empire, and the preparations for a hazardous war with the Persians. As Libanius says, he has left behind him works in all kinds of writing, in all of them excelling all other men, and in his Epistles himself. His valour likewise is undisputed; though his prudence, especially in the Persian expedition, has been often called in question: which, as has been said, was rashly undertaken, resolutely pursued against many discouragements, and carried on, attended with several instances of mismanagement and bad conduct.

6

After all he had his faults, as is acknowledged by his best friends. He had a certain levity of mind, was a great talker, and very fond of fame: superstitious rather than properly religious; so addicted to sacrificing, that it was said, the race of bulls would be destroyed if he returned victorious from Persia. And such was the multitude of his victims, that his soldiers, who partook of them, were often much disordered by excess in eating and drinking. So Ammianus. It would be tedious to rehearse all the instances of excessive, and even ridiculous superstition, which may be found in heathen writers. Says Libanius: He received the rising sun with 'blood, and attended him again with blood at his setting.' • And because he could not go abroad so often as he would, he made a temple of his palace, and placed altars in his garden, which was purer than most chapels.' By frequent devotions he engaged the gods to be his ⚫ auxiliaries in war, worshipping Mercury, Ceres, Mars, Calliope, Apollo, and Jove; whom he worshipped in his temple upon the hill, and in the city,' meaning Antioch-And complaining of the gods who had deserted him: Whom shall we blame, says Libanius? not one, but all for none were neglected by him, neither gods nor goddesses. And is this the return,' says he, for all his victims, for all his vows, for all the incense, and all the blood offered up to 'them, by day and by night.' Again, says the same writer: Wherever there was a temple, 'whether in the city, or on the hill, or the tops of the mountains; no place so rough, or so dif'ficult of access, but he ran to it, as if the way had been smooth and pleasant, if it had a temple, or ever had one.'

k

But though Julian was so devout and religious in his way, when disappointed he could be displeased, and even angry with his gods, like other heathen people, especially the vulgar among them. In the Persian war, having had some advantages, and expecting more, he prepared a grand sacrifice for Mars: but the omens not being favourable, he was exceedingly moved, and called Jupiter to witness, that he would never more offer a sacrifice to Mars.

This excess of superstition, it seems to me, is an argument of want of judgment: which

2 Ο δε πολεμων τε όμε και πλαττων λοίες, πασας μορφας καταλελοιπεν, ἅπασαις μεν άπαντας νικων, τα δ' αυτ8 τη των επιςόλων. Or. Parent. sect. 154. p. 375. ap. Fabric. al. ter. Or. x. p. 330. C. Sed in hoc bello, parum prudenter cepto, et gesto, A. 363, telo in præliis percussus interibat. Moshem. Instit. H. E. p. 147.

C

Digestis bonis, quæ scire potuimus, nunc ad explicanda ejus vitia veniemus, licet dicta sint carptim. Levioris ingenii. Verum hoc instituto rectissimo temperabat, emendari se, cum deviaret a fruge bonâ, permittens. Lingue fusioris, et admodum raro silentis; præsagiorum sciscitationi nimiæ deditus: ut æquiparare videretur in hac re principem Hadrianum. Superstitiosus, magis quam sacrorum legitimorum observator, innumeras, sine parcimonia, pecudes mactans: ut æstimaretur, si revertisset de Parthis, boves jam defuturos; Marci illius similis, in quem id accepimus dictum: Οι λευκοί βοες Μαρκῳ τῷ Καισαρι: Αν συ νίκησης, απολώμεθα. Vulgi plausibus lætus, laudum etiam ex minimis rebus intemperans appetitor; popularitatis cupiditate cum indignis loqui sæpe adfectans. Ammian. 1. xxv. cap. 4. p. 462, 463.

Hostiarum

d Inter hæc expeditionem parans in Persastamen sanguine plurimo aras crebritate nimiâ perfundebat, tauros aliquoties immolando centenos, et innumeras varii pecoris greges, avesque candidas terrâ quæsitas et mari; adeo ut in dies pene singulos milites carnis distentiore saginâ victitantes incultius, potûsque aviditate corrupti, humeris impositi tran

i ορεσι.

