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Julian the Apostate



 
 
Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331/332 – 26 June 363
363

Events...
), was Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 (Caesar, November 355 to February 360; Augustus, February 360 to June 363) of the Constantinian dynasty
Constantinian dynasty

The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus to the death of Julian the Apostate in 363....
. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor, and expended much energy during his reign attempting to supplant the growing power of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 within the empire with officially revived traditional Roman religious practices
Religion in ancient Rome

Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome in the form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Roman mythology....
.

He is sometimes termed Julian the Apostate
Apostasy

Apostasy is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociology without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, one's former religion....
, because of his rejection of Christianity in favour of neoplatonic
Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonism....
 paganism
Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
; Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788....
 wrote:
The triumph of the party which he deserted and opposed has fixed a stain of infamy on the name of Julian; and the unsuccessful apostate has been overwhelmed with a torrent of pious invectives, of which the signal was given by the sonorous trumpet of Gregory Nazianzen.


In 363, Julian began a campaign against the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
.






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Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian or Julian the Apostate (331/332 – 26 June 363
363

Events...
), was Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 (Caesar, November 355 to February 360; Augustus, February 360 to June 363) of the Constantinian dynasty
Constantinian dynasty

The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus to the death of Julian the Apostate in 363....
. He was the last non-Christian Roman Emperor, and expended much energy during his reign attempting to supplant the growing power of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 within the empire with officially revived traditional Roman religious practices
Religion in ancient Rome

Ancient Roman religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome in the form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Roman mythology....
.

He is sometimes termed Julian the Apostate
Apostasy

Apostasy is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociology without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, one's former religion....
, because of his rejection of Christianity in favour of neoplatonic
Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonism....
 paganism
Paganism

Paganism is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic?traditions or folk religion?worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint....
; Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788....
 wrote:
The triumph of the party which he deserted and opposed has fixed a stain of infamy on the name of Julian; and the unsuccessful apostate has been overwhelmed with a torrent of pious invectives, of which the signal was given by the sonorous trumpet of Gregory Nazianzen.


In 363, Julian began a campaign against the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
. He died later that year from a wound received during a retreat during the campaign.

Life


Early life

Solidus Julian
Flavius Claudius Julianus, born in May or June 332 in Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
, was the son of Julius Constantius (consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in 335), half brother of Emperor Constantine I
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
, and his second wife, Basilina, both Christians. His paternal grandparents were Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus
Constantius Chlorus

Flavius Valerius Constantius , also Constantius I, was an Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire . He was commonly called Chlorus an epithet given to him by Byzantine Empire historians....
 and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora
Flavia Maximiana Theodora

File:Bronze-Flavia Maximiana Theodora-trier RIC 65.jpgFlavia Maximiana Theodora was the stepdaughter of Maximian. Her parents were Flavius Afranius Hannibalianus and wife, divorced before 283, Eutropia, later wife of Maximian....
. His maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus, praetorian prefect
Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the constant title of a high office in the Roman Empire state that changed fundamentally in nature.The praetorian prefect was commander of the Praetorian Guard until Constantine I abolished the guard in 314....
 of the Orient under emperor Licinius
Licinius

Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324.Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the Emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 297....
 from 315 to 324. The name of Julian's maternal grandmother is unknown.

In the turmoil after the death of Constantine in 337, in order to establish himself as sole emperor, Julian's zealous Arian
Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching of Arius , a Christian priest, who was first ruled a heresy at the First Council of Nicea, later exonerated and then pronounced a heretic again after his death....
 Christian cousin Constantius II
Constantius II

Flavius Iulius Constantius, known in English as Constantius II was a Roman Emperor of the Constantinian dynasty....
 led a massacre of Julian's family. Constantius II ordered the murders of many descendants from the second marriage of Constantius Chlorus and Theodora, leaving only Constantius and his brothers Constantine II
Constantine II (emperor)

Flavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine II, was List of Roman Emperors from 337 to 340. The eldest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, he was born at Arles, and was raised as a Christian....
 and Constans I, and their cousins, Julian and Gallus
Constantius Gallus

Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus , better known as Constantius Gallus, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty and Caesar of the Roman Empire ....
 (Julian's half-brother), as the surviving males related to Emperor Constantine. Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II were proclaimed joint emperors, each ruling a portion of Roman territory. Constantius II then saw to a strictly Arian Christian education of Julian and Gallus.

Most descriptions of the life of Julian speculate about his early psychological development and education; very little information about them has survived. Initially growing up in Bithynia, raised by his maternal grandmother, at the age of seven he was under the guardianship of Eusebius of Nicomedia
Eusebius of Nicomedia

Eusebius of Nicomedia was a bishop of Berytus in Phoenicia, then of Nicomedia where the imperial court resided in Bithynia, and finally of Constantinople from 338 up to his death....
, the semi-Arian Christian Bishop of Nicomedia, and taught by Mardonius, a Gothic
Goths

The Goths were East Germanic tribes who, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, invasion the Roman Empire and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the 5th and 6th centuries, divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy....
 eunuch
Eunuch

A eunuch is a castrated man, in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past....
, whom Julian wrote warmly of later. However, in 342, both Julian and Gallus were exiled to the imperial estate of Macellum in Cappadocia
Cappadocia

Cappadocia, Wikipedia:IPA for English /k?p?'do???/ , was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor . The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christianity tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international Tourism in Turkey concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by...
. Here Julian met the Christian bishop George of Cappadocia, who lent him books from the classical tradition. At the age of 18, the exile was lifted and he dwelt briefly in Constantinople and Nicomedia.

