41 (return) [ Ammian. xxi. 7, 11, 12. He seems to describe, with

superfluous labor, the operations of the siege of Aquileia,

which, on this occasion, maintained its impregnable fame. Gregory

Nazianzen (Orat. iii. p. 68) ascribes this accidental revolt to

the wisdom of Constantius, whose assured victory he announces

with some appearance of truth. Constantio quem credebat procul

dubio fore victorem; nemo enim omnium tunc ab hac constanti

sententia discrepebat. Ammian. xxi. 7.]

But the humanity of Julian was preserved from the cruel

alternative which he pathetically laments, of destroying or of

being himself destroyed: and the seasonable death of Constantius

delivered the Roman empire from the calamities of civil war. The

approach of winter could not detain the monarch at Antioch; and

his favorites durst not oppose his impatient desire of revenge. A

slight fever, which was perhaps occasioned by the agitation of

his spirits, was increased by the fatigues of the journey; and

Constantius was obliged to halt at the little town of Mopsucrene,

twelve miles beyond Tarsus, where he expired, after a short

illness, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the

twenty-fourth of his reign. 42 His genuine character, which was

composed of pride and weakness, of superstition and cruelty, has

been fully displayed in the preceding narrative of civil and

ecclesiastical events. The long abuse of power rendered him a

considerable object in the eyes of his contemporaries; but as

personal merit can alone deserve the notice of posterity, the

last of the sons of Constantine may be dismissed from the world,

with the remark, that he inherited the defects, without the

abilities, of his father. Before Constantius expired, he is said

to have named Julian for his successor; nor does it seem

improbable, that his anxious concern for the fate of a young and

tender wife, whom he left with child, may have prevailed, in his

last moments, over the harsher passions of hatred and revenge.

Eusebius, and his guilty associates, made a faint attempt to

prolong the reign of the eunuchs, by the election of another

emperor; but their intrigues were rejected with disdain, by an

army which now abhorred the thought of civil discord; and two

officers of rank were instantly despatched, to assure Julian,

that every sword in the empire would be drawn for his service.

The military designs of that prince, who had formed three

different attacks against Thrace, were prevented by this

fortunate event. Without shedding the blood of his

fellow-citizens, he escaped the dangers of a doubtful conflict,

and acquired the advantages of a complete victory. Impatient to

visit the place of his birth, and the new capital of the empire,

he advanced from Naissus through the mountains of Hæmus, and the

cities of Thrace. When he reached Heraclea, at the distance of

sixty miles, all Constantinople was poured forth to receive him;

and he made his triumphal entry amidst the dutiful acclamations

of the soldiers, the people, and the senate. An innumerable

multitude pressed around him with eager respect and were perhaps

disappointed when they beheld the small stature and simple garb

of a hero, whose unexperienced youth had vanquished the

Barbarians of Germany, and who had now traversed, in a successful

career, the whole continent of Europe, from the shores of the

Atlantic to those of the Bosphorus. 43 A few days afterwards,

when the remains of the deceased emperor were landed in the

harbor, the subjects of Julian applauded the real or affected

humanity of their sovereign. On foot, without his diadem, and

clothed in a mourning habit, he accompanied the funeral as far as

the church of the Holy Apostles, where the body was deposited:

and if these marks of respect may be interpreted as a selfish

tribute to the birth and dignity of his Imperial kinsman, the

tears of Julian professed to the world that he had forgot the

injuries, and remembered only the obligations, which he had

received from Constantius. 44 As soon as the legions of Aquileia

were assured of the death of the emperor, they opened the gates

of the city, and, by the sacrifice of their guilty leaders,

obtained an easy pardon from the prudence or lenity of Julian;

who, in the thirty-second year of his age, acquired the

undisputed possession of the Roman empire. 45

42 (return) [ His death and character are faithfully delineated

by Ammianus, (xxi. 14, 15, 16;) and we are authorized to despise

and detest the foolish calumny of Gregory, (Orat. iii. p. 68,)

who accuses Julian of contriving the death of his benefactor. The

private repentance of the emperor, that he had spared and

promoted Julian, (p. 69, and Orat. xxi. p. 389,) is not

improbable in itself, nor incompatible with the public verbal

testament which prudential considerations might dictate in the

last moments of his life. Note: Wagner thinks this sudden change

of sentiment altogether a fiction of the attendant courtiers and

chiefs of the army. who up to this time had been hostile to

Julian. Note in loco Ammian.—M.]

