By: The Scribe on Wednesday, November 21, 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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Tomorrow: Cambodian Warrior Princess
By: The Scribe on Tuesday, November 20, 2007
As ‘Julian the Apostate’ began his religious transformation of the state, his new position as Emperor allowed him to force Christian churches to accept pagan practices as normative among the local population – first, forcing the Churches to either return the riches which had been looted from pagan temples since Constantine’s legislation of Christianity of the official religion of Rome, or paying fines that were equal to what had been taken.
A supporter of the polytheistic ‘old Roman faith’, he claimed that he didn’t want to end up like his cousin and turn into someone who forced one religion on people over another, but he did state that his laws – which tended to specifically target Christians who were well educated and wealthy – were designed not to destroy Christianity, but to do everything imaginable to drive it out of the empire’s governing classes.
Christian bishops lost much of their influence on public offices as well as their ability travel for free at Rome’s expense, and lands which had been taken over by the church were given back to the original landowners. In order to convince the public that he had its best interests at heart, Julian handed down an edict in 362 AD that guaranteed freedom of religion to the populace – according to the edict, all religions were held equal in the eyes of the law, and it was in Rome’s best interest to return to its former days of religious eclecticism, wherein no one was forced to accept one religion over the other in any corner of the Empire.
Although Julian wouldn’t come right out and admit that his actions or laws were undermining Christianity, the fact remained that he knew very well that previous persecutions of Christians by Roman Emperors only strengthened the people who believed – and thus he designed his campaign to harass them and cause difficulty for Christians who might try to resist the re-establishment of paganism as an acceptable belief system.
The Orthodox Church even claims that Julian prohibited the worship or veneration of Christian relics, remembering two men as saints – Maximos and Juventinus – who were apparently part of the imperial guard of the Emperor. They openly opposed Julian’s edict against sacred relics, and according to tradition, Julian ordered them executed. In another edict simply known as ‘School Edict’, Julian also forbid Christian teachers from using pagan literature – such as the classical works of the Iliad and the Odyssey – and limited them to using the gospels such as Mark or Luke to each reading and writing. This severely harmed teachers and educators, since it meant fewer students – no one wanted their child educated in such a limiting environment.
The problem was, not everyone was so willing to take back the pagan ways, and it certainly didn’t help the Emperor’s cause that the Christian churches continued to raise funds to help the poor and care for the community, regardless of whether someone was Christian or pagan…
…to be continued…
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Tomorrow: Part…four?!
By: The Scribe on Monday, November 19, 2007
In his new position of power, Julian found himself to be a capable and strong military leader who was able to fend off the Germanic tribes that had troubled Rome for quite some time. He had several major victories – such as the Battle of Strasbourg in 358, winning back Cologne in 356, and defeating the Salian Franks along the Rhine – while also handling domestic affairs such as preventing tax increases and taking care of some provincial administration.
Constantius II was still making his own trouble during this time, and at one point ordered Julius to send some of his own Gallic troops over for support. The troops were not exactly receptive to the idea of leaving the commander they respected and admired for an emperor who had usurped the seat of power, and so the troops of the Petulantes proclaimed Julian the emperor in Paris. This provided Julian with a strategic vantage point from which to round up additional allegiances.
Several months later, Constantius was still causing problems, and captured a city along the northern Adriatic coast – and although he likely expected support from his co-leader of the Empire, he received a rather nasty shock. Recalling what had been done to his family by Constantius II, Julian allowed 23,000 of his own loyal troops to besiege the city. For a short time, the threat of civil war loomed as the armies of both leaders were in opposition – but fortunately for Julian, Constatius died of fever, leaving behind a final will that recognized Julian as the rightful successor.
As the new ruler of the Roman Empire, Julian moved to try and put the Empire back in order: first, he reduced the expenses of the imperial offices by eliminating all the eunuchs who had previously served administrative roles. Secondly, unnecessary luxuries were removed, and the amount of servants and guards were reduced to only as many as were needed. And as the next order of business… he began the Chalcedon Tribunal, where a number of Constantius II’s followers were tortured and killed.
Still bitter about his childhood, Julian was finally able to reject the religious teachings that had been forced upon him by the man who had murdered his family. Private letters between Julian and the pagan rhetorician Libanius reveal an Emperor who deeply resented the Christianity that he was forced to accept while young, since Constantius II refused to tolerate any pagan relatives.
Julian quickly developed a passion for art, literature, and Greek mythology, soon becoming an official convert to the philosophies of Hellenism. Whether he realized it or not, Julian was an Emperor with a strong religious temperament – only he was passionate for something different than his cousin had been – and he became somewhat of a pantheistic mystic after the fashion of contemporary Neoplatonist philosophers.
Julian’s intention was to conduct a religious transformation of the Roman state, however there was a danger in this – although he’d rebelled against the forceful and zealous nature of his cousin’s Christian beliefs, would his new passion for traditional paganism cause that to be forced upon others in the same way?
…to be continued…
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Tomorrow: Part 3 of course!
By: The Scribe on Sunday, November 18, 2007
Born in 331 AD, Flavius Claudius Julianus was thrust into some rather complicated family dealings at a very early age. After the death of Constantine the Great in 337 AD, Julian’s rather zealous cousin Constantius II – an Arian Christian – led a massacre against Julian’s entire family, in order to establish himself as the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
For some reason, he allowed a few males related to Constantine the Great to live, namely Julian and his brother Gallus, and two of the murderer’s own brothers. Constantius II proclaimed himself and his brothers to be joint emperors, and he gave them each a portion of Roman territory to watch over. He then established a strict regimen of Arian Christian education for the young Julian and Gallus.
According to traditional accounts, Julian was tutored by the famous Arian Christian Bishop of Nicomedia, Eusebius – along with his maternal grandmother and a Gothic eunuch named Mardonius. However, it was in 342 that both Julian and Gallus were exiled to Cappadocia, where Julian remained until the exile was lifted at the age of 18.
In 340 AD, Constantine II died after attacking his brother Constans to try and take over his territory – and a decade later, Constans fell during a war against a potential usurper named Magnentius. This left only the man who’d murdered Julian’s family as the sole emperor. Naturally, he was somewhat desperate for support, and so he gave Julian’s brother Gallus a position as Caesar of the East in 351 AD. The problem was, Gallus hadn’t exactly had the best role models for leadership… and his briefly imposed reign of terror over the East resulted in his execution only four years later.
In an effort to avoid a potential quest for vengeance, Julian was imprisoned for a short time while the pain of his brother’s death wore off. Unfortunately for Constantius II, there were far too many threats to the Roman Empire which he simply couldn’t take care of on his own – and so he turned to his late surviving male relative, Julian. He released Julian from prison, made him Caesar of the West, and quickly had him married off to his cousin – and sister of Constantius – Helena.
Now, it was Julian’s turn to defend the Empire… and to take his own revenge on Constantius II who had not only murdered his entire family, but also forced him into exile and the acceptance of Christianity.
…to be continued…
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Tomorrow: Part 2 of course!
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