A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

these events was the ‘council’ he dominated at Aquileia in 381. In the power
vacuum created by Valens’ death, Gratian had, through his edict of toleration, bid
for religious leadership of the whole empire, and in the summer of 380 he called
a general council of bishops from both east and west that would meet at Aquileia
the following year. The city, an ancient Roman colony founded in 181 BC, was
located at the head of the Adriatic where trade routes from northern Europe
reached the sea. It had grown rich on both trade and its own industrial
production and had a population of some 100,000. Under Constantine’s
patronage, a grand double church had been built - one building was reserved for
catechumens and the other for those admitted to full church membership - and
these were decorated with stunning floor mosaics that were only rediscovered
under medieval silt in the early twentieth century.
To Gratian’s embarrassment, however, he was then upstaged by Theodosius,
who announced that his own council of the east would meet in Constantinople
the same year. For some time, Gratian appears to have hoped that the bishops
meeting at Constantinople would travel on to Aquileia, but this was never likely.
It was now that Ambrose showed his genius for improvisation. He suggested to
Gratian that the real challenge facing the western Church was the dispute
between the Nicenes and the subordinationists centring on the continuing ‘Arian’
presence in Illyricum, and that the issues could be resolved at a smaller council.
Ambrose’s target in Illyricum was Palladius, the Bishop of Rataria. Palladius had
been a bishop no fewer than thirty-five years, since 346, and was a convinced
subordinationist. Ambrose had already mentioned him by name as a heretic in
De Fide, and when Gratian had sent on a copy of the book to Palladius for
comment, the latter had replied to Ambrose with disdain for this ‘useless and
superfluous recitation of clever trickery’. Like most subordinationists, Palladius
had confidence in the superiority of his interpretation of the scriptures, and he
exhorted Ambrose to ‘search the divine scriptures, which you have neglected, so
that under their divine guidance you may avoid the hell towards which you are
heading on your own’. 12 There was no love lost here on either side.
When Palladius was summoned by the prefect of Italy to the council at
Aquileia in September 381, he assumed that there would be an opportunity to see
off Ambrose; there was no indication that free debate would not be allowed. Yet
when Palladius arrived at Aquileia, accompanied by another Homoian bishop,
Secundianus of Singidunum, he found to his horror that a small building close to
the churches had been set up like a law court, presided over by the Bishop of
Aquileia, Valerian, with Ambrose sitting beside him as if he were a prosecutor.