Julian (Emperor of Rome)

Julian (Flavius Claudius Iulianus) "the Apostate", Roman Emperor, lived 331 or 332 to 363 CE. Born and educated in Constantinople as a Christian, after a precarious childhood he devoted himself to literature and philosophy and became a pagan, studying in various Greek cities. In 355 his cousin Emperor Constantius called him from Athens to the court at Milan, entitled him "Caesar", and made him governor of Gaul. Julian restored Gaul to prosperity and good government after the ravages of the Alamanni (he overthrew them at the battle of Strassburg in 357) and other Germans. Between 357 and 361 Julian's own soldiers, refusing to serve in the East at Constantius's orders, nearly involved Julian in war with Constantius?who however died in 361 so that Julian became sole Emperor of the Roman world. He began many reforms and proclaimed universal toleration in religion but pressed for the restoration of the older pagan worships. In 362?363 he prepared at Constantinople and then at Antioch for his expedition against Persia ruled by Shapur II. He died of a wound received in desperate battle. Julian's surviving works (lost are his Commentaries on his western campaigns), all in Greek, are given in the Loeb Classical Library in three volumes. The eight Orations (1-5 in Volume I, 6-8 in Volume II) include two in praise of Constantius, one praising Constantius's wife Eusebia, and two theosophical hymns (in prose) or declamations, of interest for studies in neo-Platonism, Mithraism, and the cult of the Magna Mater in the Roman world. The satirical Caesars and Misopogon, Beard-hater, are also in Volume II. The Letters (more than eighty, Volume III) include edicts or rescripts, mostly about Christians, encyclical or pastoral letters to priests, and private letters. Lastly in Volume III are the fragments of the work Against the Galilaeans (the Christians), written mainly to show that evidence for the idea of Christianity is lacking in the Old Testament.

The Works of the Emperor Julian

Iuliani imperatoris quae supersunt praeter reliquias apud Cyrillum omnia

Quae supersunt praeter reliquias apud Cyrillum omnia

And Some Pieces of the Sophist Libanus, Translated from the Greek

Marcus Aurelius

Frederick II (King of Prussia)

Joseph de Laporte

Stanisław I Leszczyński (King of Poland)

L'esprit des monarques philosophes, Marc-Aurele, Julien, Stanislas et Frederic

Julian Emperor Of Rome

This is the first translation into modern English of the complete corpus of Julian's 'Against the Galileans' and related writings. It not only puts the work of the philosopher-emperor into historical perspective but offers important insights into the waning days of pagan philosophy and the growth of the Christian church against the background of intellectual and religious opposition. The work is essential reading for anyone interested in the religions of late antiquity, the growth of the Christian church, and the final phase of the conflict between paganism and Christian teaching.

Julian's Against the Galileans

Julian (Emperor of Rome)

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