JIIIIAN, surnamed the Apostate, on account of his renunciation of Christianity; Roman Emperor 361-363 A.D., was b. at Constantinople Nov. 17, 331, and was the son of Julius Constantius, the brother of Constantine the great. His proper name was Flavius Claudius Julianus. He and his brother Gallus, who were too young to be dan gerous, were spared when son of Constantine, massacred the rest of the imperial family. They were, however, removed to a castle in Cappadocia, where they were subjected to a system of rigorous espionage. Julian's life was very miserable, and the monkish education which he received produced no other result than a strong detes tation of the religion professed by his tormentors. He was fond of literature and speculation, and be instinctively turned away from the rude asceticism, gloomy piety, and barbarous janglings of Homoousians and Jlomoiousians, to the cheerfulness, refine ment, and pure intellectual meditativeness of the old Greek philosophers. Some of his teachers appear to have been (secretly) pagans, for the sudden change in the state religion brought about by Constantine had necessitated a great deal of hypocrisy, especially among scholars and government officials. At the age of 20 Julian was at' heart a disbeliever in .the divine origin of Christianity. On the death of his brother Gallus he was removed by Constantius to Milan, but was subsequently allowed to go to Athens, the home of Greek learning, where he gave himself up to philosdphical pur suits, and enjoyed that cultivated society which he so highly relished. The emperor— though still jealous and suspicious—now conferred on him the title of Caesar, and sent him to Gaul to protect it from the incursions of the Germans. Julian defeated the Alemanni at Strasburg (357 A.D.), and compelled the Franks to make peace. His inter nal administration in Gaulwas mild and judicious. His popularity, in consequence, became very great, and when Constantius ordered him to set out for the east, Julian's soldiers rose in insurrection and proclaimed their favorite emperor, who most reluc tantly acceded to their demands. The death of Constantius at Mopsocrene, in Cilicia,
Nov. 3, 361 A.D., removed the only obstacle out of his way; and on Dec. 11 he made a triumphal entrance into Constantinople. He now publicly avowed himself a pagan. but surprised both Christians and pagans.by his edict of toleration. Yet he was not absolutely impartial, for he chose most of his officers from the professed followers of the old and nompellad the Christiansto contribute to the restoration of the heathen temples. iu 362 A.D. he made great preparations at Antioch, in the hope of bringing the war with the Persians to a successful termination; and in the following year advanced to Ctesiphon and across the Tigris, but want of provisions and treachery necessitated his retreat. He was followed and attacked by the enemy, who were repeatedly repulsed, but in one of the engagements he was mortally wounded by an arrow, and died June 26, 363.—Julian was 'both .a great monarch and a great man. Ilis rule, compared•with that of many of the so-called Christian emperors, was just, liberal, and humane; and though only 32 years of age when he perished,the had com posed a great number of orations, letters, satires, and even poems (collected and pub lished by Spanheim in 1596). Among his lost works are his Refutation of the Christian Religion, and memoirs of his German campaigns and his diary. Julian appears to have been more attached to philosophy than religion, and to have more readily apprehended as truth what commended itsself to the intellect, than what spoke to the heart.—See Meander, Ueber den Kaiser Julian; Strauss, Der Romantiker auf dem Throne der CaSaren; also the works of Mangold, Sernisch,- and Rode (1877) on Julian.