Liban. Legat. ad Julian. p. 170.

Liban. Or. 9. in Julian. necem. p. 252. A. B.

Δρόμοι τε εις τεμενη τα μεν εν τη πόλει, τα δε εν ακροις Και δεν ενω χαλεπον, εδε δυσβαλον, ὁ μη λειον εδόκει, νεων εχων, η προτερον γε εσχηκος. Or. 9. p. 255. A.

* Tamen longe majora et firmiora de eo [Germanico] judicia in morte ac post mortem extitere. Quo defunctus est die, lapidata sunt templa, subversæ Deûm aræ, Lares a quibusdam familiares in publicum abjecti, partus conjugum expositi. Sueton. Calig. cap. 5.

Abunde ratus post hæc prosperitates similes adventare, complures hostias Marti parabat Ultori. Et ex tauris pulcherrimis decem ad hoc perductis, nondum aris admoti voluntate suâ novem procubuere tristissimi. Decimus vero, qui, distractis vinculis lapsus, ægre reductus est, mactatus ominosa signa monstravit. Quibus visis exclamavit indignatus acriter Julianus, Jovemque testatus est, nulla Marti jam sacra facturum. Nec reseravit, celeri morte præreptus. Ammian. 1. xxiv. cap. 6. fin.

defect appeared upon divers occasions, and in many actions, not altogether becoming the dignity of an emperor.

Ammianus Marcellinus, though very favourable to Julian, makes no scruple to blame him upon some occasions.

b

After he had been declared Augustus, and when he was in the way to the East to meet Constantius, he sent a letter, or oration, to the senate of Rome, in which were many reflections upon Constantius. • When Tertullus, who was then præfect of the city, read the letter in the senate, they manifested their generosity and gratitude: for with one voice, and directing themselves as to Julian himself, they cried out aloud: We beseech you, Sir, shew more respect to him, to whom you are indebted for what you are.'

6

Constantine, in the necessity of his affairs, had advanced some men of low rank to high posts in the republic: with that Julian reproached Constantine in the just mentioned letter, or oration, to the senate: and yet he himself made Nevita, a man of mean original, consul in the year 362. But, says Ammianus, a man should not do what he had blamed in others.

d

He moreover censures some of the executions made at the beginning of his reign soon after the death of Constantius: he says, It seems to him, that justice itself wept for the death of Ursulus, superintendant of the treasury, to whom Julian was under many obligations: and when many were offended with the emperor upon that account, hè pretended that it was done ' without his knowledge, and was entirely owing to the resentments of the soldiery.' So Am

mianus.

I need not enlarge any farther here: these several particulars now mentioned may be sufficient to satisfy us, that in the conduct of Julian there might be many things liable to exception; and, that like other great men, he was upon some occasions guilty of indiscretion, and even of injustice: and if the friends of Constantine were so disposed, they might make reprisals upon the panegyrists of Julian.

Before we pass on to other things, it may be requisite to take notice of some exceptions that have been made to Julian's virtue.

The first relates to his chastity. Mamertinus, in his panegyric, says, That Julian's bed 'was as pure as that of any vestal.' Libanius' likewise ascribes to Julian complete purity. But no one has so enlarged upon this point as the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, whose testimony must be allowed to be as satisfactory as that of any man: he not only ascribes to Julian inviolate chastity after the death of his wife, but also says, that this virtue was always in high esteem with him. He likewise mentions some considerations by which Julian supported his reso

• Et cum die quodam ei causas ibi spectanti, venisse nuntiatus esset ex Asiâ philosophus Maximus, exsiluit indecore : et qui esset oblitus, effuso cursu a vestibulo longe progressus, exosculatum susceptumque reverenter secum induxit, per ostentationem intempestivam nimius captator inanis gloriæ visus Ammian. 1. xxii. cap. 7. p. 330.

b Jamque altius se extollens, et nunquam credens ad concordiam provocare posse Constantium, orationem acrem et invectivam, probra quædam in eum explanantem et vitia, scripserat ad Senatum. Quæ cum, Tertullo administrante adhuc Præfecturam, recitarentur in Curiâ, eminuit nobilitatis cum speciosâ fiduciâ benignitas grata. Exclamatum est enim, in unum cunctorum sententiâ congruente, Auctori tuo reverentiam rogamus. Ammian. I. xxi. cap. 10.