Julian wrote, in his thirty-first year, that he had spent twenty years in the "way of error" and eleven in the true way. He became a lector
Lector

Lector is a Latin language term for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages the word has come to take various forms, as either a development or a loanword, such as , , and ....
, a minor office in the Christian church, and his later writings show a detailed knowledge of the Bible, likely acquired in his early life.

Julian studied Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under Aedesius
Aedesius

Aedesius was a Neo-Platonism philosopher and mystic born of a noble Cappadocian family....
, the philosopher, and then Neoplatonic theurgy
Theurgy

Theurgy describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magic in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself....
 from Aedesius' student, Maximus of Ephesus
Maximus of Ephesus

Maximus of Ephesus was a 4th century pagan Greek Neoplatonist. He was a friend and mentor of Julian the Apostate and his collaborator in the restoration of paganism....
. He was summoned to Constantius' court in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
 in 354 and kept there for a year; in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study at Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
; Gregory Nazianzus met him there.

Julian's personal religion was bookish and philosophical; he viewed the traditional myths as allegories, in which the ancient gods were aspects of a philosophical divinity. The chief surviving sources are his orations on Helios
Helios

Helios is the god of sun.In Greek mythology the sun was personified as Helios . Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion , while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn....
 and the Great Mother
Great Mother

The Great Mother refers to the concept of the mother goddess, including:*Great Mother, anglicization of Latin Magna Mater, Roman title of the goddess Cybele...
, and they are panegyrics
Panegyric

A panegyric is a formal public speech , or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or object , a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical....
, not theological treatises. While there are clear resemblances to other forms of Late Antique religion, which variety is most similar is controversial. He learned theurgy
Theurgy

Theurgy describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magic in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself....
 from Maximus, a student of Iamblichus; his system bears some resemblance to the Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonism....
 of Plotinus
Plotinus

Plotinus was a major Philosophy of the ancient world who is widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism . Much of our biographical information about him comes from Porphyry 's preface to his edition of Plotinus' Enneads....
; Polymnia Athanassiadi has brought new attention to his relations with Mithraism, although whether he was initiated remains debatable; and certain aspects of his thought (such as his reorganization of paganism under High Priests, and his fundamental monotheism) may show Christian influence. Some of these potential sources have not come down to us, and all of them influenced each other, which adds to the difficulties.

The later emperor's study of Iamblichus and of theurgy are a source of criticism from his primary chronicler, Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
.

Rise to power

153 Julianus Ii
Constantine II died in 340 when he attacked his brother Constans. Constans in turn fell in 350 in the war against the usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
 Magnentius
Magnentius

Flavius Magnus Magnentius was a Roman usurper .Born in Samarobriva , Gaul, Magnentius was the commander of the Herculians and Iovians, the imperial guard units ....
. This left Constantius II as the sole remaining emperor. In need of support, in 351 he made Julian's half-brother, Gallus
Constantius Gallus

Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus , better known as Constantius Gallus, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty and Caesar of the Roman Empire ....
, Caesar
Caesar (title)

Caesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of emperor character. It derives from the Roman naming convention#Cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator....
 of the East, while Constantius II himself turned his attention westward to Magnentius, whom he defeated decisively that year. In 354 Gallus, who had imposed a rule of terror over the territories under his command, was executed. Julian was summoned to court, and held for a year, under suspicion of treasonable intrigue, first with his brother and then with Claudius Silvanus
Claudius Silvanus

Claudius Silvanus was a Ancient Rome general of Franks descent, Roman usurper in Gaul against Emperor Constantius II for 28 days in 355....
; he was cleared, in part because the Empress Eusebia
Eusebia

Eusebia may refer to:* Eusebia , second wife of the Roman emperor Constantius II* Ereleuva or Eusebia , the mother of Theoderic the Great* Kayseri or Eusebia, a Turkish city...
 intervened for him, and he was sent to Athens.

When Constantius found a Persian War on his hands, he needed a representative in Gaul. Julian was thus summoned to the emperor in Mediolanum
Mediolanum

Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was an important Celts and then Ancient Rome centre of northern Italy. This article charts the history of the city from its settlement by the Insubres around 600 BC, through its conquest by the Ancient Rome and its development into a key centre of Western Christianity and capital of the Western Roman Empire, un...
 (Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
) and, on 6 November 355
355

Events...
, made Caesar of the West and married to Constantius' sister, Helena
Helena, wife of Julian

Helena was the wife of Julian the Apostate, List of Roman Emperors. She was briefly his Empress consort when Julian was proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 360....
.

In the years afterwards Julian fought the Germanic tribes that tried to intrude upon the Roman Empire. He won back Colonia Agrippina (Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
) in 356, during his first campaign in Gaul. The following summer he led an army of 13,000 men to victory against the Alamanni
Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic languagess located around the upper Main river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211?17 and claimed thereby to be their defeater....
 at the Battle of Strasbourg
Battle of Strasbourg

The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Late Roman army under the Caesar Julian the Apostate and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount king Chnodomar....
, a major Roman victory. In 358, Julian gained victories over the Salian Franks
Salian Franks

File:Seal_of_Childeric_I_Tournai tomb.jpgThe Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the coastal area above the Rhine River in the northern Netherlands, where today there still is a region called Salland....
 on the Lower Rhine
Lower Rhine

The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea. Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches....
, settling them in Toxandria
Toxandria

Toxandria is the classical name for a region between the Meuse River and the Scheldt rivers in the Netherlands and Belgium. The name is also spelled Taxandria....
 in the Roman Empire, north of today's city of Tongeren, and over the Chamavi, who where expelled back to Hamaland
Hamaland

Hamaland is a non-administrative region in the east of the Netherlands that is named after the Frankish Chamavi-tribe. It is located east of the river Yssel and south of Salland and Twente ....
. During his residence in Gaul, Julian also attended to non-military matters. He prevented a tax increase by the Gallic praetorian prefect Florentius and personally administered the province of
Belgica Secunda
Gallia Belgica

Gallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany....
.

