Julian II
‘The Apostate’ – Roman Caesar:
355-361 A.D. –
Emperor
: 361-363 A.D. –
Julian II
as Caesar
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Flavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian, Julian the
Apostate or Julian the Philosopher (331/332
– 26 June 363
,
Greek
:Ιουλιανός), was
Roman
Emperor
(Caesar,
November 355 to February 360; Augustus, February 360 to June 363), last of the
Constantinian dynasty
. Julian was a man of “unusually complex character”: he
was “the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man
of letters”.
Julian was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire and it was his
desire to bring the empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to save it
from “dissolution”.
He purged the top-heavy state bureaucracy and attempted to revive
traditional Roman religious practices
at the cost of
Christianity
. His rejection of Christianity in favour of
Neo
–Platonic
paganism
caused him to be called Julian the
Apostate
by
the church, as
Edward Gibbon
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, after a reign of only 19 months as absolute ruler of the Roman
Empire, Julian died in Persia during a campaign against the
Sassanid Empire
.
//
Life
Early
life
Flavius Claudius Julianus, born in May or June 332 or 331 in
Constantinople
, was the son of Julius Constantius (consul
in 335), half brother of Emperor
Constantine I
, and his second wife, Basilina, both Christians. His paternal
grandparents were
Western Roman Emperor
Constantius Chlorus
and his second wife,
Flavia Maximiana Theodora
. His maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus,
praetorian prefect of the East
under emperor
Licinius
from 315 to 324 and consul
after 325.
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
Christian cousin
Constantius II
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
and
Constans I
,
and their cousins, Julian and
Gallus
(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. Julian and Gallus were
excluded from public life and given a strictly Arian Christian education.
Initially growing up in Bithynia, raised by his maternal grandmother, at the
age of seven he was under the guardianship of
Eusebius of Nicomedia
, the semi-Arian Christian Bishop of Nicomedia, and
taught by Mardonius, a
Gothic
eunuch
, whom Julian wrote warmly of later. After Eusebius died in 342, both
Julian and Gallus were exiled to the imperial estate of Macellum in
Cappadocia
.
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.
He became a lector
, a minor office in the Christian church, and his later writings show
a detailed knowledge of the Bible, likely acquired in his early life.
(Looking back on his life in 362, Julian wrote, in his thirty-first year, that
he had spent twenty years in the way of Christianity and twelve in the true way
(ie the way of Helios).)
Julian studied Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under
Aedesius
,
the philosopher, and then Neoplatonic
theurgy
from
Aedesius’ student,
Maximus of Ephesus
. He was summoned to Constantius’ court in
Milan
in 354 and
kept there for a year; in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study
in Athens
.
While there, Julian became acquainted with two men who later became both bishops
and saints:
Gregory of Nazianzus
and
Basil the Great
; in the same period, Julian was also initiated into the
Eleusinian Mysteries
, which he would later try to restore.
Constantine II died in 340 when he attacked his brother Constans. Constans in
turn fell in 350 in the war against the
usurper
Magnentius
. This left Constantius II as the sole remaining emperor. In need
of support, in 351 he made Julian’s half-brother,
Gallus
,
Caesar
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
; he was cleared, in part because the Empress
Eusebia
intervened on his behalf, and he was sent to Athens. (Julian
expresses his gratitude to the empress Eusebia in his third oration.)
Caesar
in Gaul
After dealing with the rebellions of Magnentius and Sylvanus, Constantius
felt he needed a permanent representative in Gaul. Julian was thus summoned to
appear before the emperor in
Mediolanum
(Milan) and, on 6
November 355
, he was
made Caesar of the West and married Constantius’ sister,
Helena
. Constantius, after his experience with Gallus, intended his
representative to be more a figurehead than an active participant in events, so
he packed Julian off to Gaul with a small retinue and Constantius’ prefects in
Gaul would keep him in check. Julian, however, had other ideas, taking every
opportunity to involve himself in the affairs of Gaul.
In the following years Julian learned how to lead and then run an army, through
a series of campaigns against the
Germanic tribes
that had settled on both sides of the Rhine.
Campaigns
against the Germanic tribes
In 356 during his first campaign he led an army to the Rhine, engaged the
barbarians and won back several towns that had fallen into
Frankish
hands,
including Colonia Agrippina (Cologne).
With success under his belt he withdrew for the winter to Gaul, distributing his
forces to protect various towns, and choosing the small town of Senon near
Verdun to await the spring.
This turned out to be a tactical error, for he was left with insufficient forces
to defend himself when a large contingent of Franks besieged the town and Julian
was virtually held captive there for several months, until his general Marcellus
deigned to lift the siege. There seem to have been poor relations between Julian
and Marcellus. Constantius accepted Julian’s report of events and Marcellus was
replaced as
magister equitum
by Severus.