Tunc et memoriam Constantini, ut novatoris turbatorisque priscarum legum et moris antiquitus recepti, vexavit, eum aperte incusans, quod barbaros omnium primus adusque fasces auxerat, et trabeas consulares; insulse nimirum et leviter : : qui cum vitare deberet id quod infestius objurgavit, brevi postea Mamertino in consulatu junxit Nevitam, nec splendore nec gloriâ horum similem, quibus magistratum amplissimum detulerat Constantinus; contra inconsummatum, et subagrestem, et, quod minus ferendum, celsâ in potestate crudelem. Ammian. ibid.

d Ursuli vero necem Largitionum Comitis ipsa mihi videtur flêsse Justitia, Imperatorem arguens ut ingratumQuo extincto, cum maledictis execrationibusque multorum

1 Ουδεν γαρ επρατείο της νυκίος των τοιείων γειτόνων αναξιον. Liban. Or x. p. 292. B.

Ου σωφρονέσερος μεν ν Ιππολυίε ; Ibid. p. 225. C.

Et primum ita inviolatâ castitate enituit, ut post amissam conjugem nihil unquam Venereum agitaret; illud advertens, quod apud Platonem legitur, Sophoclem tragœdiarum scriptorem ætate grandævum interrogatum, ecquid adhuc feminis misceretur, negantem id adjecisse, quod gauderet harum rerum amorem, ut rabiosum effugisse dominum et crudelem. Item ut hoc propositum validius confirmaret, recolebat sæpe dictum lyrici Bacchylidis, quem legebat jucunde, id asserentem, quod, ut egregius pictor vultum speciosum effingit, ita pudicitia celsius consurgentem vitam exornat. Quam labem in adulto robore juventutis ita caute vitavit, ut ne suspicione quidem tenus libidinis ullius vel citerioris vitæ ministris incusaretur, ut sæpe contingit. Hoc autem temperantiæ genus crescebat in majus, juvante parcimoniâ ciborum et somai, quibus domi forisque tenacitis utebatur. Ammian. 1. xxv. cap. 4. p. 458.

lution, and says, that none of those who were most intimate with him, ever suspected him of liberties contrary to that branch of temperance in any time of his life.

Nevertheless, exceptions have been made to this part of Julian's character by some of late times, who say: As to his chastity, we are not fully convinced that it deserved those mighty encomiums which Mamertinus, Libanius, and Ammianus Marcellinus have been pleased to bestow upon it: for on one side it is certain, that by Helena, his only wife, he had but one son, whom the midwife, bribed by the empress Eusebia, destroyed as soon as born: on the ⚫ other side, Julian himself, in a letter which he wrote in 363, that is, three years after the death ⚫ of Helena, mentions his children, and the person who was charged with the care of their ' education.'

1. To which I answer, That the testimony of the forementioned writers ought to be relied upon the truth of what they say ought not to be contested. If Julian's chastity had not been real and well known, heathen historians and panegyrists might and would have been silent, and have said nothing about it.

C

2. There is a remarkable instance of his self-government in this respect recorded in the Persian expedition, and which ought to be mentioned to his honour. The city Maogamalcha was taken after a difficult siege: when they came to divide the spoil, the Persian women being then renowned for beauty, it was proposed, that some of those beautiful captives should be allotted to the emperor and general: but Julian would not so much as see any of them. Which shews, that he was upon his guard against every thing that should endanger the steadiness of his

resolution.

3. When Julian speaks of the tutor of his children,' who is not named, the expression must be understood figuratively; for Julian had no children, legitimate or illegitimate. Historians are quite silent about them, excepting that one which he had by his wife Helena above mentioned, who was not suffered to live. If Julian had any children out of lawful marriage, and therefore illegitimate, can it be supposed, that Christian writers would have been silent about it? By no means. Eumenius, in his Panegyric, recommends to Constantine not only his five children, of whom he was the parent, but his other children likewise, as he calls them, whom he had educated for the bar, or the court. In some such figurative sense Julian must be understood: he intends some young persons under his special care.

