Chromatius of Aquileia

Aquileia, at the head of the Adriatic, was the fourth city of Italy in the fourth century — a port, a mint, an imperial residence, and a major church. Chromatius grew up there in a devout household. His father died young, and he was raised with his brother and sisters by a formidable mother; Jerome, who knew the family, praised the whole house. He was ordained a priest and, in 388, became bishop. He stood at the center of a remarkable circle of friends. Jerome had studied at Aquileia as a young man. Rufinus of Aquileia was from the region. Ambrose of Milan was a colleague and ally. Chromatius supported Jerome's work with money and with pressure, urging him to translate and expound Scripture, and Jerome dedicated several of his books to him. When Jerome and Rufinus, once close friends, fell out savagely over Origen and spent years attacking each other in print, Chromatius wrote to both of them and tried to stop it. He failed, but he tried, and both men respected him to the end. He took a harder risk over John Chrysostom. When Chrysostom was deposed and exiled from Constantinople in 404, Chromatius wrote in his defense to the Eastern emperor Arcadius and pressed the Western emperor Honorius to intervene, and Chrysostom wrote back to him from exile in gratitude. Speaking for a condemned bishop against an imperial court was not a safe use of a bishop's standing. He was also a preacher, and this is where his reputation was rebuilt in modern times. For centuries only a handful of his sermons were known. In the twentieth century scholars identified around sixty of his homilies and a large commentary on Matthew that had been circulating anonymously or under other men's names. They show a bishop teaching a real congregation — clear, pastoral, saturated in Scripture, given to explaining rather than impressing. He rebuilt and enlarged the basilica at Aquileia; parts of its mosaic floor survive today. He died about 407, a few years before the city was destroyed by Attila's Huns. His people scattered into the lagoons, and their descendants built Venice. Sources: Chromatius of Aquileia, Sermons and Tractates on Matthew (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 9A); Jerome's prefaces and letters; John Chrysostom, Letters; The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), s.v. "Chromatius".