The following year saw a combined operation planned by Constantius to regain
control of the Rhine from the Germanic tribes that had spilt across the river
onto the west bank. From the south his magister peditum
Barbatio
was to come from Milan and amass forces at
Augst
(near the Rhine bend), then set off north with 25,000 soldiers; Julian with
13,000 troops would move east from
Reims
. However, while Julian was in transit, a group of
Laeti
attacked
Lyon (“Lugdunum”)
and Julian was delayed in order to deal with them. This left Barbatio
unsupported and deep in
Alamanni
territory, so he felt obliged to withdraw, retracing his steps. Thus ended the
coordinated operation against the Germanic tribes.
With Barbatio safely out of the picture, king
Chnodomarius
led a confederation of Alamanni forces against Julian and
Severus in a battle that took place in the vicinity of
Strasbourg
. The Romans were heavily outnumbered
and during the heat of battle a group of 600 horsemen on the right wing
deserted,
yet, taking full advantage of the limitations of the terrain, the Romans were
overwhelmingly victorious. The enemy was routed and driven into the river. King
Chnodomarius was captured and later sent to Constantius in Milan.
Ammianus, who was a participant in the battle, portrays Julian in charge of
events on the battlefield
and describes how the soldiers, because of this success, acclaimed Julian
attempting to make him Augustus, an acclamation he rejected, rebuking them. He
later rewarded them for their valor.
Rather than chase the routed enemy across the Rhine, Julian now proceeded to
follow the Rhine north, the route he followed the previous year on his way back
to Gaul, but at the Mainz
bridge he crossed over and made a sudden foray into Alamanni
territory, where Roman forces had not been seen for many years, forcing three
kings to submit. This action showed the Alamanni that Rome was once again
present and active in the area. On his way back to winter quarters in Paris he
dealt with a band of Franks that had taken control of some abandoned forts along
the
Meuse River
.
In 358, Julian gained victories over the
Salian Franks
on the
Lower
Rhine
, settling them in
Toxandria
in the Roman Empire, north of today’s city of Tongeren, and over the Chamavi,
who were expelled back to
Hamaland
.
Taxation
and administration
At the end of 357 Julian, with the prestige of his victory over the Alamanni
to give him confidence, prevented a tax increase by the Gallic praetorian
prefect
Florentius
and personally took charge of the province of
Belgica Secunda. This was Julian’s first experience with civil
administration. Properly it was a role that belonged to the praetorian prefect.
However, Florentius 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
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.
Constantius attempted to maintain some modicum of control over his Caesar,
which explains his removal of Julian’s close adviser
Saturninius
Secundus Salutius
from Gaul. His departure stimulated the writing of
Julian’s oration, “Consolation Upon the Departure of Salutius”.
Rebellion
in Paris
In the fourth year of Julian’s stay in Gaul, the
Sassanid Emperor
,
Shapur II
,
invaded Mesopotamia and took the city of
Amida
after a 73-day siege. In February 360, Constantius II ordered more than half of
Julian’s Gallic troops to his eastern army, the orders by-passing Julian and
going directly to the military commanders. Although Julian at first attempted to
expedite the order, it provoked an insurrection by troops of the
Petulantes
,
who had no desire to leave Gaul. Notably absent at the time was the prefect
Florentius, who was usually never far from Julian’s side, though now he was kept
busy organizing supplies in Vienne and away from any strife that the order could
cause. Julian would later blame him for the arrival of the order from
Constantius.[24]
Ammianus Marcellinus even suggested that the fear of Julian gaining more
popularity than himself caused Constantius to send the order on the urging of
Florentius.[25]
The troops proclaimed Julian emperor in Paris, and this in turn led to a very
swift military effort to secure or win the allegiance of others. Although the
full details are unclear, there is evidence to suggest that Julian may have at
least partially stimulated the insurrection. If so, he went back to business as
usual in Gaul, for, from June to August of that year, Julian led a successful
campaign against the Attuarian Franks.[26][27]
In November Julian began openly using the title “Augustus” even issuing coins
with the title, sometimes with Constantius, sometimes without. He celebrated his
fifth year in Gaul with a big show of games.[28]
In the spring of 361, Julian led his army into the territory of the Alamanni,
where he captured their king, Vadomarius. (Julian claimed that Vadomarius had
been in league with Constantius encouraging him to raid the borders of
Raetia
.)[29]
Julian then divided his forces, sending one column to Raetia, one to northern
Italy and the third he led down the Danube on boats. His forces claimed control
of Illyricum and his general, Nevitta, secured the pass of Succi into Thrace. He
was now well out of his comfort zone and on the road to civil war.[30]
(Julian would state in late November that he set off down this road “because,
having been declared a public enemy, I meant to frighten him [Constantius]
merely, and that our quarrel should result in intercourse on more friendly
terms…”[31])
However, in June, forces loyal to Constantius captured the city of
Aquileia
on
the north Adriatic coast, an event which threatened to cut Julian off from the
rest of his forces, while Constantius’s troops marched towards him from the
east. Aquileia was subsequently besieged by 23,000 men loyal to Julian.[32]
All Julian could do was sit it out in Naissus, the city of Constantine’s birth,
waiting for news and writing letters to various cities in Greece justifying his
actions (of which only the letter to the Athenians has survived in its
entirety).[33]
Civil war was avoided only by the death on November 3 of Constantius, who, in
his last will, recognized Julian as his rightful successor.
