The
Massacre of Thessalonica was a retaliatory action by the Roman Emperor
Theodosius IFlavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire...
in
390-Roman Empire:* In response to the murder of his general Butheric, Theodosius I orders a massacre of the inhabitants of Thessalonica. Appalled by the brutality of this action, Ambrose excommunicates him....
against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt.
In April 390, Butheric, the Roman
military commanderMagister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
in command of Illyricum (which included Thessalonica), had a popular charioteer arrested for a sexual offence. The populace demanded the charioteer's release and, as Butheric refused, a general mutiny ensued which cost Butheric and several other Roman authorities their lives.
The
Massacre of Thessalonica was a retaliatory action by the Roman Emperor
Theodosius IFlavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empire...
in
390-Roman Empire:* In response to the murder of his general Butheric, Theodosius I orders a massacre of the inhabitants of Thessalonica. Appalled by the brutality of this action, Ambrose excommunicates him....
against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt.
In April 390, Butheric, the Roman
military commanderMagister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
in command of Illyricum (which included Thessalonica), had a popular charioteer arrested for a sexual offence. The populace demanded the charioteer's release and, as Butheric refused, a general mutiny ensued which cost Butheric and several other Roman authorities their lives. As soon as Theodosius heard of the uprising, he got very angry, ordering an immediate retaliation. However, the army units sent to Thessalonica acted as if they had captured a hostile city and massacred several thousands of its inhabitants. Church historian Theodoretus puts the figure at about 7.000, saying:
Although the Emperor changed his mind rather quickly and sent another messenger to cancel his previous order and to prevent the troops from massacring the inhabitants of the city, this revocation came too late.
AmbroseSaint Ambrose was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:...
, the bishop of Milan, after hearing about the massacre, left Milan (which was the residence of Theodosius at that time) and refused to celebrate a mass in Emperor's presence, until Theodosius repented. In a letter to the emperor, Ambrose explained his position and gave reasons for his resolution:
- "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."
According to Theodoret, when the emperor tried to enter a Milanese church, where Ambrose was about to celebrate a mass, the bishop stopped him and rebuked him for what he had done. And because the emperor “had been brought up according to divine words and understood well that some affairs are handled by priests, others by emperors”, he could do nothing but return "weeping and sighing" to the palace. Eight months had passed and Theodosius still sat in the palace, moaning and sobbing. His
magister officiorumThe magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...
RufinusRufinus may refer to:*Saints Rufinus, eleven saints named Rufinus in Roman Martyrology*Rufinus of Assisi, 3rd century saint and martyr*Rufinus , Christian martyr*Rufinus , 3rd century governor of Roman Britain...
, who "used great freedom of speech due to the familiarity with the emperor", noticed this behaviour, approached and asked him why he was weeping. Having been told, he volunteered to see the bishop and ask him to reconsider. Theodosius hesitantly agreed and even chose to follow Rufinus from a distance. Ambrose was not restrained at all when negotiating with Rufinus, scolding him and even accusing him of complicity in the massacre: "Rufinus, you are as impudent as a dog, because it was you who advised the emperor such a bloodshed." When the emperor showed up, Ambrose at first remained stubborn and changed his mind only after Theodosius promised to promulgate a law, which in cases of death sentences would introduce a thirty-day lag before the execution.
Sources
The massacre is treated in all accounts of Theodosius' reign, including:
- A. Lippold: Theodosius der Große und seine Zeit. 2nd ed., München 1980, p. 40ff.
- J. Norwich, Byzantium: The Early Centuries, p. 112.
- E. Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch.27 2:56
- A. Demandt: Magister Militum. In: Pauly-Wissowa. Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (neue Bearbeitung). Supplementband XII, Sp. 717 - Butherichh and Theodosius
See also:
- P. Heather, Goths and Romans, 332-489. Oxford 1991, p. 184.
- A. Schwarz, Reichsangehörige Personen gotischer Herkunft. Wien 1984, s.v. Butherichus.
Primary sources for this event:
- Theodoret
Saint Theodoret, known as Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus, was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria...
, Historia ecclesiastica 5.17
- Sozomenus, Historia ecclesiastica 7.25.1-7
- Cassiodorus
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname not his rank....
, Historia ecclesiastica 9.30
- Ambrose
Saint Ambrose was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:...
, epistola 51
- Ambrose, De obitu Theodosii 34
The event is also related in later historical works:
- Joannes Malalas, Chronographia 13.43
- Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born at Constantinople, of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
, Chronographia 1.72-3
- Cedrenus, Compendium historiarum 1.556-9
- Joannes Zonaras
Ioannes Zonaras was a Byzantine chronicler and theologian, who lived at Constantinople.Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of commander of the bodyguard and private secretary to the emperor, but after Alexios' death, he retired to the monastery of St Glykeria, where he spent the...
, Epitome historiarum 13.18.