The Ancient Standard

The Last Pagan Emperor of Rome – Part 4/3: Final Resignation (331 – 363 AD)

By: The Scribe on November, 2007

Although Julian the Apostate `did everything he could to try and elevate paganism again in the eyes of the general populace, the Christian churches continued to have a high degree of influence because of their public charities. Christian charities were beneficial to all citizens of Rome, and the Emperor found this to be greatly disconcerting – they fed both Christian and pagan poor, welcomed everyone with open arms, and were compassionate toward the less fortunate, whereas the pagan priests were moreso preoccupied with neglecting the poor, a fact which certainly didn’t escape Julian’s attention.

In an effort to fight back, Julian envisioned a philanthropic system for the Roman Empire that would reduce pagan reliance on Christian charitable organizations, but it wasn’t as well received by pagan priests and followers as he would have liked – instead, he watched as contempt grew for the old gods. His plan was designed to ensure that all aspects of citizenry were connected through varying levels of society, all the way up to the consolidated figure of power in the Emperor, who was the “final provider” for all his peoples’ needs. Christian charity simply didn’t fit into this hierarchy.

On a trip through Jerusalem in 363 AD, Julian made a brief stop at the ruins of the Second Temple. Naturally, since he was committed to elevating any other religion over Christianity, he decreed that the Temple was to be rebuilt – however, a series of disasters struck during the initial phases of the project, and thus the rebuilding efforts were abandoned. It also didn’t help that the Jews were rather ambivalent toward the idea in the first place.

It was on that same trip that Julian moved to engage the Sassanid Empire of Persia, in hope that he would be able to take back the cities under Sassanid rule that his cousin – Constantius II – had been unable to regain. He was encouraged to move forward with the campaign after receiving an oracle from the Sibylline books, and entered Persia with 90,000 men. A skilled military leader, Julian easily conquered several smaller cities and decimated the initial waves of troops, but even after winning the Battle of Ctesiphon in front of the capital city, he was unable to enter and gain control of the city itself.

Julian decided to lead his army back to the safety of the Roman border, at least until reinforcements arrived. They were pursued during the retreat and engaged by Sassanid troops, and it was during one of these battles that Julian received a spear wound that pierced through the bottom of his liver and intestines. Although the wound itself wasn’t initially fatal, his personal physician Oribasius of Pergamum was unable to treat it successfully. He likely tried to irrigate it with red wine and also suture the intestine, but it was to no avail – Julian the Apostate died on June 23, 363 AD.

Although it is unknown whether the tale is pure myth or an actual battle report, the traditional story goes that as Julian lay on his deathbed, his dying words were: “Vicisti, Galilee”- which translates as “you have won, Galilean” – a supposed resignation from the last pagan Emperor that Christianity had won out as the state religion of Rome.

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