Augustine said to St
Preserved but no longer current.
Ambrose: "At Rome they fast on Saturday, but not so at Milan; which practice ought to be observed?" To which St. Ambrose replied, "When I am at Milan, I do as they do at Milan; but when I go to Rome, I do as Rome does!" (Epistle xxxvi). Cp. 2 Kings v, 18.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Augustine said to St” mean?
Ambrose: "At Rome they fast on Saturday, but not so at Milan; which practice ought to be observed?" To which St. Ambrose replied, "When I am at Milan, I do as they do at Milan; but when I go to Rome, I do as Rome does!" (Epistle xxxvi). Cp. 2 Kings v, 18.
Is “Augustine said to St” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.