43 (return) [ In describing the triumph of Julian, Ammianus

(xxii. l, 2) assumes the lofty tone of an orator or poet; while

Libanius (Orat. Parent, c. 56, p. 281) sinks to the grave

simplicity of an historian.]

44 (return) [ The funeral of Constantius is described by

Ammianus, (xxi. 16.) Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 119,)

Mamertinus, in (Panegyr. Vet. xi. 27,) Libanius, (Orat. Parent.

c. lvi. p. 283,) and Philostorgius, (l. vi. c. 6, with Godefroy’s

Dissertations, p. 265.) These writers, and their followers,

Pagans, Catholics, Arians, beheld with very different eyes both

the dead and the living emperor.]

45 (return) [ The day and year of the birth of Julian are not

perfectly ascertained. The day is probably the sixth of November,

and the year must be either 331 or 332. Tillemont, Hist. des

Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 693. Ducange, Fam. Byzantin. p. 50. I have

preferred the earlier date.]

Chapter XXII: Julian Declared Emperor.—Part III.

Philosophy had instructed Julian to compare the advantages of

action and retirement; but the elevation of his birth, and the

accidents of his life, never allowed him the freedom of choice.

He might perhaps sincerely have preferred the groves of the

academy, and the society of Athens; but he was constrained, at

first by the will, and afterwards by the injustice, of

Constantius, to expose his person and fame to the dangers of

Imperial greatness; and to make himself accountable to the world,

and to posterity, for the happiness of millions. 46 Julian

recollected with terror the observation of his master Plato, 47

that the government of our flocks and herds is always committed

to beings of a superior species; and that the conduct of nations

requires and deserves the celestial powers of the gods or of the

genii. From this principle he justly concluded, that the man who

presumes to reign, should aspire to the perfection of the divine

nature; that he should purify his soul from her mortal and

terrestrial part; that he should extinguish his appetites,

enlighten his understanding, regulate his passions, and subdue

the wild beast, which, according to the lively metaphor of

Aristotle, 48 seldom fails to ascend the throne of a despot. The

throne of Julian, which the death of Constantius fixed on an

independent basis, was the seat of reason, of virtue, and perhaps

of vanity. He despised the honors, renounced the pleasures, and

discharged with incessant diligence the duties, of his exalted

station; and there were few among his subjects who would have

consented to relieve him from the weight of the diadem, had they

been obliged to submit their time and their actions to the

rigorous laws which that philosophic emperor imposed on himself.

