THE Emperor was in Milan at the time, and when he came to Church that Sunday, Bishop Ambrose refused to let him in. Theodosius reminded him that King David was a murderer and an adulterer, yet still attended worship. ‘If you have sinned like David’ replied Ambrose, remembering Nathan, ‘repent like David’. This the proud Emperor would not do, for in those days such penance must be done in public. Eight months he spent in tears, but they were tears of defiance; Christmas came, but for him who had had no goodwill toward men there was no peace on earth.

At last, the Emperor’s defiance broke. Uncrowned and in plain robes, the chastened Emperor was admitted to Church, and every Sunday humbly stood among the common penitents, until Easter came. Moreover, he agreed to sign an order that thirty days must pass from sentence of death to its execution, so that no more innocent people should die while an Emperor’s wrath was hot.