In the fourth year of his campaign in Gaul, the Sassanid Emperor
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
, Shapur II
Shapur II

Shapur II was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I ....
 invaded Mesopotamia and took the city of Amida
Diyarbakir

Diyarbakir is the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the seat of Diyarbakir Province, and has a population of 2.5 million....
 after a 73 day siege. In February 360, Constantius ordered Julian to send Gallic troops to his eastern army. This provoked an insurrection by troops of the
Petulantes
Petulantes

Petulantes was an auxilia palatina of the Roman Empire.The Petulantes were of Germanic origin, and it is possible they fought in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge for Emperor Constantine I ....
, who proclaimed Julian emperor in Paris, and led to a very swift military campaign to secure or win the allegiance of others. From June to August of that year, Julian led a successful campaign against the Attuarian Franks.

That same June, forces loyal to Constantius II captured the city of Aquileia
Aquileia

Aquileia is an ancient history Roman Republic city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic Sea at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times....
 on the north Adriatic coast, which was subsequently besieged by 23,000 men loyal to Julian. Civil war was avoided only by the death of Constantius II, who, in his last will, recognized Julian as his rightful successor.

Among his first actions, Julian reduced the expenses of the imperial court, removing all the eunuchs from the offices. He reduced the luxury of the court established with Constantius, reducing at the same time the number of servants and of the guard. He also started the Chalcedon tribunal
Chalcedon tribunal

Shortly after the death of Roman emperor Constantius II, his successor Julian the Apostate held a tribunal at the city of Chalcedon, which was then a suburb of Constantinople....
 where some followers of Constantius were tortured and killed under supervision of
magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
Arbitio
Arbitio

Arbitio was a Roman general and Consul who lived in the middle of the 4th century.He was a general of Constantine I and reached the highest military positions in the Roman army under his son and successor Constantius II and became commander of the cavalry in Gaul....
.

Political organization and administration

Julian's first experience with civil administration had begun in Gaul. Properly it was a role that belonged to the Praetorian Prefect Florentius. However, he and Julian often clashed over the administration of Gaul. Julian's first priority, as Caesar and nominal ranking commander in Gaul, was to drive out the barbarians who had breached the Rhine
Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
 frontier. However, he sought to win over the support of the civil population, which was necessary for his operations in Gaul and also to show his largely Germanic army the benefits of Imperial rule. He therefore felt it was necessary to rebuild stable and peaceful conditions in the devastated cities and countryside. For this reason, Julian clashed with Florentius over the latter's support of tax increases, as mentioned above, and Florentius's own corruption in the bureaucracy.

After ascending to the imperial throne, Julian instituted political reforms distinct from his religious activities. Julian's own personality tended to asceticism
Asceticism

Asceticism describes a life-style characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spirituality goals....
 and this was reflected in his new court, which was swiftly purged. Thousands of servants, eunuchs, and superfluous officials were summarily dismissed. This was Julian's attack on a system which he viewed as inefficient, corrupt, and expensive. He continually sought to reduce what he saw as burdensome and corrupt bureaucracy within the Imperial administration whether it involved civic officials, the secret agents, or the imperial post service.

Julian saw his role as emperor differently than his immediate predecessors. He made no attempt to restore the tetrarch
Tetrarch

Tetrarch is a Greek language term for a holder of Roman Emperor office under a Tetrarchy. It was applied earlier to rulers of minor principalities owing allegiance to Rome....
al system begun under Diocletian
Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
. Nor did he seek to rule as an absolute autocrat. His own philosophic notions led him to idealize the reigns of Hadrian
Hadrian

Publius Aelius Hadrianus , as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after his apotheosis, known as Hadrian in English language, was Roman Emperor of Roman Empire from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoicism and Epicureanism philosopher....
 and Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
. In his first panegyric
Panegyric

A panegyric is a formal public speech , or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or object , a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical....
 to Constantius, Julian described the ideal ruler as being essentially
primus inter pares
Primus inter pares

Primus inter pares , the first among equals, or first among peers is a phrase which indicates that a person is the most senior of a group of people sharing the same rank or office....
, operating under the same laws as his subjects. Functionally, this meant that the authority of the cities was expanded at the expense of the imperial bureaucracy as Julian sought to reduce direct imperial involvement in urban affairs. For example, city land owned by the imperial government was returned to the cities, city council members were compelled to resume civic authority, often against their will, and the tribute in gold by the cities called the was made voluntary rather than a compulsory tax. Additionally, arrears of land taxes were canceled.

These reforms were not prompted by some sense of ancient liberalism. Just as he ceded much of the authority of the imperial government to the cities, Julian also took more direct control himself. For example, new taxes and corvée
Corvée

Corv?e is labour, often but not always unpaid, that persons in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform, unless commuted in some way, such as by a cash payment; sometimes this was an option of the payer, sometimes of the payee, and sometimes not an option....
s had to be approved by him directly rather than left to the judgment of the bureaucratic apparatus. Julian certainly had a clear idea of what he wanted Roman society to be, both in political as well as religious terms. The terrible and violent dislocation of the 3rd century meant that the Eastern Mediterranean had become the economic locus of the empire. If the cities were treated as relatively autonomous local administrative areas, it would simplify the problems of imperial administration, which as far as Julian was concerned, should be focused on the administration of the law and defense of the empire's vast frontiers.

