ABSTRACT
Jerome's disdain for Bishop Ambrose of Milan has long been a matter for comment. Ever since Rufinus of Aquileia pointed out Jerome's abusive allusions to Ambrose, attentive observers have discerned many other attacks on Ambrose in his writings. Most scholars have argued that Jerome's hostility to Ambrose emerged only after his expulsion from Rome in 385, and that this event may have somehow provoked Jerome's attacks on Ambrose. According to Adkin, when Jerome stated that Ambrose had "expressed himself with such eloquence that he has sought out, arranged, and given expression to all that pertains to the praise of virgins", he was subtly alluding to the derivative character of Ambrose's treatise De virginibus. The immediate occasion of Ambrose's letter to the church of Vercelli was the disputed episcopal election there, which pitted the monk Honoratus against a wealthy landowner, who appears to have been the people's choice.