One of his most intimate friends, 49 who had often shared the

frugal simplicity of his table, has remarked, that his light and

sparing diet (which was usually of the vegetable kind) left his

mind and body always free and active, for the various and

important business of an author, a pontiff, a magistrate, a

general, and a prince. In one and the same day, he gave audience

to several ambassadors, and wrote, or dictated, a great number of

letters to his generals, his civil magistrates, his private

friends, and the different cities of his dominions. He listened

to the memorials which had been received, considered the subject

of the petitions, and signified his intentions more rapidly than

they could be taken in short-hand by the diligence of his

secretaries. He possessed such flexibility of thought, and such

firmness of attention, that he could employ his hand to write,

his ear to listen, and his voice to dictate; and pursue at once

three several trains of ideas without hesitation, and without

error. While his ministers reposed, the prince flew with agility

from one labor to another, and, after a hasty dinner, retired

into his library, till the public business, which he had

appointed for the evening, summoned him to interrupt the

prosecution of his studies. The supper of the emperor was still

less substantial than the former meal; his sleep was never

clouded by the fumes of indigestion; and except in the short

interval of a marriage, which was the effect of policy rather

than love, the chaste Julian never shared his bed with a female

companion. 50 He was soon awakened by the entrance of fresh

secretaries, who had slept the preceding day; and his servants

were obliged to wait alternately while their indefatigable master

allowed himself scarcely any other refreshment than the change of

occupation. The predecessors of Julian, his uncle, his brother,

and his cousin, indulged their puerile taste for the games of the

Circus, under the specious pretence of complying with the

inclinations of the people; and they frequently remained the

greatest part of the day as idle spectators, and as a part of the

splendid spectacle, till the ordinary round of twenty-four races

51 was completely finished. On solemn festivals, Julian, who felt

and professed an unfashionable dislike to these frivolous

amusements, condescended to appear in the Circus; and after

bestowing a careless glance at five or six of the races, he

hastily withdrew with the impatience of a philosopher, who

considered every moment as lost that was not devoted to the

advantage of the public or the improvement of his own mind. 52 By

this avarice of time, he seemed to protract the short duration of

his reign; and if the dates were less securely ascertained, we

should refuse to believe, that only sixteen months elapsed

between the death of Constantius and the departure of his

successor for the Persian war. The actions of Julian can only be

preserved by the care of the historian; but the portion of his

voluminous writings, which is still extant, remains as a monument

of the application, as well as of the genius, of the emperor. The

Misopogon, the Cæsars, several of his orations, and his elaborate

work against the Christian religion, were composed in the long

nights of the two winters, the former of which he passed at

Constantinople, and the latter at Antioch.

46 (return) [ Julian himself (p. 253-267) has expressed these

philosophical ideas with much eloquence and some affectation, in

a very elaborate epistle to Themistius. The Abbé de la Bleterie,

(tom. ii. p. 146-193,) who has given an elegant translation, is

inclined to believe that it was the celebrated Themistius, whose

orations are still extant.]

47 (return) [ Julian. ad Themist. p. 258. Petavius (not. p. 95)

observes that this passage is taken from the fourth book De

Legibus; but either Julian quoted from memory, or his MSS. were

different from ours Xenophon opens the Cyropædia with a similar

reflection.]

48 (return) [ Aristot. ap. Julian. p. 261. The MS. of Vossius,

unsatisfied with the single beast, affords the stronger reading

of which the experience of despotism may warrant.]

49 (return) [ Libanius (Orat. Parentalis, c. lxxxiv. lxxxv. p.

310, 311, 312) has given this interesting detail of the private

life of Julian. He himself (in Misopogon, p. 350) mentions his

vegetable diet, and upbraids the gross and sensual appetite of

the people of Antioch.]

50 (return) [ Lectulus... Vestalium toris purior, is the praise

which Mamertinus (Panegyr. Vet. xi. 13) addresses to Julian

himself. Libanius affirms, in sober peremptory language, that

Julian never knew a woman before his marriage, or after the death

of his wife, (Orat. Parent. c. lxxxviii. p. 313.) The chastity of

Julian is confirmed by the impartial testimony of Ammianus, (xxv.

4,) and the partial silence of the Christians. Yet Julian

ironically urges the reproach of the people of Antioch, that he

_almost always_ (in Misopogon, p. 345) lay alone. This suspicious

expression is explained by the Abbé de la Bleterie (Hist. de

Jovien, tom. ii. p. 103-109) with candor and ingenuity.]

51 (return) [ See Salmasius ad Sueton in Claud. c. xxi. A

twenty-fifth race, or _missus_, was added, to complete the number

of one hundred chariots, four of which, the four colors, started

each heat.

Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus.

It appears, that they ran five or seven times round the _Meta_

(Sueton. in Domitian. c. 4;) and (from the measure of the Circus

Maximus at Rome, the Hippodrome at Constantinople, &c.) it might

be about a four mile course.]

52 (return) [ Julian. in Misopogon, p. 340. Julius Cæsar had

offended the Roman people by reading his despatches during the

actual race. Augustus indulged their taste, or his own, by his

constant attention to the important business of the Circus, for

which he professed the warmest inclination. Sueton. in August. c.

xlv.]