In replacing Constantius's political and civil appointees, Julian drew heavily from the intellectual and professional classes, or kept reliable holdovers, such as the rhetoric
Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Along with logic and dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse....
ian Themistius. His choice of consuls for the year 362 was more controversial. One was the very acceptable Claudius Mamertinus, previously the Praetorian
Praetorian

Praetorian is an adjective derived from the ancient Roman office of praetor. It may refer to:*the Praetorian Guard, a special force of skilled and celebrated troops serving as the personal guard of Roman Emperors....
 Prefect of Illyricum
Illyricum

Illyricum can refer to:* Illyricum * Diocese of Illyricum* Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...
. The other, more surprising choice was Nevitta, Julian's trusted Frankish general. This latter appointment reflected the fact that for all his literary refinement and philosophic ideals, Julian's authority depended on the power of the army, especially the Western army which had acclaimed him.

Restoration of Paganism and tolerance of the cults

After gaining the purple, Julian started a religious reformation of the state, which was intended to restore the lost strength of the Roman State. He supported the restoration of Hellenic
Roman Greece

Roman Greece is the period of History of Greece following the Roman victory over the Corinthians at the Battle of Corinth 146 BC until the reestablishment of the city of Byzantium and the naming of the city by the Emperor Constantine I as the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD....
 paganism as the state religion. His laws tended to target wealthy and educated Christians, and his aim was not to destroy Christianity but to drive the religion out of "the governing classes of the empire — much as Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 was driven back into the lower classes by a revived Confucian mandarinate in 13th century China
Culture of the Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a culturally-rich and sophisticated age for China. There was blossoming of and advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy....
."

He restored pagan temples which had been confiscated since Constantine's time, or simply appropriated by wealthy citizens; he repealed the stipends that Constantine had awarded to Christian bishops, and removed their other privileges, including a right to be consulted on appointments and to act as private courts. He reversed some favors given Christians. For example, he reversed the declaration that Majuma, the port of Gaza
Gaza

Gaza is a Palestinian people city in the Gaza Strip, approximately southwest of Jerusalem, with a population of 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
, was a separate city
Polis

A polis -- plural: poleis --is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. When used to describe Classical Athens and its contemporaries, polis is often translated as "city-state."...
. Majuma had a large Christian congregation while Gaza was still predominantly pagan.
Edward Armitage   Julian the Apostate Presiding At A Conference of Sectarian   1875
On 4 February 362
362

Events...
, Julian promulgated an edict to guarantee freedom of religion. This edict proclaimed that all the religions were equal before the law, and that the Roman Empire had to return to its original religious eclecticism, according to which the Roman State did not impose any religion on its provinces. Practically however, it had as its purpose the restoration of paganism at the expense of Christianity.

During his earlier years, while studying at Athens, Julian became acquainted with two men who later became both bishops and saints: Gregory Nazianzus and Basil the Great; in the same period, Julian was also initiated to the Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremony held every year for the Cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance....
, which he would later try to restore.

Saint Mercurius Killing Iulian
Julian's religious status is a matter of considerable dispute. According to one theory (that of G.W. Bowersock in particular), Julian's paganism was highly eccentric and atypical because it was heavily influenced by an esoteric approach to Platonic philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 sometimes identified as
theurgy
Theurgy

Theurgy describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magic in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself....
and also neoplatonism
Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonism....
. Others (Rowland Smith, in particular) have argued that Julian's philosophical perspective was nothing unusual for a "cultured" Pagan of his time, and, at any rate, that Julian's Paganism was not limited to philosophy alone, and that he was deeply devoted to the same Gods and Goddesses as other Pagans of his day. According to Christian historian Socrates Scholasticus
Socrates Scholasticus

Socrates of Constantinople was a Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret, who used his work; he was born at Constantinople c....
 (iii, 21), Julian believed himself to be Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 in another body via transmigration
Reincarnation

Reincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or Metaphysics belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body....
 of soul
Soul

In many religions and parts of philosophy, the soul is the immaterial part of a person. It is usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and Personality psychology, and can be synonymous with the spirit, mind or self....
s, as taught by Plato
Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
 and Pythagoras
Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionians Ancient Greeks mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He is often revered as a great mathematician, mysticism and scientist; however some have questioned the scope of his contributions to mathematics and natural philosophy....
.

Since the persecution of Christians by past Roman Emperors had seemingly only strengthened Christianity, many of Julian's actions were designed to harass and undermine the ability of Christians to organize resistance to the re-establishment of paganism in the empire. Julian's preference for a non-Christian and non-philosophical view of Iamblichus' theurgy seems to have convinced him that it was right to outlaw the practice of the Christian view of theurgy and demand the suppression of the Christian set of Mysteries. The Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 and Roman Catholic Churches retell a story concerning two of his bodyguards who were Christian. When Julian came to Antioch
Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the nearer East and was a cradle of gentile hi...
, he prohibited the veneration of the relics. The two bodyguards opposed the edict, and were executed at Julian's command. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches remember them as saints Juventinus
Saint Juventinus

Saint Juventinus or Juventius was a member of the Herculians of Julian the Apostate.Before starting his campaign against the Sassanid Empire, Julian issued an edict that prohibited the veneration of the relics in Antioch....
 and Maximus.

