Saint Ambrose of Milan (340–397) was a military governor turned Christian bishop. Concerned about the conduct of his priests, he wrote On the Duties of the Clergy to encourage them to live virtuously. In doing so, he borrowed the structure, many arguments, and even illustrations from Cicero’s On Duties (read about it here).
Cicero and Ambrose build their works in the same way: they begin with excellent character, then discuss what is useful, and finally ask what happens when the two collide. Their conclusion is simple—usefulness without character is worthless.
Both drive the point home with memorable words. Ambrose says, “Let not, therefore, expediency get the better of virtue, but virtue of expediency” (3.6.37). Cicero echoes the same truth: “When men detach the useful from the honourable, they undermine the very foundations of nature” (On Obligations, 119). In other words, being the best human you can be is the most important thing.
And what does this look like in practice?
Pursuing Justice
Both authors insist that virtue must be active. A virtuous person does not retreat into seclusion but seeks justice for the community. Ambrose says, “We must think it a far more noble thing to labour for our country than to pass a quiet life at ease” (3.3.23). Cicero agrees: “”you should embark on activities which are of course important and highly useful, but are in addition extremely taxing, full of toils and dangers which threaten both life and the many strands that compose it” (24). Virtue acts; it does not hide.
This activity, to be just, must serve the community as a whole. Ambrose explains: “He who is really wise . . . seeks not what is useful for himself, but for all” (3.2.12). True wisdom seeks the good of all.
Both authors also outline a hierarchy of duties. God, parents, and country come first—though Cicero places parents before country while Ambrose reverses the order. The emphasis is less on precision than on priority: some obligations are weightier than others.
What does pursuing the good of all look like? Both men say it comes through giving and helping. Cicero writes: “we should follow nature … by giving and receiving, and in this way binding the community and its individuals closely together by our skills, our efforts, and our talents” (10). Ambrose echoes this sentiment: “Thus, in accordance with the will of God and the union of nature, we ought to be of mutual help … to lay all our advantages as it were before all … so that the charm of human fellowship may ever grow sweeter among us” (1.28.135).
To build a just community, we must move beyond self-interest and actively do good. As we do, “the charm of human fellowship” grows “sweeter among us.” That is the vision of justice: a community strengthened by mutual service.
Clear Heads Needed
Both Ambrose and Cicero stress the need for clear, disciplined thinking to sustain this active life. Serving others requires foresight and inner stability.
For Cicero, wisdom demands a kind of detachment: “disregard for external circumstances … a man ought to revere or aspire to or seek nothing except what is honourable and proper” (24). We cannot let difficulties sway us.
Ambrose counsels the same, adding practical advice: “Therefore it is the duty of a brave man not to shut his eyes when anything threatens, but … to meet the future with foreseeing thought, for fear he might afterwards have to say: This has come to me because I thought it could not come about” (1.38.200).
Wisdom anticipates challenges, giving courage the clarity it needs. The more we prepare in thought, the more ready we are when trials come.
Here Ambrose goes beyond Cicero by pointing to the future reward of eternal life. This hope, he argues, steels us to persevere: “A reward future and not present—in heaven, not on earth—has He promised shall be given. What further do you expect? … As yet the people are looking on, the athletes are in the arena, and thou—do you already look for ease?” (1.16.59). By fixing our eyes on the future crown rather than present ease, we are better equipped to endure hardship and pursue the just community with perseverance.
Conclusion
Ambrose of Milan gives us a Christian reworking of Cicero’s call to the active, virtuous life. Both urge us to look beyond ourselves, labor for the good of the community, and steady our minds for the challenges ahead. Ambrose adds a distinctly Christian note: hope in the eternal reward that empowers perseverance now. This vision still challenges us to live with courage, clarity, and a commitment to the common good.