The reformation of the Imperial court was one of the first and

most necessary acts of the government of Julian. 53 Soon after

his entrance into the palace of Constantinople, he had occasion

for the service of a barber. An officer, magnificently dressed,

immediately presented himself. “It is a barber,” exclaimed the

prince, with affected surprise, “that I want, and not a

receiver-general of the finances.” 54 He questioned the man

concerning the profits of his employment and was informed, that

besides a large salary, and some valuable perquisites, he enjoyed

a daily allowance for twenty servants, and as many horses. A

thousand barbers, a thousand cup-bearers, a thousand cooks, were

distributed in the several offices of luxury; and the number of

eunuchs could be compared only with the insects of a summer’s

day. The monarch who resigned to his subjects the superiority of

merit and virtue, was distinguished by the oppressive

magnificence of his dress, his table, his buildings, and his

train. The stately palaces erected by Constantine and his sons,

were decorated with many colored marbles, and ornaments of massy

gold. The most exquisite dainties were procured, to gratify their

pride, rather than their taste; birds of the most distant

climates, fish from the most remote seas, fruits out of their

natural season, winter roses, and summer snows. 56 The domestic

crowd of the palace surpassed the expense of the legions; yet the

smallest part of this costly multitude was subservient to the

use, or even to the splendor, of the throne. The monarch was

disgraced, and the people was injured, by the creation and sale

of an infinite number of obscure, and even titular employments;

and the most worthless of mankind might purchase the privilege of

being maintained, without the necessity of labor, from the public

revenue. The waste of an enormous household, the increase of fees

and perquisites, which were soon claimed as a lawful debt, and

the bribes which they extorted from those who feared their

enmity, or solicited their favor, suddenly enriched these haughty

menials. They abused their fortune, without considering their

past, or their future, condition; and their rapine and venality

could be equalled only by the extravagance of their dissipations.

Their silken robes were embroidered with gold, their tables were

served with delicacy and profusion; the houses which they built

for their own use, would have covered the farm of an ancient

consul; and the most honorable citizens were obliged to dismount

from their horses, and respectfully to salute a eunuch whom they

met on the public highway. The luxury of the palace excited the

contempt and indignation of Julian, who usually slept on the

ground, who yielded with reluctance to the indispensable calls of

nature; and who placed his vanity, not in emulating, but in

despising, the pomp of royalty.

53 (return) [ The reformation of the palace is described by

Ammianus, (xxii. 4,) Libanius, Orat. (Parent. c. lxii. p. 288,

&c.,) Mamertinus, in Panegyr. (Vet. xi. 11,) Socrates, (l. iii.

c. l.,) and Zonaras, (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 24.)]

54 (return) [ Ego non _rationalem_ jussi sed tonsorem acciri.

Zonaras uses the less natural image of a senator. Yet an officer

of the finances, who was satisfied with wealth, might desire and

obtain the honors of the senate.]

56 (return) [ The expressions of Mamertinus are lively and

forcible. Quis etiam prandiorum et cænarum laboratas magnitudines

Romanus populus sensit; cum quæsitissimæ dapes non gustu sed

difficultatibus æstimarentur; miracula avium, longinqui maris

pisces, aheni temporis poma, æstivæ nives, hybernæ rosæ]

By the total extirpation of a mischief which was magnified even

beyond its real extent, he was impatient to relieve the distress,

and to appease the murmurs of the people; who support with less

uneasiness the weight of taxes, if they are convinced that the

fruits of their industry are appropriated to the service of the

state. But in the execution of this salutary work, Julian is

accused of proceeding with too much haste and inconsiderate

severity. By a single edict, he reduced the palace of

Constantinople to an immense desert, and dismissed with ignominy

the whole train of slaves and dependants, 57 without providing

any just, or at least benevolent, exceptions, for the age, the

services, or the poverty, of the faithful domestics of the

Imperial family. Such indeed was the temper of Julian, who seldom

recollected the fundamental maxim of Aristotle, that true virtue

is placed at an equal distance between the opposite vices.