4. Upon the whole therefore, the accounts of Julian's inviolate chastity ought not to be reckoned unlikely. Ammianus has mentioned divers considerations by which Julian supported his resolution-And he adds, that he was assisted therein by his great and constant temper ance in food and sleep. Moreover, Julian's ardent thirst of fame may have been another preservative of this virtue. When Mamertinus says, that Julian was free from every vice incident to human nature, it is not improbable, that he has a regard to incontinence. His expressions are to this purpose: 'To some,' says he, your justice, your moderation, your humanity, your freedom from every vice incident to human nature, may appear wonderful, and even incredible: but not to me, who know that you aim at immortality; and that in all your designs and actions you have an eye to the impartial judgment of posterity. He can do nothing mean • and abject, who expects to be in the mouths of all men in all time.'

Secondly, it is objected from 'Chrysostom, that on festivals to the honour of Venus, or on

• Tillemont L'Emp. Julien, art. xxx. p. 1031. and the writers of Universal Ancient History. Vol. xvi. p. 269, 270. » Παλιν επανιόνίος οίκαδε τα τροφεως των εμαύτε παιδιων, ἕτερων ήρχον προς σε γραμμαίων. Ep. 40. p. 417. Spanh.

Divisâ itaque perpensis meritis et laboribus prædâ, ipse, ut erat parvo contentus, mutum puerum oblatum sibi suscepit gesticularium, multa quæ callebat nutibus venustissimis explicantem, et tribus aureis nummis partæ victoriæ præmium jucundum ut existimabat et gratum. Ex virginibus autem quæ speciosæ sunt captæ, ut in Perside, ubi feminarum pulchritudo excellit, nec contrectare aliquam voluit, nec videre; Alexandrum imitatus et Africanum, qui hæc declinabant, ne frangerentur cupiditate, qui se invictos a laboribus ubique præstiterant. Ammian. 1. xxiv. cap. 4. p. 436.

d Tibique, quod superest, commendo liberos meos

Cæterum quod de omnibus liberis dixi, lata est, Imperator, ambitio. Præter illos enim quinque quos genui, etiam illos quasi meos numero, quos provexi ad tutelam fori, ad officia Palatii. Eumen. Paneg. cap. 23. p. 217.

• Sed sint, sanctissime Imperator, ea quæ tu juste, moderate, civiliter facis, aliis fortasse miraculo: mihi esse non possunt; qui te, omnibus humanis vitiis absolutum et liberum, sciam solo immortalitatis amore flagrare, dirigere omnes opes et cogitationes tuas ad memoriam posteritatis æternam, atque his maxime servire judicibus, qui de rebus gestis tuis sine odio et gratiâ venturis seculis judicabunt. Non potest quidquam abjectum et humile cogitare, qui scit de se semper loquendum. Mamert. cap. 31. p. 303.

Vide de S. Babylâ, contr. Jud. et Gentil. T. 2. 560. Bened.

p. 559.

'some other like occasions, Julian walked in procession with lewd women, and others of the 'worst characters, followed by his horse and guards.' Which is too true, though very strange; Ammianus acknowledgeth it, and intimates that he was ridiculed by some upon that

account.

Still, it should be observed, that Chrysostom, and other ecclesiastical writers, who mention these and the like things, do not charge him with being guilty of debauch. In the style and language of Bletterie: All this was done in public, and from a principle of religion. Thus • making a monstrous mixture of folly and wisdom, he honoured the debauch as a pagan, and ⚫ abstained himself as a philosopher.' Indeed, I am of opinion, that though Julian, in the excess of his zeal for Hellenism, was willing to bear a part in all its rites and solemnities, yet he scorned all debauch, and was entirely above it.

Once more, thirdly, it is said, that he practised necromancy, and ripped up the bellies of women and children, and searched their entrails for discovering future events.

