I've been doing a study of my favorite Roman Emperors. First I did Marcus Aurelius and Hadrian, now I've been reading a lot about Flavius Claudius Julianus. I though you guys would find him interesting...after all he is known as Julian the Apostate.
Julian came from the Constantinian dynasty, at a time when Christianity was becoming the state religion, largely thanks to people like Constantine and Constantius II. However, as he grew older, he hated the Galilean religion (not least of all because Constantinus had murdered his whole family and the fact that various bishops were running around killing each other over arguments of heresy). As a young man he joined the cult of Mithra and committed himself to reviving Hellenism, esp a more modern form based on Platonic philosophy (the mythologies are allegories and metaphors of a greater truth).
After coming to power (Constantinus II died while preparing to go to war with Julian...long story) he restored pagan temples which had been confiscated since Constantine's time, repealed the stipends that Constantine had awarded to Christian bishops, and removed their other privileges.
Julian promulgated an edict to guarantee freedom of religion. This edict proclaimed that all the religions were equal before the law, and that the Roman Empire had to return to its original religious eclecticism, according to which the Roman State did not impose any religion on its provinces. Practically however, it had as its purpose the restoration of paganism at the expense of Christianity.
This also had a effect on Christians as it ended the persecution and sectarian fighting of the various sects (they could not fight and oppress each other). The motive being more, to invite back all the heretical bishops who were driven out, as way to let them eat each other...kind of a divide and conquer. And it did work, as the bishops spent more time fighting among themselves then they did with Julian.
Julian was not a brute, but valued philosophy (as he was a student of Athens), and wanted to defeat the spread of christianity with reason. Writing many works such as
Against the Galilaeans
.
However, his reform was short lived (his rule only lasted about 19 months), before he was killed in Persia (this is attributed by Libanius to an assassination by christian officers in his army...the church attributes it to Saint Mercurius), and was replaced by Jovian who reestablished Christianity's privileged position throughout the Empire. Shortly after, Theodosius I banned all public Pagan activities and elevated Christianity to the official religion of the Empire.
Ok, so that is a really quick background history......
Anyway, I just finished reading Julian by Gore Vidal. It is a fictional account based on the life of Julian. While fiction, The novel is considered to be very well-researched and accurate not only in the events it mentions but also in the details of its portrayal of daily life for the time period. Since Julian left many writings and much was written of him, it really did a great job of accuracy and putting the reader back in time.
This was a great book, and I wanted to recommend it. It is a heavy 500+ pages, but well worth it, not just for entertainment, but also a a great source for understanding the history of religion, how we came to be where we are today, and with islam and christianity such (imo) brother religions, how events long ago echo today. I also think it might ring with a lot of Iranian readers, to parallels with the former Persian Empire, Rome's chief rival, and also killed by a middle eastern death cult.
I was going to type some quick excerpts, both these excerpts come from the letters of Libanius:
From the beginning, the Christians tried to alley man's fear of death. Yet, they have not found a way to release that element in each of us that demands communion with the one. Our Mysteries accomplish this, which is why they are the envy of the christians and an enduring object of their spite. Now, I am perfectly willing to grant that the christian way is one way of knowing, but it is not the only way, as they declare. If it were, why would they be so eager to borrow from us? What most disturbs me is their curious hopelessness of this life, and the undue emphasis they put on the next. Of course eternity is larger than the breif span of a man's life, but to live entirely within the idea of eternity is limiting to the spirit, and makes man wretched in his existence, since his eyes are always fixed not on this lovely world, but on the dark door we must all one day pass.......It is the meagerness of the christian feeling that most disturbs me, their rejection of this world in favor of the next, which is -to be tactful- not entirely certain. Finally, we must oppose them because of their arrogance, which seems to me a madness. We are told that there is only way way, one revelation: Theirs. Nowhere in their tirades does one find the modesty and wisdom of Plato or the pristine world of flesh and spirit that Homer sung of. From the beginning, curses and complaints have been their style, inherited from the Jews, whose human and intellectual discipline is as admirable as their continuing bitterness is limiting and blighting.
It is also significant that this death cult should take hold just as barbarians gather on our borders. It is fitting that if our world is to fall, that the heirs of those who had originally created this beautiful civilization and made great art should at the end be artless and worship a dead man and disdain this life for an unknown eternity behind the dark door.
the following excerpt comes from Libanius again, after Julian's death, and currently Theodosius is in control of the Empire. He's attending a funeral of a bishop, where Libanius meets up with a former student, John, who preaches Christianity. The two have an argument on the subject before Libanius returns home.
I twisted my head so to see -just barely- what appeared to be a giant figure of a man with arms outstreched.
"Can you see him clearly?"
Oh yes" I lied.
"It is Christ Pantocrator, come to redeem us. The face is perticularly fine."
"Yes, I see the face" I said flatly. And I did; the dark face of an executioner.
"But you dont like what you see?"
"How can I, when all I see is death."
"But death is not the end."
"It is the end of life."
"This life...."
"LIFE!" I turned on him fiercely. "You have chosen death, all of you...."
"No, not death. We have chosen life eternal, the reserrection of the....."
"That is a story for children. The truth is that for thousands of years we looked to what is living, now you look to what is dead, and tell one another that this world is not for us, while the next world is all that matters. Only there is no next world."
"We believe..."
"This is all you have, John. There is nothing else. Turn your back on this world, and you face the pit."
There was silence. Then John said "Do you not see we have won?"You must admit that."
I shrugged. "The golden age has ended. So will the age of Iron, so will all things, including man. But with your new god the hope of human life has ended."
"Forever?" He taunted me gently.
"Nothing man invents lasts forever, including your christ"
John did not answer. We were outside the church. The day was pleasant and warm. People I could not see greeted me. Then my son hurried over, and I said goodbye to John and went home.
I am alone in my study again, and have put away Julian's papers. The thing is finished. The world Julian wanted to preserve and restore is gone....but I shall not write "forever", for who can know the future? Meanwhile, the barbarians are at the gate. Yet when they breach the wall, they will find nothing of value to seize, only empty relics. The spirit of what we were has fled.
So be it.
Topic: Julian by Gore Vidal