Julian

  • Julian (361-363 CE), also known as Julian the Apostate, was a Roman Emperor and member of the Constantine Dynasty.
  • He attempted to reintroduce Paganism with the ‘Tolerance Edict’ on 4 February 362 CE.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

  • NAME:
    • Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus
    • Also known as ‘Julian the Apostate’. (Meaning ‘Transgressor’)
    • Also known as ‘Julian the Hellene’.
  • JULIAN’S DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
    • 11 Dec 361 CE – 26 Jun 363 CE
  • JULIAN’S FAMILY DYNASTY:
  • JULIAN’S DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
    • 331-2 CE to 26 Jun 363 CE.
  • PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
  • JULIAN’S PREDECESSOR:
  • JULIAN’S SUCCESSOR:
  • HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
    • Julian was partly responsable for leading a Military uprising against Constantius II.
    • But before he died, Constantius II adopted Julian as his heir.
  • JULIAN’S FATHER:
  • JULIAN’S MOTHER:
    • Basilina.
  • JULIAN’S WIVES AND CHILDREN:
    • Helena. No children known.
  • DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
    • Julian died from his wounds sustained during the Battle of Samara 26 June 363 CE. He was withdrawing his army after failing to capture the Persian Capital Ctesiphon.
  • WHERE BURIED:

2. GOOD OR BAD EMPEROR

  • JULIAN’S CHARACTER:
    • Unusually, Julian was a brilliant military Commander and a Greek Philosopher and Writer.
  • JULIAN’S POPULARITY:
    • Julian was very popular with his soldiers, as an administrator he overruled Florentius, the Prefect in charge of Belgica Secunda, and stopped him from imposing a tax increase.
    • He imported grain and froze prices in Antioch after the grain dealers had demanded extortionate prices. Ammianus Marcellinus described him as trying hard to be popular.
  • JULIAN WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE:
    • The Tolerance Edict (4 Feb. 362 CE).
      • Julian attempted to reintroduce Paganism, allowing freedom of religious worship to all faiths not just Christianity.
    • The Schools Edict (362 CE).
      • This banned Christian Tutors from teaching Greek History.
  • FAMOUS QUOTES BY JULIAN:
    • Viciste, Galilaee
      • Meaning ‘You have conquered, Galilean’. Julian the Apostate’s supposed dying words after attempting to restore Paganism during his Rule, conceding that Christianity had won.

3. JULIAN’S EARLY LIFE

  • Julian was brought up as the son of a Consul, and a close member of the Constantine Dynasty. His grandfather was Constantius I Chlorus, and both his parents were Christians. When Constantine I died in 337 CE, his son Constantius II conducted a massacre of all his cousins.
  • Julian was spared along with his half brother, Gallus, but in 342 CE, they both went into Exile in Cappadocia. Here he studied Christianity under the Bishop of Cappadocia. When he was 18 years old, he returned from Exile.
  • In 351 CE Julian studied Neoplatonism under the Greek Philosopher Aedesius, then under his student, Maximus of Ephesus. In 354 CE, he spent a year in Milan at the court of Constantius II, before travelling to Athens. Here he met Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great, two men destined to become Bishops and eventually, Saints. Whilst in Athens, Julian became an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
  • After 350 CE, Magnentius rebelled against Constans and killed him. Constantius II decided to suppress the rebellion, but to secure the East he promoted Julian’s half brother, Gallus, to Caesar of the East. In 351 CE, Constantius II moved into the Danube and defeated Magnentius at the Battle of Mursa Major, the bloodiest battle in the history of the Roman Army with 50,000 dead.
  • In 353 CE, Magnentius was finally defeated in Gaul and forced to commit suicide. After suppressing this Rebellion, Julian was kept under house arrest, while his half brother, Gallus, was summoned to Milan, however, he reached Pannonia he was arrested and executed.

Julian is made Caesar in the West

  • On 6th November 355 CE, Constantius II decided he needed a right hand man to run the west and promoted Julian as Caesar of the west, insisting Julian marry his sister Helena. Julian now changed his life from being an academic, to becoming a statesman.
  • In 356 CE, as Caesar of Gaul, Julian led a Campaign against the Franks, pushing them back across the Rhine and reoccupying Cologne. He wintered in Senon near Verdun, but without his troops. The Franks attacked and laid siege to him. He was eventually rescued by his reluctant Commander, Marcellus, who was then replaced by Severus.
  • In 357 CE, at the Battle of Strasbourg, Julian and Barbatio, his Commander, achieved an overwhelming victory against an invasion by the Alemanni. King Chnodomarius was captured and sent to Constantius II in Milan. Julian then crossed over the Rhine and forced three Germanic Kingdoms to submit to Rome. He returned to Gaul and wintered in Paris.
  • In 358 CE, Julian achieved further victories over the Franks, settling them near Tongeren.