с

But I must confess, that I do not think these stories sufficiently attested; they are to be found in Christian writers only, who were his enemies, and therefore their testimony may be suspected. I might add, that Gregory Nazianzen's accounts are extravagant, and improbable, and incredible; for he affirms, that the course of the river Orontes was choaked by the heaps of 'dead bodies thrown into it in the night-time, some of them children, and virgins, sacrificed in the way of divination, beside all the rest, that were hid in pits and caverns, and other private places, in and near the palace.' A man who talks in that manner, minds not what he says, and cannot be supposed to regard truth in his words. Or, as Bletterie says, more respectfully, 'St. Gregory is not to be understood literally.'

f

Theodoret says, that when Julian, in his march into Persia, came to Carrhæ, where was a 'celebrated temple of the moon, he performed sacrifices privately, unknown to almost every body; and having done so he had the temple closely shut up and sealed, forbidding it to be opened till he returned, and leaving also a guard of soldiers to secure it: but upon the news of his death, the temple being opened, they found there a woman hanging by the hair of her head, her arms stretched out, with her belly dissected.'

But the circumstances of this relation are so improbable, as to lessen the credibility of it; for it is altogether unlikely, that so horrible a sacrifice, if it had been performed, should be left in that shameful posture, and hanging by the hair of the head; or that Julian should leave soldiers to guard it, when he had none to spare. It is much more reasonable to suppose, that some person invented this story, and others received it, at a time when Julian's memory was infamous, and his enemies were at liberty to say of him what they pleased.

We have briefly gone over the history of Julian from his birth to his death; and thereby have been led to take in also his character: but it will be fit that we should enlarge upon some transactions and events.

The two consuls in the year 362, were Claudius Mamertinus and Flavius Nevitta; and on the first day of January, Mamertinus pronounced in the senate at Constantinople, a panegyric upon the emperor, by way of thanks for the honour of the consulship bestowed upon him. Early in the morning of that day, when they entered on their office, the two consuls went out to wait on the emperor at his palace, fearing he should be before-hand with them. As soon as Julian knew they were coming, he rose up suddenly, and went out to meet them, with tokens of concern in his countenance, as if he had been wanting in respect, and came forward and sa

βασιλει συνεκρύπίεν ουτος δεινόμενος νεκύεσσι, και κλείνων αδήλως· ενταυθα γαρ τα το επώς ειπειν οικειότερον παραδραμε μαι και των βασιλειών τα κοιλα και απωλαίω, όσα τε εν λακκοις, και φρεασι, και διώρυξι, κακων γεμονία θησαυρών τε και μυστηρίων ου μόνον των αναπεμνομένων παίδων τε και παρθενων επι ψυχαίωδια και μαντεία, και θυσίαις ου νενομισμέναις, αλλά και των ύπερ ευσεβείας κινδυνευονίων. Gr. Naz. Or. 3. p. 91.

Ce qu' on ne doit pas sans doute prendre à la lettre. Vie de Julien. p. 349.

8 Theod. Hist. 1. iii. cap. 26.

h

Ego et collega meus, ne quid maximus Imperator propensius humanitatis studio faceret, verebamur. Itaque

b

luted them with the greatest possible regard: and when the consuls were carried to the senate in their chairs, he attended them on foot with their friends in the crowd. These things are in the panegyric itself, where they may have been inserted, after it was pronounced. The same is in Ammianus, who says, that some applauded this humble behaviour of Julian, whilst others disliked it, as mean, affected, and below his dignity. It was customary for the emperor to accompany the new consuls, when they entered on their office; but, as it seems, not on foot, or in the crowd.

A few days after, as we also learn from Ammianus, when Mamertinus exhibited the sports of the circus, a number of slaves were brought forth, according to custom, to be manumitted by him; and Julian being present, and not minding what he did, or unacquainted with the prerogative of the several magistrates, declared them free himself; and being put in mind that he therein intrenched upon the jurisdiction of the consuls, he condemned himself in a fine of ten pounds weight of gold.

d

Julian appears to have renounced Christianity, and to have embraced Hellenism, about the twentieth year of his age; but it was kept very secret, and was known to a very few only, who were his intimate friends, until after he was declared Augustus by the soldiers in Gaul; and even after that he was upon the reserve: for, as Ammianus has observed, when he • was at Vienne, in his way to Constantinople, he still pretended to follow the Christian rite, from which he had departed a good while before; and privately with his friends he practised ' augury and divination, and all other things customary with the Greeks: and in the month of January, [in the year 361,] on the festival called the Epiphany, he went to the church of the Christians.'