The splendid and effeminate dress of the Asiatics, the curls and

paint, the collars and bracelets, which had appeared so

ridiculous in the person of Constantine, were consistently

rejected by his philosophic successor. But with the fopperies,

Julian affected to renounce the decencies of dress; and seemed to

value himself for his neglect of the laws of cleanliness. In a

satirical performance, which was designed for the public eye, the

emperor descants with pleasure, and even with pride, on the

length of his nails, and the inky blackness of his hands;

protests, that although the greatest part of his body was covered

with hair, the use of the razor was confined to his head alone;

and celebrates, with visible complacency, the shaggy and

_populous_ 58 beard, which he fondly cherished, after the example

of the philosophers of Greece. Had Julian consulted the simple

dictates of reason, the first magistrate of the Romans would have

scorned the affectation of Diogenes, as well as that of Darius.

57 (return) [ Yet Julian himself was accused of bestowing whole

towns on the eunuchs, (Orat. vii. against Polyclet. p. 117-127.)

Libanius contents himself with a cold but positive denial of the

fact, which seems indeed to belong more properly to Constantius.

This charge, however, may allude to some unknown circumstance.]

58 (return) [ In the Misopogon (p. 338, 339) he draws a very

singular picture of himself, and the following words are

strangely characteristic. The friends of the Abbé de la Bleterie

adjured him, in the name of the French nation, not to translate

this passage, so offensive to their delicacy, (Hist. de Jovien,

tom. ii. p. 94.) Like him, I have contented myself with a

transient allusion; but the little animal which Julian _names_,

is a beast familiar to man, and signifies love.]

But the work of public reformation would have remained imperfect,

if Julian had only corrected the abuses, without punishing the

crimes, of his predecessor’s reign. “We are now delivered,” says

he, in a familiar letter to one of his intimate friends, “we are

now surprisingly delivered from the voracious jaws of the Hydra.

59 I do not mean to apply the epithet to my brother Constantius.

He is no more; may the earth lie light on his head! But his

artful and cruel favorites studied to deceive and exasperate a

prince, whose natural mildness cannot be praised without some

efforts of adulation. It is not, however, my intention, that even

those men should be oppressed: they are accused, and they shall

enjoy the benefit of a fair and impartial trial.” To conduct this

inquiry, Julian named six judges of the highest rank in the state

and army; and as he wished to escape the reproach of condemning

his personal enemies, he fixed this extraordinary tribunal at

Chalcedon, on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus; and transferred

to the commissioners an absolute power to pronounce and execute

their final sentence, without delay, and without appeal. The

office of president was exercised by the venerable præfect of the

East, a _second_ Sallust, 60 whose virtues conciliated the esteem

of Greek sophists, and of Christian bishops. He was assisted by

the eloquent Mamertinus, 61 one of the consuls elect, whose merit

is loudly celebrated by the doubtful evidence of his own

applause. But the civil wisdom of two magistrates was

overbalanced by the ferocious violence of four generals, Nevitta,

Agilo, Jovinus, and Arbetio. Arbetio, whom the public would have

seen with less surprise at the bar than on the bench, was

supposed to possess the secret of the commission; the armed and

angry leaders of the Jovian and Herculian bands encompassed the

tribunal; and the judges were alternately swayed by the laws of

justice, and by the clamors of faction. 62

59 (return) [ Julian, epist. xxiii. p. 389. He uses the words in

writing to his friend Hermogenes, who, like himself, was

conversant with the Greek poets.]

60 (return) [ The two Sallusts, the præfect of Gaul, and the

præfect of the East, must be carefully distinguished, (Hist. des

Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 696.) I have used the surname of

_Secundus_, as a convenient epithet. The second Sallust extorted

the esteem of the Christians themselves; and Gregory Nazianzen,

who condemned his religion, has celebrated his virtues, (Orat.

iii. p. 90.) See a curious note of the Abbé de la Bleterie, Vie

de Julien, p. 363. Note: Gibbonus secundum habet pro numero, quod

tamen est viri agnomen Wagner, nota in loc. Amm. It is not a

mistake; it is rather an error in taste. Wagner inclines to

transfer the chief guilt to Arbetio.—M.]

61 (return) [ Mamertinus praises the emperor (xi. l.) for

bestowing the offices of Treasurer and Præfect on a man of

wisdom, firmness, integrity, &c., like himself. Yet Ammianus

ranks him (xxi. l.) among the ministers of Julian, quorum merita

norat et fidem.]