Rebellion against Constantius II

  • In 359 CE, Shapur II invaded Mesopotamia. In February 360 CE, Constantius II issued an order directly to Julian’s Commanders, bypassing Julian in Paris, to send half the army to the East. The Army refused to depart from Paris, rebelled and proclaimed Julian as Augustus instead.
  • Julian then took the army to the Rhine and campaigned against the Franks. In 361 CE, Julian attacked the Alemanni, capturing their King, Vadomarius.
  • Julian then embarked on civil war with Constantius II. He divided his army into three forces, one in Raetia, one in northern Italia, and he himself led the third force down the Danube into Illyricum, bordering Thracia.
  • However, Constantius II‘ army occupied Aquileia, threatening Julian’s rear, and Constantius II departed Antioch to confront him.
  • But on the 3rd November 361 CE, Constantius II died of a fatal illness in Cilicia, naming Julian as his heir, and civil war was averted.

4. JULIAN’S REIGN

  • MILITARY CAMPAIGNS/ REFORMS:

Invasion of the Persian Sassanian Empire

  • Preparations:
    • On 5 March 363 CE, Julian left Antioch with c. 80,000 Legionaries.
    • He ordered the Legionary Fortress at Samosata to build 1,000 supply ships to accompany the army marching down the Euphrates and 50 Pontoon ships for crossing the Euphrates and Tigris.
    • He then split his army into two parts, sending out a force of 30,000 as a feint, to disguise the main attack on Ctesiphon.

Battle of Ctesiphon (29 May 363 CE)

  • The Battle:
    • Although the Romans won the Battle driving the Persian army back into the city, but its defenses were impregnable, as Julian did not have any Siege Engines.
    • The main Persian Army was on its way to relieve Ctesiphon and Julian decided to withdraw. Unfortunately, the second force of 30,000 men Julian had sent as a distraction was unable to rejoin the main force.
  • The Retreat:
    • During the retreat outside Samarra, a city on the Tigris to the north of Ctesiphon, Julian was fatally wounded in a surprise attack, because he had not had time to don his armour, and subsequently died of his wound.
    • His dying words were supposedly Viciste, Galilaee meaning ‘You have conquered, Galilean’, meaning Christianity had won in the end.
  • JULIAN’S DOMESTIC POLICY: TAXATION
  • JULIAN’S RELIGIOUS REFORMS:
  • Julian attempted to reverse Christianity by Reform and not Persecution.
  • Julian was a Neo-Platonic Pagan who attempted to return the Roman Empire to Paganism.

The Tolerance Edict (4 February 362 CE)

  • Julian passed this Edict giving freedom of religious worship throughout the Roman Empire, and permitting the reopening of the Pagan Temples and the recall of Christian Bishops in Exile.
  • He reopened all the Pagan Temples that had been confiscated since Constantine I and ordered that their property be returned.
  • Exiled Dissident Christian Bishops were brought back from Exile as part of the new tolerance.
  • Julian also attempted to restore the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The Schools Edict (362 CE)

  • This Edict meant that all teachers had to be approved by the Emperor, since the State paid their salaries.
  • Christian teachers were banned from teaching ancient Greek Literature such as The Iliad, and were only allowed to teach the Apostles Texts.
  • Only Pagan Teachers were allowed to teach Greek Literature, and as this was the basis of Roman Society, had the effect of sidelining Christian Teachers.
  • This removed presenting Christianity as the superior religion in contrast to these early Pagan Works. As the number of pupils reduced, the Schools became poorer, further weakening the Christian establishment.
  • Christian Charity, which was open to Pagans as well as Christians, was replaced by Imperial Charity, to remove the influence of the Christian Church over the poor.
  • The Christian Church subsequently named him Julian the Apostate (Transgressor).
  • Julian also ordered the reconstruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.

5. JULIAN’S PERSONAL LIFE

  • PERSONAL INTERESTS:
    • Julian was a Philosopher and Greek Author who wrote a number of Philosophical Works and Panegyrics.
  • LANGUAGES SPOKEN:
    • Greek and Latin.
  • WORKS:
    • ‘Misopogon’
      • Meaning ‘the beard hater’ it is a satire.
      • Julian  recorded a flood of the River Seine in 358 CE in this Work.
    • ‘The Caesars’
      • Describing various early Caesars.
    • ‘Alexander the Great’
    • ‘Against the Galileans’
      • A criticism of Christians.

6. BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS TO VISIT

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

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