The Massacre of Thessalonica was an atrocity carried out by Gothic troops under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I in 390 against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt against the Gothic troops.
Massacre
In April 390, Butheric, a Gothic magister militum in command of Illyricum, had a popular charioteerarrested for a homosexual offence. The populace demanded the charioteer's release and, as Butheric refused, a general revolt ensued which cost Butheric his life. As soon as Theodosius heard of the uprising he was enraged, and ordered an immediate retaliation. The army units sent to Thessalonica acted as if they had captured a hostile city and massacred several thousands of its inhabitants. Church historianTheodoretus 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.
Aftermath
, the bishop of Milan, after hearing about the massacre, left Milan and refused to celebrate a Mass in the Emperor's presence, until Theodosius repented. In a letter to the emperor, Ambrose explained his position and gave reasons for his resolution: 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 officiorumRufinus, 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.