62 (return) [ The proceedings of this chamber of justice are

related by Ammianus, (xxii. 3,) and praised by Libanius, (Orat.

Parent. c. 74, p. 299, 300.)]

The chamberlain Eusebius, who had so long abused the favor of

Constantius, expiated, by an ignominious death, the insolence,

the corruption, and cruelty of his servile reign. The executions

of Paul and Apodemius (the former of whom was burnt alive) were

accepted as an inadequate atonement by the widows and orphans of

so many hundred Romans, whom those legal tyrants had betrayed and

murdered. But justice herself (if we may use the pathetic

expression of Ammianus) 63 appeared to weep over the fate of

Ursulus, the treasurer of the empire; and his blood accused the

ingratitude of Julian, whose distress had been seasonably

relieved by the intrepid liberality of that honest minister. The

rage of the soldiers, whom he had provoked by his indiscretion,

was the cause and the excuse of his death; and the emperor,

deeply wounded by his own reproaches and those of the public,

offered some consolation to the family of Ursulus, by the

restitution of his confiscated fortunes. Before the end of the

year in which they had been adorned with the ensigns of the

prefecture and consulship, 64 Taurus and Florentius were reduced

to implore the clemency of the inexorable tribunal of Chalcedon.

The former was banished to Vercellæ in Italy, and a sentence of

death was pronounced against the latter. A wise prince should

have rewarded the crime of Taurus: the faithful minister, when he

was no longer able to oppose the progress of a rebel, had taken

refuge in the court of his benefactor and his lawful sovereign.

But the guilt of Florentius justified the severity of the judges;

and his escape served to display the magnanimity of Julian, who

nobly checked the interested diligence of an informer, and

refused to learn what place concealed the wretched fugitive from

his just resentment. 65 Some months after the tribunal of

Chalcedon had been dissolved, the prætorian vicegerent of Africa,

the notary Gaudentius, and Artemius 66 duke of Egypt, were

executed at Antioch. Artemius had reigned the cruel and corrupt

tyrant of a great province; Gaudentius had long practised the

arts of calumny against the innocent, the virtuous, and even the

person of Julian himself. Yet the circumstances of their trial

and condemnation were so unskillfully managed, that these wicked

men obtained, in the public opinion, the glory of suffering for

the obstinate loyalty with which they had supported the cause of

Constantius. The rest of his servants were protected by a general

act of oblivion; and they were left to enjoy with impunity the

bribes which they had accepted, either to defend the oppressed,

or to oppress the friendless. This measure, which, on the

soundest principles of policy, may deserve our approbation, was

executed in a manner which seemed to degrade the majesty of the

throne. Julian was tormented by the importunities of a multitude,

particularly of Egyptians, who loudly redemanded the gifts which

they had imprudently or illegally bestowed; he foresaw the

endless prosecution of vexatious suits; and he engaged a promise,

which ought always to have been sacred, that if they would repair

to Chalcedon, he would meet them in person, to hear and determine

their complaints. But as soon as they were landed, he issued an

absolute order, which prohibited the watermen from transporting

any Egyptian to Constantinople; and thus detained his

disappointed clients on the Asiatic shore till, their patience

and money being utterly exhausted, they were obliged to return

with indignant murmurs to their native country. 67

63 (return) [ Ursuli vero necem ipsa mihi videtur flesse

justitia. Libanius, who imputes his death to the soldiers,

attempts to criminate the court of the largesses.]

64 (return) [ Such respect was still entertained for the

venerable names of the commonwealth, that the public was

surprised and scandalized to hear Taurus summoned as a criminal

under the consulship of Taurus. The summons of his colleague

Florentius was probably delayed till the commencement of the

ensuing year.]

65 (return) [ Ammian. xx. 7.]

66 (return) [ For the guilt and punishment of Artemius, see

Julian (Epist. x. p. 379) and Ammianus, (xxii. 6, and Vales, ad

hoc.) The merit of Artemius, who demolished temples, and was put

to death by an apostate, has tempted the Greek and Latin churches

to honor him as a martyr. But as ecclesiastical history attests

that he was not only a tyrant, but an Arian, it is not altogether

easy to justify this indiscreet promotion. Tillemont, Mém.

