Theodosius and Chariot Racing

Ambrose had been shaping a little bit since Theodosius' arrival in Italy, because while the Emperor clearly desired an alliance with the Church of Milan, he was not proving nearly as pliable as Gratian nor Valentini. Ambrose didn't want to simply be an ally of the imperial court, he wanted to be indistinguishable from it and so what he needed was a way to drive himself back into the center of the action. In 390 Theodosious' temper got the better of him, and Ambrose immediately recognized the resulting PR debacle as the opportunity he had been looking for. So one day, the biggest chariot racing star in Thessalonica gets arrested on what amounts