The emperor who renounced Christianity. Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus) “the Apostate,” Roman Emperor, lived from 331 or 332 to 363 AD. Born and educated in Constantinople as a Christian, after an uncertain childhood he dedicated himself to literature and philosophy and became a pagan, spending time in various Greek cities. In 355, his cousin, Emperor Constantius, called him from Athens to the court in Milan, conferred the title of “Caesar” upon him, and made him governor of Gaul. Julian restored Gaul to prosperity and good governance after the devastation caused by the Alamanni (whom he defeated at the Battle of Strasbourg in 357) and other Germans.

Between 357 and 361, his own soldiers, refusing to serve in the East under orders from Constantius, nearly drew Julian into war with Constantius—who died in 361, making him the sole Emperor of the Roman world. He began many reforms and proclaimed universal religious tolerance but pressed for the restoration of old pagan worship practices.

In 362–363, he prepared in Constantinople and then in Antioch his campaign against the Persian state ruled by Shapur II. He died from wounds suffered in a decisive battle. The surviving works of Julian (his Commentaries on his western campaigns are lost), all in Greek, are included in the Loeb Classical Library across three volumes. The eight Orations (1–5 in Volume I, 6–8 in Volume II) include two in honor of Constantius, one praising Constantius’s wife, Eusebia, and two theosophical hymns (in prose) or declarations, of interest for studies in Neoplatonic philosophy, Mithraic worship, and the cult of the Great Mother in the Roman world.

The Misopogon (“The Beard-Hater”), in Volume II, attacks the morals of the people in Antioch. The Letters (more than eighty), in Volume III, include decrees or documents, mostly concerning Christians, encyclicals or Paschal letters to priests, and private letters. Finally, in Volume III are the excerpts from the work Against the Galileans (the Christians), primarily written to show that evidence for the idea of Christianity is absent from the Old Testament.

Pages: 528, Year of Publication: 0101, Dimensions: 10.8x10.8cm