Julian the Apostate

Julian the Apostate, full name Flavius Claudius Julianus (331?-363), Roman emperor (361-363), who tried to restore paganism after the adoption of Christianity by Constantine the Great. A nephew of Constantine, Julian was brought up as a Christian; because he later renounced that faith, Christian historians labeled him the Apostate. In 355 Julian's cousin, Emperor Constantius II, gave him the title caesar and made him commander of Roman forces in Gaul. During the next three years he campaigned against the Alamanni and the Franks, who had invaded Gaul, driving them back across the Rhine. In 360 his troops proclaimed him emperor. A civil war with Constantius was prevented only by the latter's death in 361. Julian proceeded to Constantinople (present-day İstanbul) and Antioch, where he reinstated the worship of the old Greco-Roman gods, organizing it on the pattern of the Christian church. His reign was cut short when he was killed fighting the Persians in Mesopotamia on June 26, 363.

Two satirical works by Julian have been preserved, along with a collection of his speeches and letters.