Eccles. tom. vii. p. 1319.]

67 (return) [ See Ammian. xxii. 6, and Vales, ad locum; and the

Codex Theodosianus, l. ii. tit. xxxix. leg. i.; and Godefroy’s

Commentary, tom. i. p. 218, ad locum.]

Chapter XXII: Julian Declared Emperor.—Part IV.

The numerous army of spies, of agents, and informers enlisted by

Constantius to secure the repose of one man, and to interrupt

that of millions, was immediately disbanded by his generous

successor. Julian was slow in his suspicions, and gentle in his

punishments; and his contempt of treason was the result of

judgment, of vanity, and of courage. Conscious of superior merit,

he was persuaded that few among his subjects would dare to meet

him in the field, to attempt his life, or even to seat themselves

on his vacant throne. The philosopher could excuse the hasty

sallies of discontent; and the hero could despise the ambitious

projects which surpassed the fortune or the abilities of the rash

conspirators. A citizen of Ancyra had prepared for his own use a

purple garment; and this indiscreet action, which, under the

reign of Constantius, would have been considered as a capital

offence, 68 was reported to Julian by the officious importunity

of a private enemy. The monarch, after making some inquiry into

the rank and character of his rival, despatched the informer with

a present of a pair of purple slippers, to complete the

magnificence of his Imperial habit. A more dangerous conspiracy

was formed by ten of the domestic guards, who had resolved to

assassinate Julian in the field of exercise near Antioch. Their

intemperance revealed their guilt; and they were conducted in

chains to the presence of their injured sovereign, who, after a

lively representation of the wickedness and folly of their

enterprise, instead of a death of torture, which they deserved

and expected, pronounced a sentence of exile against the two

principal offenders. The only instance in which Julian seemed to

depart from his accustomed clemency, was the execution of a rash

youth, who, with a feeble hand, had aspired to seize the reins of

empire. But that youth was the son of Marcellus, the general of

cavalry, who, in the first campaign of the Gallic war, had

deserted the standard of the Cæsar and the republic. Without

appearing to indulge his personal resentment, Julian might easily

confound the crime of the son and of the father; but he was

reconciled by the distress of Marcellus, and the liberality of

the emperor endeavored to heal the wound which had been inflicted

by the hand of justice. 69

68 (return) [ The president Montesquieu (Considerations sur la

Grandeur, &c., des Romains, c. xiv. in his works, tom. iii. p.

448, 449,) excuses this minute and absurd tyranny, by supposing

that actions the most indifferent in our eyes might excite, in a

Roman mind, the idea of guilt and danger. This strange apology is

supported by a strange misapprehension of the English laws, “chez

une nation.... où il est défendu de boire à la santé d’une

certaine personne.”]

69 (return) [ The clemency of Julian, and the conspiracy which

was formed against his life at Antioch, are described by Ammianus

(xxii. 9, 10, and Vales, ad loc.) and Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c.

99, p. 323.)]