In his
School Edict Julian required that all public teachers be approved by the Emperor; the state paid or supplemented much of their salaries. Ammianus Marcellinus explains this as intended to prevent Christian teachers from using pagan texts (such as the Iliad
ILiad

The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
, which was widely regarded as divinely inspired) that formed the core of classical education: "If they want to learn literature, they have Luke
Gospel of Luke

The Gospel of Luke is a Synoptic Gospels, and is the third and longest of the four Biblical canonical Gospels of the New Testament. The text narrates the life of Jesus of Nazareth....
 and Mark
Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament and was probably the first of the three synoptic gospels to be written....
: Let them go back to their churches and expound on them", the edict says. This was an attempt to remove some of the power of Christian schools which at that time and later used ancient Greek literature in their teachings in their effort to present Christian religion superior to paganism. The edict was also a severe financial blow, as it deprived Christian scholars, tutors and teachers of many students.

In his
Tolerance Edict of 362, Julian decreed the reopening of pagan temples, the restitution of alienated temple properties, and the return from exile of dissident Christian bishops. The latter was an instance of tolerance of different religious views, but may also have been seen as an attempt by Julian to foster schism and division between different Christian sects, as conflict between rival Christian sects was quite fierce.

Julian also clashed with one of the most basic beliefs of Christianity, the common origin of all humanity, preferring pagan alternatives and using arguments about human differences that would become common again during the age of European exploration. In
Race: The History of an Idea in America, Thomas Gossett described the difference, noting that: "Julian questioned the idea that all mankind is descended from a single pair. He pointed out: 'How very different in their bodies are the Germans and Scythians from the Libyans and Ethiopians.' Even more do these people differ in their dispositions and intelligence.... He argued that mankind could not possibly be all descended from one pair because the world had not existed long enough to be peopled under such an arrangement."

Gossett went on to explain how Julian derived his idea from Plato: "Julian preferred to accept another account of creation, that found in Plato's
Timaeus. There mankind is said to have originated from drops of sacred blood which fell from Zeus. Whereas Zeus was the creator of all men, different peoples have inherited their peculiar characteristics from lesser deities."

Because Christian charities
Charitable organization

The definition of charitable organization, and of charity, varies according to the country and in some instances the region of the country in which the charitable organization operates....
 were beneficial to all, including pagans, it put this aspect of the Roman citizens lives out of the control of the Imperial authority and under that of the Church. Thus Julian envisioned the institution of a Roman philanthropic system, and cared for the behaviour and the morality of the pagan priests, in the hope that it would mitigate the reliance of pagans on Christian charity:

His care in the institution of a pagan hierarchy in opposition to that of the Christians was due to his wish to create a society in which every aspect of the life of the citizens was to be connected, through layers of intermediate levels, to the consolidated figure of the Emperor - the final provider for all the needs of his people. Within this project, there was no place for a parallel institution, such as the Christian hierarchy or Christian charity.

After his arrival in Antioch in preparation for the Persian war, the temple of Apollo
Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
 burned down. Since Julian believed Christians to be responsible, their main church was closed.

Attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple


In 363, Julian, on his way to engage Persia, stopped at the ruins
Western Wall

The Western Wall , sometimes referred to as the Wailing Wall or simply the Kotel , and as al-Buraq Wall by Muslims, is an important Jewish religious site located in the Old City ....
 of the Second Temple
Second Temple

The Second Temple was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem which stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE. During this time, it was the center of Judaism worship, which focused on the sacrifices known as the korbanot....
 in Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
. In keeping with his effort to foster religions other than Christianity, Julian ordered the Temple rebuilt. A personal friend of his, Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
, wrote this about the effort:

The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to an earthquake, common in the region, and to the Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time. Julian's support of Jews
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, coming after the hostility of many earlier Emperors, meant that Jews called him
Julian the Hellene
Names of the Greeks

Since the time of Homer, some Greeks have called themselves Hellenes ; in Homer, Greece and "Hellenes" were names of the tribe settled in Thessaly Phthia, led in the Iliad by Achilles....
.

Clash with Antiochenes

In order to prepare the army for the upcoming expedition against Persians, Julian spent the 361-362 winter in Antioch. His time there wasn't a happy one. At first, he tried to resurrect the ancient oracular spring of Castalia at the temple of Apollo at Daphne. After being advised that the bones of 3rd-century martyred bishop Babylas were suppressing the god, he made a public-relations mistake in ordering the removal of the bones from the vicinity of the temple. The result was a massive Christian procession. Shortly after that, when the temple was destroyed by fire, Julian hastily blamed the Christians and ordered severe investigations. He also shut up the chief Christian church of the city, before the investigations proved that the fire was the result of an accident.

After a food shortage in the city, his relationship with the citizens of Antioch worsened even more. He tried to fix the prices for grain and import more from Egypt. Then landholders refused to sell theirs, claiming that the harvest was so bad that they had to be compensated with fair prices. Julian accused them of price gouging
Price gouging

Price gouging is a pejorative term for a seller pricing much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. In precise, legal usage, it is the name of a felony that applies in some of the United States only during civil emergencies....
 and forced them to sell. Various parts of Libanius orations may suggest that both sides were justified to some extent while Ammianus blames Julian for "a mere thirst for popularity".

Julian's ascetic lifestyle was not popular either, since his subjects were accustomed to the idea of an all-powerful emperor that placed himself well above them. Nor did he improve his dignity with his own participation in the ceremonial of bloody sacrifices. As David S. Potter says:

He then tried to address public criticism and mocking of him by issuing Misopogon
Misopogon

The Misopogon, or Beard-Hater, is a satirical essay on philosophers by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. It was written in Koine Greek....
 or "Beard Hater". There he finally blames the people of Antioch for preferring that their ruler have his virtues in the face rather than in the soul.

