JULIAN II Very rare Alexandria mint Ancient Roman Coin Battle Horse i44941

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:

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

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

(“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

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:

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]

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.

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:

 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:

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

.^[90]