Julian Augustus

Abstract

The Roman emperor Julian employed both words and deeds to return the empire to paganism and reverse Christianization, inspired by his conversion to the Neoplatonic philosophy and radical pagan Hellenism of Iamblichus, and promoted by his own production of Greek literature. These works present a coherent vision of the providentially guided history and destiny of Rome as a series of (re)foundations enacted by rulers such as Romulus, Numa, and Augustus. Julian offers an Iamblichean approach to interpreting Roman legends, Platonic allegories, and myths of his own creation to articulate his own role in the refounding of the empire. Approaching the wider examination of Julian’s imperial self-image on these terms ends up nuancing and challenging common assumptions influenced by the rhetoric of his contemporary proponents. In his reverence for the gods and for philosophy, the emperor’s self-construction embraces the identities of a statesman and solider more than philosopher, Roman more than Greek, and mere human rather than semi-divine being. Julian’s unique positionality as emperor let him invert the conventions of panegyric whereby rulers equal and surpass the demigods and heroes of myth and history. While distancing himself from the ideal models of virtue and founding that inspire him, he adopts a different set of exemplary figures as mirrors of himself. Statesmen such as Pericles and Scipio, and especially Augustus, serve as precedents for Julian’s more realistic conception of his role in refounding the empire, as student and champion of philosophers, guardian of law and tradition, and servant of the gods.