Death

Death of Julian   Manuscript
In March 363, Julian began his campaign against the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
, with the ambitious goal of laying siege on the Sassanid capital city of Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire, located on the east bank of the Tigris.Ctesiphon was an imperial capital of the Arsacids and of their successors, the Sassanids....
 and retaking many of the lands the Romans had lost under Constantius II. His motivation for this ambitious operation are, at best, unclear. There was no direct necessity for an invasion, as the Sassanids sent envoys in the hope of settling matters peacefully. Julian rejected this offer. Ammianus states that Julian longed for revenge on the Persians and that a certain desire for combat and glory also played a role in his decision to go to war. He also saw the opportunity to replace king Shapur II
Shapur II

Shapur II was the ninth King of the Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I ....
 with his brother Ormisdas.

It should also be considered that even Julian's authority rested on shaky ground. It was true that he was, as a grandson of Constantius Chlorus and a cousin to Constantius, a member of the ruling dynasty. Yet his ascension to Augustus was not a smooth promotion, but the result of military insurrection eased by Constantius's sudden death. Julian could count on the wholehearted support of the Western army. But the eastern army was an unknown quantity originally loyal to his cousin, and he had been compelled to make concessions to it at the Chalcedon Tribunal. Only by leading its soldiers to victory could Julian fully count on its loyalty, and the Persian campaign offered such an opportunity.

Receiving encouragement from an oracle in the old Sibylline Books
Sibylline Books

The Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracle utterances, set out in Ancient Greece hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Ancient Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
 mailed
Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
 from Rome, and moving forward from Antioch with about 90,000 men, Julian entered Sassanid territory. Julian decided that the best way to assault the Sassanid capitol was to split this force. An army of 30,000 was sent, under the command of Procopius
Procopius (usurper)

Procopius , was a Roman usurper against Valentinian I, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius was a native of Cilicia....
, to Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
, whence, having received reinforcements from the King of Armenia, it was to attack the Sassanid capital from the north. Julian victoriously led the rest of the forces under his command into enemy territory, conquering several cities and defeating the Sassanid troops. Upon his arrival under the walls of the Sassanid capital, the forces sent to come from the North under Procopius had not arrived. Julian's forces defeated a superior Sassanid army in front of the city of Ctesiphon (Battle of Ctesiphon
Battle of Ctesiphon (363)

The Battle of Ctesiphon took place on May 29, 363 between the armies of Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate and the Sassanid empire Shapur II of Persia outside the walls of the Persian capital Ctesiphon....
), however he could not take the Persian capital. Also another Sassanid force, much larger than the one he had just defeated was approaching rapidly on his position. So Julian decided to lead his army back to the safety of the Roman borders.

During this retreat, on 26 June 363, Julian died during an indecisive battle near Maranga
Battle of Samarra

The battle of Samarra took place on 26 June of 363, after the invasion of Sassanid Empire by the Roman Empire. It was a major skirmish with the Persians with indecisive results....
, when the Sassanid army raided his column. While pursuing the retreating enemy with few men, Julian acted valiantly yet foolishly by rushing into battle without wearing armor. He received a wound from a spear that reportedly pierced the lower lobe of his liver, the peritoneum and intestines. The wound was not immediately deadly. Julian was treated by his personal physician, Oribasius
Oribasius

Oribasius or Oreibasius was a Ancient Greece medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue....
 of Pergamum, who seems to have made every attempt to treat the wound. This probably included the irrigation of the wound with a dark wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
, and a procedure known as gastrorrhaphy, in which an attempt is made to suture the damaged intestine
Intestine

In anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the Gastrointestinal tract extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine....
.

In 364, Libanius stated that Julian was assassinated by a Christian who was one of his own soldiers; this charge is not corroborated by Ammianus Marcellinus or other contemporary historians. Joannes Malalas
John Malalas

John Malalas or Ioannes Malalas was a , Byzantine Empire chronicler. He was born at Antioch....
 reports that the supposed assassination was commanded by Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea

Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian and monastic....
.. Fourteen years later, Libanius said that Julian was killed by a Saracen and this may have been confirmed by Julian's doctor Oribasius who, having examined the wound, said that it was from a spear used by a group of Saracen auxiliaries in Persian service. Later Christian historians propagated the tradition that Julian was killed by a saint. Julian was succeeded by the short-lived Emperor Jovian
Jovian

Flavius Iovianus, anglicized to Jovian, was a soldier elected Roman Emperor by the army on 27 June 363 upon the death of Emperor Julian the Apostate during his Sassanid Empire campaign....
 who succeeded in reestablishing Christianity in ethos of power within the Empire.

Libanius says in his epitaph of the deceased emperor (18.304) that "I have mentioned representations (of Julian); many cities have set him beside the images of the gods and honour him as they do the gods. Already a blessing has been besought of him in prayer, and it was not in vain. To such an extent has he literally ascended to the gods and received a share of their power from him themselves." However, no similar action was taken by the Roman central government, which would be more and more dominated by Christians in the ensuing decades.

Considered apocryphal is the report that his dying words were
?e??????? µe, Ga???a?e, or Vicisti, Galilaee ("You have won, Galilean
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
"), supposedly expressing his recognition that, with his death, Christianity would become the Empire's state religion. The phrase introduces the 1866 poem
Hymn to Proserpine
Hymn to Proserpine

"Hymn to Proserpine" is a poem by Algernon Swinburne, published in 1866. The poem is addressed to the goddess Proserpina, the Roman equivalent of Persephone....
, which was Algernon Swinburne's elaboration of what a philosophic pagan might have felt at the triumph of Christianity.

