A struggle of faith in the Roman imperial capital of Milan was of particular importance to St. Augustine’s and other Christians’ mental states in the years 374-386. Justina, the Arian wife of Roman Emperor Valentinian, and anti-Arian Bishop Ambrose of Milan were arguing over the rights to various basilicas. As the two leaders grappled with a solution, much of Milan was left to pick sides and subsequently forced into the struggle. As Augustine tells in Book nine of his Confessions, this battle left much of the anti-Arian side of the debate feeling “cold” and “disturbed” (Confessions 9.7 15); that was of course until the introduction of two new martyrs into Ambrose’s basilica in the year 386.

The struggle between the Arian Justina and the anti-Arian Bishop Ambrose was an ongoing one that escalated with Justina’s declaration of an edict of toleration for Arianism in the year 386. With this edict came demands for a number of anti-Arian basilicas in Milan to be handed over to the Arian movement to be used for them as places of worship instead. In response to this edict, Ambrose called for the anti-Arian believers to sit-in on these basilicas such that the Milan military forces could not seize any of these basilicas from them. Ambrose and his anti-Arians were keen on protecting their churches and thus their faith from Justina’s “heresy” (Confessions 9.7. 15). Augustine goes as far as to say that he and the rest of the congregation were, “ready to die with their bishop” (Confessions 9.7. 15) while protecting the churches. 

As the theological battle heightened, so did tension amongst the people of Milan. Augustine describes the feelings of the people as follows, “We [the devout congregation] were still cold, untouched by the warmth of your spirit, but were excited by the tension and disturbed atmosphere in the city” (Confessions 9.7. 15). It is evident from this quote that the tensions in the city of Milan were high and thus impactful on the lives of the religious citizens. Furthering this point, Augustine explains that the congregations that were defending these anti-Arian basilicas sang psalms and hymns in order to, “prevent the people from succumbing to depression and exhaustion” (Confessions 9.7. 15). As clearly stated by Augustine, the theological tension was so severe that it was negatively impacting the mental health of the community to the extent that some citizens were even experiencing depression. 

Though the struggle lingered on for quite some time, relief was finally struck when two martyrs were brought to the Ambrose basilica in Milan. Prior to the ancient martyrs’ arrival, Bishop Ambrose had a vision from God that revealed to him the burial grounds of these two martyrs, martyr Protasius and martyr Gervasius. In the vision, God instructed Ambrose to dig up the bodies of these two martyrs and to bring them to be buried and honored at the Ambrose Basilica. According to Augustine’s account, God “produced them [martyrs Protasius and Gervasius] to restrain the fury of woman, indeed a lady of the royal family” (Confessions 9.7. 16). With the arrival of these two martyrs also came the healing of people “vexed with impure spirits” (Confessions 9.7. 16) and the miraculous return of sight to a blind man. This surely brought much needed relief to the followers of the anti-Arian movement as their faith was restored through God by the miracles of martyrs Protasius and Gervasius. According to Augustine, the people’s praises to God were “fervent and radiant” (Confessions 9.7. 16) for his delivering of them from the depression and exhaustion they had recently endured. Additionally, these miracles brought an end to the theological clash between Justina and Bishop Ambrose as Justina’s mind, “though not converted to sound faith, was nevertheless checked in its anger” (Confessions 9.7. 16). This instance was a hallmark for the miraculous power of Martyrs and their importance in the Christian faith was amplified following these events in Milan.

Though the miracles in Milan popularized the idea of Martyrs in the year 385, Martyrs were still appreciated and used for comfort far before this. Augustine gives two specific examples of this. The first example comes in book 5 when Augustine’s mother, Monica is left weeping for Augustine’s presence at the shrine of the martyr-bishop Cyprian in Carthage (Confessions 5.8.15, pages 81-82). The second instance Augustine provides is in book 6 when Monica, “in accordance with [her] custom in Africa” (Confessions 6.2.2, pages 91-92) takes food and drink to memorial shrines of saints. In both cases, we see the importance of martyrs to Christians during late antiquity.