The
new emperor and his administration
On December 11, 361, Julian entered Constantinople as sole emperor and,
despite his rejection of Christianity, his first political act was to preside
over Constantius’ Christian burial, escorting the body to the Church of the
Apostles, where it was placed alongside that of Constantine.[34]
This act was a demonstration of his lawful right to the throne.[35]
The new emperor rejected the style of administration of his immediate
predecessors. He blamed Constantine for the state of the administration and for
having abandoned the traditions of the past. He made no attempt to restore the
tetrarchal
system begun under
Diocletian
.
Nor did he seek to rule as an absolute autocrat. His own philosophic notions led
him to idealize the reigns of
Hadrian
and
Marcus Aurelius
. In his first
panegyric
to Constantius, Julian described the ideal ruler as being essentially
primus inter pares
(“first among peers”), operating under the same laws
as his subjects. While in Constantinople therefore it was not strange to see
Julian frequently active in the senate, participating in debates and making
speeches, placing himself at the level of all the members of the senate and thus
embodying the first among peers.[36]
He viewed the royal court of his predecessors as inefficient, corrupt, and
expensive. Thousands of servants, eunuchs, and superfluous officials were
therefore summarily dismissed. He set up the
Chalcedon tribunal
to deal with the corruption of the previous
administration under the supervision of
magister militum
Arbitio
.
Several high-ranking officials under Constantius including the chamberlain
Eusebius were found guilty and executed. (Julian was conspicuously absent from
the proceedings, perhaps signaling his displeasure at their necessity.)[37]
He continually sought to reduce what he saw as a burdensome and corrupt
bureaucracy within the Imperial administration whether it involved civic
officials, the secret agents, or the imperial post service.
Another effect of Julian’s political philosophy was 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 aurum coronarium was made
voluntary rather than a compulsory tax. Additionally, arrears of land taxes were
cancelled.[38]
While 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
corvées
had to
be approved by him directly rather than left to the judgement 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
rhetorician
Themistius. His choice of consuls for the year 362 was more controversial. One
was the very acceptable
Claudius Mamertinus
, previously the
Praetorian
Prefect of
Illyricum
. The other, more surprising choice was
Nevitta
, Julian’s trusted
Frankish
general. This latter appointment made overt the fact that an
emperor’s authority depended on the power of the army. Julian’s choice of
Nevitta appears to have been aimed at maintaining the support of the Western
army which had acclaimed him.
Clash
with Antiochenes
After five months of dealings at the capital, Julian left Constantinople in
May and moved to Antioch
, arriving in mid-July and staying there for nine months before
launching his fateful campaign against Persia in March 363. Antioch was a city
favored by splendid temples along with a famous oracle of Apollo in nearby
Daphne, which may have been cause for him choosing to reside there. It had also
been used in the past as a staging place for amassing troops, a purpose which
Julian intended to follow.[39]
His arrival on 18 July was well received by the Antiochenes, though it
coincided with the celebration of the Adonia, a festival which marked the
death of Adonis
,
so there was wailing and moaning in the streets—not a good omen for an arrival.[40][41]
Julian soon discovered that wealthy merchants were causing food problems,
apparently by hoarding food and selling it at high prices. He hoped that the
curia would deal with the issue for the situation was headed for a famine. When
the curia did nothing, he spoke to the city’s leading citizens, trying to
persuade them to take action. Thinking that they would do the job, he turned his
attention to religious matters.[41]
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 suspected the Christians and ordered stricter
investigations than usual. He also shut up the chief Christian church of the
city, before the investigations proved that the fire was the result of an
accident.[42][43]
When the curia still took no substantial action in regards to the food
shortage, Julian intervened, fixing the prices for grain and importing 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
and forced them to sell. Various parts of Libanius’ orations may
suggest that both sides were justified to some extent[44][45]
while Ammianus blames Julian for “a mere thirst for popularity”.[46]
Julian’s ascetic lifestyle was not popular either, since his subjects were
accustomed to the idea of an all-powerful emperor who placed himself well above
them. Nor did he improve his dignity with his own participation in the
ceremonial of bloody sacrifices.[47]
As David S. Potter says:
“
|
They expected a man who was
both removed from them by the awesome spectacle of imperial power, and
would validate their interests and desires by sharing them from his
Olympian height (…) He was supposed to be interested in what
interested his people, and he was supposed to be dignified. He was not
supposed to leap up and show his appreciation for a
panegyric
that it was delivered, as Julian had done on January 3,
when Libanius was speaking, and ignore the chariot races.[48]
|
”
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He then tried to address public criticism and mocking of him by issuing a
satire ostensibly on himself, called
Misopogon
or “Beard Hater”. There he blames the people of Antioch for preferring that
their ruler have his virtues in the face rather than in the soul.