Writings

Julian wrote several works in Greek, some of which have come down to us.
  • Oration I. Panegyric In Honour Of Constantius
  • Oration II. The Heroic Deeds Of Constantius
  • Oration III. Panegyric In Honour Of Eusebia
  • Oration IV. Hymn To King Helios
  • Oration V. Hymn To The Mother Of The Gods
  • Oration VI. To the Uneducated Cynics
  • Oration VII. To The Cynic Heracleios
    Heraclius the Cynic

    Heraclius who lived in the 4th century, was a Cynic philosopher, against whom the emperor Julian the Apostate wrote in his seventh oration. Julian relates how Heraclius delivered an allegorical fable before him, in which Heraclius took upon himself the part of Jupiter , and gave the emperor that of the god Pan ....
  • Oration VIII. Consolation Upon the Departure of Sallust
  • Letter To Themistius The Philosopher
  • Letter To The Senate And People of Athens
  • Fragment Of A Letter To A Priest
  • The Caesars
  • Misopogon
    Misopogon

    The Misopogon, or Beard-Hater, is a satirical essay on philosophers by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. It was written in Koine Greek....
    , Or, Beard-Hater
  • Letters
  • Epigrams
  • Against the Galilaeans


The religious works contain involved philosophical speculations, and the panegyrics to Constantius are formulaic and elaborate in style.

The
Misopogon
Misopogon

The Misopogon, or Beard-Hater, is a satirical essay on philosophers by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. It was written in Koine Greek....
(or "Beard Hater") is a light-hearted account of his clash with the inhabitants of Antioch after he was mocked for his beard and generally scruffy appearance for an emperor. The Caesars is a humorous tale of a contest between some of the most notable Roman emperors: Caesar
Caesar

Caesar or C?sar may refer to the following:...
, Augustus, Trajan
Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
, Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important stoicism philosophy....
, Constantine, and also interestingly Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
. This was a satiric attack upon the recent Constantine, whose worth, both as a Christian and as the leader of the Roman Empire, Julian severely questions.

The most important of his lost works is his
Against the Galileans, intended to refute the Christian religion. The only parts of this work which survive are those excerpted by Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria

Saint Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria when Alexandria was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries....
, who gives extracts from the three first books in his refutation of Julian,
Contra Julianum. These extracts do not give an adequate idea of the work: Cyril confesses that he had not ventured to copy several of the weightiest arguments.

These have been edited and translated several times since the Renaissance, most often separately; but all are translated in the Loeb Classical Library
Loeb Classical Library

The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by the Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek Literature and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each left-hand leaf, and a fairly...
 edition of 1913, edited by Wilbur Cave Wright.

In fiction

  • Julian's life inspired the play Emperor and Galilean
    Emperor and Galilean

    Emperor and Galilean is a Play written by Henrik Ibsen and published in 1873. It is Ibsen's longest play, and he considered it his magnum opus....
    by Henrik Ibsen
    Henrik Ibsen

    Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major Nineteenth-century theatre Norway playwright of realism drama and poet. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama" and is one of the founders of modernism in the theatre....
    .


  • Julian's life and reign were the subject of the novel The Death of the Gods (Julian the Apostate) (1895) in the trilogy of historical novels entitled "Christ and Antichrist" (1895-1904) by the Russian Symbolist
    Russian Symbolism

    Russian Symbolism was an intellectual and artistic movement predominant at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It represented the Russian branch of the Symbolism in European art, and was mostly known for its contributions to Russian poetry....
     poet, novelist and literary theoretician Dmitrii S. Merezhkovskii
    Dmitry Merezhkovsky

    Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky, was one of the earliest and most eminent ideologues of Russian Symbolism. His wife Zinaida Gippius, a poet like him, ran a fashionable salon in St....
    .


  • The opera Der Apostat (1924) by the composer and conductor Felix Weingartner
    Felix Weingartner

    Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von M?nzberg was an Austrian Conducting, composer and pianist....
     is about Julian.


  • Julian was the subject of a detailed, carefully researched novel, Julian
    Julian (historical novel)

    Julian by Gore Vidal is a work of historical fiction written primarily in the first person dealing with the life of the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, , who reigned 360-363 CE....
    (1964), by Gore Vidal
    Gore Vidal

    Gore Vidal is an United States novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, short story writer and politician. Early in his career he wrote the ground-breaking The City and the Pillar , which outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality....
    , describing his life and times. It is notable for, among other things, its scathing critique of Christianity.


  • Julian appeared in Gods and Legions, by Michael Curtis Ford
    Michael Curtis Ford

    Michael Curtis Ford is an American historical novelist, writing novels about Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. He has worked variously as a laborer, a ski patrolman, a musician, a consultant, a banker, a Latin teacher, and a translator....
     (2002). Julian's tale was told by his closest companion, the Christian saint, Caesarius and accounts for the transition from a Christian philosophy student in Athens to a pagan Roman Augustus of the old nature.


  • Julian's letters are an important part of the symbolism of Michel Butor
    Michel Butor

    Michel Butor is a France writer....
    's novel
    La Modification
    La Modification

    Second Thoughts is a novel by Michel Butor. It is the author's most famous work....
    .


  • The fantasy alternate history The Dragon Waiting
    The Dragon Waiting

    The Dragon Waiting: A Masque of History is a fantasy novel by John M. Ford, published in 1983 in literature. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel#1984....
    by John M. Ford
    John M. Ford

    John Milo "Mike" Ford was an United States science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet.Ford was regarded as an extraordinarily intelligent, erudite and witty man....
    , while set in the time of the Wars of the Roses
    Wars of the Roses

    The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of House of Lancaster and House of York....
    , uses the reign of Julian as its point of divergence
    Point of divergence

    In discussion of counterfactual history, a divergence point , also referred to as a departure point or point of divergence is a historical event, with two possible postulated outcomes....
    . His reign not being cut short, he was successful in disestablishing Christianity and restoring a religiously eclectic societal order which survived the fall of Rome and into the Renaissance
    Renaissance

    The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
    .


