How was St. Ambrose’s On the Duties of the Clergy connected to Cicero’s On Duties?

St. Ambrose’s work De officiis ministrorum (386), which addresses the moral obligations of the clergy, is skillfully modeled on Cicero’s De officiis.1

Ambrose utilized this classical framework to provide educated Latins with an impeccably classical version of Christianity. By adapting the structure and themes of Cicero’s work, he sought to replace traditional Roman heroes with Old Testament saints as the primary models of behavior for a Christianized aristocracy.1

Furthermore, Ambrose’s broader approach to morality was deeply influenced by the assimilation of Stoic elements. Like other Church Fathers, he drew upon a wealth of ideas from Stoic morality as it had been interpreted by Cicero in De officiis, integrating these congenial pagan philosophical elements into the emerging framework of Christian ethics.2