The
Persian Campaign
Julian’s rise to Augustus—it should be remembered—was the result of military
insurrection eased by Constantius’s sudden death. This meant that, while he
could count on the wholehearted support of the Western army which had aided his
rise, the eastern army was an unknown quantity originally loyal to the emperor
he had risen against, and he had tried to woo it through the Chalcedon Tribunal.
However, to solidify his position in the eyes of the eastern army, he needed to
lead its soldiers to victory and a campaign against the Persians offered such an
opportunity.
An audacious plan was formulated whose goal was to lay siege on the Sassanid
capital city of
Ctesiphon
and definitively secure the eastern border. Yet the full motivation for this
ambitious operation is, 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.[49]
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.[50]
See also: henosis
and
henotheism
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
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
was driven back into the lower classes by a revived
Confucian
mandarinate in
13th century China
.”[80]
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 also reversed some favors that had previously been given to
Christians. For example, he reversed Constantine’s declaration that
Majuma
, the port of Gaza
, was a separate
city
. Majuma had
a large Christian congregation while Gaza was still predominantly pagan.
On 4 February 362
,
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.
Coptic
icon
showing
Saint Mercurius
killing Julian. According to a tradition,
Saint Basil
(an old school-mate of Julian) had been imprisoned at the
start of Julian’s Sassanid campaign. Basil prayed to Mercurius to help him,
and the saint appeared in a vision to Basil, claiming to have speared Julian
to death.
Juventinus and Maximus
The
Eastern Orthodox
and
Roman Catholic
Churches retell a story concerning two of Julian’s
bodyguards who were Christian. When he came to
Antioch
,
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
and Maximus.
|
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.[81]
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.[82]
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 intending to prevent Christian teachers
from using pagan texts (such as the
Iliad
, which
was widely regarded as divinely inspired) that formed the core of classical
education: “If they want to learn literature, they have
Luke
and
Mark
: Let them go back to their churches and expound on them”, the edict
says.[80]
This was an attempt to remove some of the power of the Christian schools which
at that time and later used ancient Greek literature in their teachings in their
effort to present the Christian religion as being superior to paganism. The
edict was also a severe financial blow, because 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 confiscated temple properties, and the return from
exile of dissident Christian bishops. The latter was an instance of tolerance of
different religious views, but it may also have been seen as an attempt by
Julian to foster schisms and divisions between different Christian sects, since
conflict between rival Christian sects was quite fierce.[83]
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.[84]
Charity
Because Christian
charities
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.[85]
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:
Julian’s Column in
Ankara
,
built on the occasion of the emperor’s visit to the city in 362
“““
|
These impious Galileans not
only feed their own poor, but ours also; welcoming them into their
agapae
, they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes.[86]
|
”
|
“
|
Whilst the pagan priests
neglect the poor, the hated Galileans devote themselves to works of
charity, and by a display of false compassion have established and given
effect to their pernicious errors. See their love-feasts, and their
tables spread for the indigent. Such practice is common among them, and
causes a contempt for our
gods
.[87]
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”
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Church
martyrs
Although Julian was responsible for temporarily stopping factional struggles
between Arian and orthodox Christians, the following martyrs have traditionally
been dated to his reign:
-
Artemius
-
Saint
Basil of Ancyra
-
Saint
Eupsychios of Caesarea
-
Saint
Dorotheus of Tyre
-
John and Paul
-
Cyril of Heliopolis
Attempt
to rebuild the Jewish Temple
In 363, not long before Julian left Antioch to launch his campaign against
Persia, in keeping with his effort to foster religions other than Christianity,
he ordered the Temple rebuilt.[88]
A personal friend of his,
Ammianus Marcellinus
, wrote this about the effort:
“
|
Julian thought to rebuild at
an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed
this task to
Alypius of Antioch
. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded
by the
governor of the province
; when fearful balls of fire, breaking out
near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after
repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt.
|
”
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The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to the
Galilee earthquake of 363
, and to the
Jews‘ 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.[89]
Julian’s support of
Jews
, coming
after the hostility of many earlier Emperors, meant that Jews called him
Julian the
Hellene
.[90]
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