  • Julian's rise and fall, as narrated by his physician Oribasius, are portrayed in Who Killed Apollo and Julian Augustus, a novel (2006) by Reynold Spector, based on a Greek manuscript the author discovered.


  • Julian's life served as the basis for the novella Julian: A Christmas Story
    Julian: A Christmas Story

    Julian: A Christmas Story is a dystopian speculative fiction novella written by Robert Charles Wilson....
    by Robert Charles Wilson
    Robert Charles Wilson

    Robert Charles Wilson is a contemporary science fiction author.Wilson was born in the United States in California, but grew up near Toronto, Ontario....
    , which was nominated for a Hugo Award
    Hugo Award

    The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories....
     in 2007.


  • Julian appears in Warrior Nun Areala
    Warrior Nun Areala

    Warrior Nun Areala is a manga-style American comic book character created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press. First appearing in Ninja High School #38 1987), she has since appeared in her own comic books beginning with Warrior Nun Areala Vol....
    as supervillain Julian Salvius
    Characters in Warrior Nun Areala

    The characters within the Warrior Nun Areala comic series are well developed. Through the serial nature of publication of these fictitious adventures several heroes have been developed....
    . There he is portrayed as having survived into modern times and as seeking revenge against the Church for having been cursed by the Christians.


Primary sources


Julian's writings


About Julian
  • Ammianus Marcellinus
    Ammianus Marcellinus

    Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Ancient Rome historian. His is the last major historical account of the late Roman empire which survives today....
    ,
    Res Gestae, Libri XV-XXV (books 15-25)
  • Claudius Mamertinus
    Claudius Mamertinus

    Claudius Mamertinus was an official in the Roman Empire. In late 361 he took part in the Chalcedon tribunal to condemn the ministers of Constantius II, and in 362, he was made consul as a reward by the new Emperor Julian the Apostate; on January 1 of that year he delivered a panegyric in Constantinople by way of thanks to the Emperor....
    , "
    Gratiarum actio Mamertini de consulato suo Iuliano Imperatori", Panegyrici Latini
    Panegyrici Latini

    The Panegyrici Latini or Latin Panegyrics is a collection of twelve Ancient Rome panegyric orations. The authors of most of the speeches in the collection are anonymous, but appear to have been Gallic in origin....
    , panegyric delivered in Constantinople in 362, also as a speech of thanks at his assumption of the office of consul of that year
  • Gregory Nazianzen, Orations, "", ""
  • Libanius
    Libanius

    Libanius was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the later Roman Empire, an educated Pagan of the Sophist school in an Empire that was turning Christian....
    ,


Secondary sources

  • Athanassiadi, Polymnia. Julian. An Intellectual Biography Routledge, London, 1992, ISBN 0-415-07763-X
  • Bowersock, Glen Warren. Julian the Apostate. London, 1978
  • Browning, Robert. The Emperor Julian, London, 1975.
  • Lascaratos, John and Dionysios Voros. 2000 Fatal Wounding of the Byzantine Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363 A.D.): Approach to the Contribution of Ancient Surgery. World J. Surg 24: 615-619
  • Lenski, Noel Emmanuel Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century AD UC Press: London, 2003
  • Lieu, Samuel N. From Constantine to Julian: A Source History Routledge: New York, 1996
  • Murdoch, Adrian. The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World, Stroud, 2005, ISBN 0-7509-4048-4
  • Rohrbacher, David. Historians of Late Antiquity. Routledge: New York, 2002, ISBN 0-415-20459-3
  • Rosen, Klaus. Julian. Kaiser, Gott und Christenhasser. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart, 2006.
  • Smith, Rowland. Julian's gods: religion and philosophy in the thought and action of Julian the Apostate, London, 1995, ISBN 0-415-03487-6
  • David S. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay AD180-395, Routledge, New York, 2004, ISBN 0-415-10058-5


See also

  • Saint Basil of Ancyra
    Basil of Ancyra

    Basil of Ancyra, was a priest in Ancyra, Galatia during the fourth century. Very meager information about his life is preserved in a metaphrastic work: ?Life and Deeds of the Martyred Priest Basil.? He fought against the pagans and the Arianism....
  • Saint Eupsychios of Caesarea
  • Diodore of Tarsus
  • Anbar
    Anbar

    Anbar was a town in Iraq, at lat. 33 deg. 22' N., long. 43 deg. 49' E, on the east bank of the Euphrates, just south of the Nahr Isa, or Sakhlawieh canal, the northernmost of the canals connecting that river with the Tigris....
  • Saint Dorotheus of Tyre
    Dorotheus of Tyre

    Saint Dorotheus bishop of Tyre is traditionally credited with an Acts of the Seventy Apostles , who were sent out according to the Gospel of Luke 10:1....
  • John and Paul
    John and Paul

    John and Paul are saints in the Roman Catholic Church. They were martyred at Rome on 26 June. They should not be confused with the famous apostles of the same name ....
  • Cyril of Heliopolis
  • Julian (historical novel)
    Julian (historical novel)

    Julian by Gore Vidal is a work of historical fiction written primarily in the first person dealing with the life of the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, , who reigned 360-363 CE....
    , a popular historical novel about Julian the Apostate written by Gore Vidal
    Gore Vidal

    Gore Vidal is an United States novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, short story writer and politician. Early in his career he wrote the ground-breaking The City and the Pillar , which outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality....


External links

  • by Libanius, who knew Julian well and admired him
  • This shows laws passed by Julian relating to Christianity.