Julian's Gods: Religion and Philosophy in the Thought and Action of Julian the Apostate

Routledge
Rowland B. E. Smith
ISBN: 0415034876
price: $90.00   hardcover

Julian's brief reign (AD 362-3) had a profound impact on his contemporaries, because of his attempt to turn back the clock of Christianization and reimpose pagan worship throughout the Roman Empire. The "last pagan emperor" was long revered by nostalgic pagans as a lost champion of classical culture, and reviled in the Christian tradition as a demonic persecutor. Julian regarded himself as a philosopher as well as an emperor and military commander, and his writings on philosophy and religion are quite numerous; yet his motivation and the nature of his thought have not been much discussed.
Julian's Gods focuses on the cultural mentality of Julian, not on the controversy over Christianization. In particular it takes issue with some recent analyses of Julian's thought, arguing that his own notions of proper pagan piety are at least as important to his policies as is the philosophy he developed. Educated as a Christian, Julian remained a henotheist even when he turned to Neoplatonism, and a generalized Hellenism was as important to him as the actual pantheon of pagan gods.
This elegant and closely-argued book will deepen understanding not only of Julian, but of the context of fourth century Neoplatonism.