But upon his being declared sole emperor, all reserve was laid aside. As the same historian says: Though he had long dissembled his respect for the gods, to which he had been inclined from his youth, now finding himself at liberty to act as he saw good, he made express edicts for opening the temples, erecting altars, and performing sacrifices.'

And I think it appears from 'Libanius, that the temples had been opened at Athens before the death of Constantius. Socrates evidently supposeth, that the temples were opened, and sacrifices performed by Julian's authority in several cities, whilst Constantius was still living.

h

And in a letter to the philosopher Maximus, written after he had been proclaimed emperor by the soldiers, but, as I apprehend, before the end of the year 361, and whilst he was in Illyricum, he tells him: You will be glad to hear what I am going to say: we worship the gods publicly; the soldiers with me are become pious; we sacrifice bulls openly, and have given

matutino crepusculo Palatium petimus. Adventare nos Principi, forte tum danti operam salutatoribus, nuntiatur. Statim a solio tamquam præceptus exsiluit, vultu trepido atque satagente, qualis mens mea esse potuisset, si principi serus occurrerem. Ægre remotis populi qui nos prægrediebatur agminibus, ut quam longissime nobis obviam procederet, laboravit. Mamertin. Paneg. cap. 28. p. 301.

a Pene intra ipsas Palatina domûs valvas, lecticas consulares jussit inferri: et cum, honori ejus venerationique cedentes, sedile illud dignitatis amplissimæ recusaremus, suis prope manibus impositos mixtus agmini togatorum præire cœpit pedes, gradum moderans pene ad lictoris nutum, et viatoris imperium. Ib. n. xxx. p. 302.

Allapso itaque Calendarum Januariarum die, cum Mamertini et Nevittæ nomina suscepissent paginæ consulares, humilior Princeps visus est, in officio pedibus gradiendo cum honoratis; quod laudabant alii; quidam, ut affectatum et vile, carpebant. Amm. 1. xxii. cap. 8. p. 329.

Dein Mamertino ludos edente Circenses, manumittendis ex more inductis per admissionum proximum, ipse lege agi dixerat, ut solebat: statimque admonitus, jurisdictionem eo die ad alterum pertinere, ut errato obnoxium decem libris auri semet ipse multavit. Ibid.

Utque omnes, nullo impediente, ad sui favorem illiceret,

adhærere cultui Christiano fingebat, a quo jam pridem occulte desciverat, arcanorum participibus paucis, haruspicinæ auguriisque intentus, et cæteris quæ Deorum semper fecere cultores. Et ut hæc interim celarentur, feriarum die, quem celebrantes mense Januario Christiani Epiphaniam dictitant, progressus in eorum ecclesiam, solenniter numine orato discessit. Ammian. 1. xxi. cap. 2.

* Et quamquam a rudimentis pueritia primis inclinatior erat erga numinum cultum, paullatimque adolescens desiderio rei flagrabat, multa metuens tamen agitabat quædam ad id pertinentia, quantum fieri poterat, occultissime. Ubi vero, abolitis quæ verebatur, adesse liberum tempus faciendi quæ vellet, advertit, sui pectoris patefecit arcana; et planis absolutisque decretis aperiri templa, arisque hostias admoveri ad Deorum statuit cultum. Amm. 1. xxii. cap. 5. f Liban. Or. x. p. 288. C.

Socrat. 1. iii. cap. 1. p. 167. C. D.

Bletterie allows, that this letter was written in the year 361, whilst Julian was yet in Illyricum, as indeed I think the letter itself shows. See his Lettres Choisies de L'Emp. Julien. p. 200. & 205. So likewise Tillemont. L'Emp. Julien. art. x. et note 4. et la persécution par Julien, art. 1. i Julian. Ep. 38. P. 415.