Augustine

How good a speaker is Ambrose, and what does Augustine learn about rhetoric from listening to Ambrose's sermons?

          Ambrose is an extremely talented speaker that Augustine found truth in, and greatly enlightened him spiritually. Ambrose "straightforwardly expounded the truth" to Augustine, which shows his skill as an orator, because he was clearing up the spiritual fog that Augustine had battled with for years, and he did it in a very skilled manner. Ambrose did not speak often outside of sermons however. Augustine says, "... his habit of reading silently was his need to conserve his voice, which was very prone to hoarseness. But whatever his reason, the man undoubtedly had a good one." Ambrose was obviously a very talented and convincing orator, and this showed Augustine that rhetoric did not have to be for show, but could contain great amounts of truth even in a small amount of words. This revolutionized his thinking about truth, and showed him all of the flaws and traps that he had fallen into because of those who were leading him.