the death of Auxentius, bishop of Milan, in 374, the question of the appointment of his successor led to an open conflict between the two parties. Ambrose exerted his influence to restore peace, and addressed the people in a conciliatory speech, at the conclusion of which a child in the further part of the crowd cried out "Ambrosius episcopus." The words were received as an oracle from heaven, and Ambrose was elected bishop by the acclamation of the whole multitude, the bishops of both parties uniting in his election. It was in vain that he adopted the strangest devices to alter the determination of the people; nothing could make them change their mind (Paulin. Vit. Ambros. pp. 2, 3) : in vain did he flee from Milan in the night; he mistook his way, and found himself the next morning before the gate of the city. At length he yielded to the express command of the emperor (Valentinian I.), and was consecrated on the eighth day after his baptism, for at the time of his election he was only a catechumen.

Immediately after his election he gave all his property to the church and the poor, and adopted an ascetic mode of life, while the public administration of his office was most firm and skilful. He was a great patron of monasticism : about two years after his consecration he wrote his three books "De Virginibus," and dedicated them to his sister Marcellina. In the Arian controversy he espoused the orthodox side at his very entrance on his bishopric by demanding that his baptism should be performed by an orthodox bishop. He applied himself most diligently to the study of theology under Simplician, a presbyter of Rome, who afterwards became his successor in the bishopric. His influence soon became very great, both with the people and with the emperor Valentinian and his son Gratian, for whose instruction he composed his treatises "De Fide," and "De Spiritu Sancto." In the year 377, in consequence of an invasion of Italy by the northern barbarians, Ambrose fled to lllyricum, and afterwards (in Cave's opinion) visited Rome. After his return to Milan, he was employed by the court on important political aflfairs. When Maximus, after the death of Gratian (383), threatened Italy, Justina, the mother of the young emperor Valentinian II., sent Ambrose on an embassy to the usurper, whose advance the bishop succeeded in delaying. At a later period (387), Ambrose went again to Treves on a like mission; but His conduct on this occasion gave such offence to Maximus, that he was compelled to return to Italy in haste.

While rendering these political services to Justina and Valentinian, Ambrose was at open variance with them on the great religious question of the age. Justina was herself an Arian, and had brought up the young emperor in the same tenets.