The Iron Kingdom Database

Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World, The
Adrian Murdoch

Number of quotes: 2

Book ID: 242 Page: 140

Section: 3C2

But imperial patronage of paganism and marginalization of Christians was not enough for a full-scale pagan revival. Julian’s masterplan was no less than the creation of a religious infrastructure that would counter the Christian model at the grassroots level. He understood its success and appeal and knew the difficulties in going against what was a tight-knit organization. “Why have we not noticed that it is their benevolence toward strangers, their care for the graves of the dead and the pseudo-holiness of their lives that has done most to increase atheism i.e., Christianity?” {44} he asked. Julian recognized that paganism had to be given the tools to fight back and turned his attention to the pagan priest who would be his frontline troops in the battle for the souls of the Roman Empire. With himself as head of the Church, he saw high priests as counterparts to the archbishops, who in turn appointed and managed their own priests.

Quote ID: 6102

Time Periods: 4

Book ID: 242 Page: 144

Section: 3C2

The three essays which Julian wrote in early 362 – To the uneducated Cynics, the reply to the Cynic Heracleios and To the Mother of the Gods – show an emperor groping his way toward a unified set of beliefs. They were all written in haste and Julian admits that he had been “writing on such a great subject so rapidly and without taking breath” and that he was “only able to give it two days as the Muses, or rather you yourselves will bear witness.” {59} Their importance lies in that they are a snapshot of the emperor’s mindset rather than extended policy documents; editorials rather than academic papers. And although they cover different topics, all three emphasize the asceticism and the behavior that he expected. “let no one divide philosophy into many kinds or cut it into many parts. Let no one suggest that it is many rather than one. Just as there is one truth, so too there is one philosophy,” writes Julian. {60} Only if they pulled together could they defeat the enemy.

In the end, the difficulty is not that Christianity succeeded, it is that paganism failed. It was not a case of bringing the empire back to the fold; rather, Julian was faced with having to create an entirely new organization. While Christianity by its very exclusivity was unified, pagans worshipped a multiplicity of gods in a variety of ways and there simply wasn’t anything that could be called a systemized pagan theology. Julians’ attempts at creating a pagan doctrine betray his Christian upbringing. His law against teachers shows that he recognized the threat, but in a real sense Julian could never truly apostatise. By the very fact of his early education, he was already, as he would have put it, polluted.

Quote ID: 6103

Time Periods: 4

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