Julian was not insensible of the advantages of freedom. 70 From

his studies he had imbibed the spirit of ancient sages and

heroes; his life and fortunes had depended on the caprice of a

tyrant; and when he ascended the throne, his pride was sometimes

mortified by the reflection, that the slaves who would not dare

to censure his defects were not worthy to applaud his virtues. 71

He sincerely abhorred the system of Oriental despotism, which

Diocletian, Constantine, and the patient habits of fourscore

years, had established in the empire. A motive of superstition

prevented the execution of the design, which Julian had

frequently meditated, of relieving his head from the weight of a

costly diadem; 72 but he absolutely refused the title of

_Dominus_, or _Lord_, 73 a word which was grown so familiar to

the ears of the Romans, that they no longer remembered its

servile and humiliating origin. The office, or rather the name,

of consul, was cherished by a prince who contemplated with

reverence the ruins of the republic; and the same behavior which

had been assumed by the prudence of Augustus was adopted by

Julian from choice and inclination. On the calends of January, at

break of day, the new consuls, Mamertinus and Nevitta, hastened

to the palace to salute the emperor. As soon as he was informed

of their approach, he leaped from his throne, eagerly advanced to

meet them, and compelled the blushing magistrates to receive the

demonstrations of his affected humility. From the palace they

proceeded to the senate. The emperor, on foot, marched before

their litters; and the gazing multitude admired the image of

ancient times, or secretly blamed a conduct, which, in their

eyes, degraded the majesty of the purple. 74 But the behavior of

Julian was uniformly supported. During the games of the Circus,

he had, imprudently or designedly, performed the manumission of a

slave in the presence of the consul. The moment he was reminded

that he had trespassed on the jurisdiction of _another_

magistrate, he condemned himself to pay a fine of ten pounds of

gold; and embraced this public occasion of declaring to the

world, that he was subject, like the rest of his fellow-citizens,

to the laws, 75 and even to the forms, of the republic. The

spirit of his administration, and his regard for the place of his

nativity, induced Julian to confer on the senate of

Constantinople the same honors, privileges, and authority, which

were still enjoyed by the senate of ancient Rome. 76 A legal

fiction was introduced, and gradually established, that one half

of the national council had migrated into the East; and the

despotic successors of Julian, accepting the title of Senators,

acknowledged themselves the members of a respectable body, which

was permitted to represent the majesty of the Roman name. From

Constantinople, the attention of the monarch was extended to the

municipal senates of the provinces. He abolished, by repeated

edicts, the unjust and pernicious exemptions which had withdrawn

so many idle citizens from the services of their country; and by

imposing an equal distribution of public duties, he restored the

strength, the splendor, or, according to the glowing expression

of Libanius, 77 the soul of the expiring cities of his empire.

The venerable age of Greece excited the most tender compassion in

the mind of Julian, which kindled into rapture when he

recollected the gods, the heroes, and the men superior to heroes

and to gods, who have bequeathed to the latest posterity the

monuments of their genius, or the example of their virtues. He

relieved the distress, and restored the beauty, of the cities of

Epirus and Peloponnesus. 78 Athens acknowledged him for her

benefactor; Argos, for her deliverer. The pride of Corinth, again

rising from her ruins with the honors of a Roman colony, exacted

a tribute from the adjacent republics, for the purpose of

defraying the games of the Isthmus, which were celebrated in the

amphitheatre with the hunting of bears and panthers. From this

tribute the cities of Elis, of Delphi, and of Argos, which had

inherited from their remote ancestors the sacred office of

perpetuating the Olympic, the Pythian, and the Nemean games,

claimed a just exemption. The immunity of Elis and Delphi was

respected by the Corinthians; but the poverty of Argos tempted

the insolence of oppression; and the feeble complaints of its

deputies were silenced by the decree of a provincial magistrate,

who seems to have consulted only the interest of the capital in

which he resided. Seven years after this sentence, Julian 79

allowed the cause to be referred to a superior tribunal; and his

eloquence was interposed, most probably with success, in the

defence of a city, which had been the royal seat of Agamemnon, 80

and had given to Macedonia a race of kings and conquerors. 81

70 (return) [ According to some, says Aristotle, (as he is quoted

by Julian ad Themist. p. 261,) the form of absolute government is

contrary to nature. Both the prince and the philosopher choose,

how ever to involve this eternal truth in artful and labored

obscurity.]

71 (return) [ That sentiment is expressed almost in the words of

Julian himself. Ammian. xxii. 10.]

72 (return) [ Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 95, p. 320,) who

mentions the wish and design of Julian, insinuates, in mysterious

language that the emperor was restrained by some particular

revelation.]

73 (return) [ Julian in Misopogon, p. 343. As he never abolished,

by any public law, the proud appellations of _Despot_, or

_Dominus_, they are still extant on his medals, (Ducange, Fam.

Byzantin. p. 38, 39;) and the private displeasure which he

affected to express, only gave a different tone to the servility

of the court. The Abbé de la Bleterie (Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii.

p. 99-102) has curiously traced the origin and progress of the

word _Dominus_ under the Imperial government.]

74 (return) [ Ammian. xxii. 7. The consul Mamertinus (in Panegyr.

Vet. xi. 28, 29, 30) celebrates the auspicious day, like an

elegant slave, astonished and intoxicated by the condescension of

his master.]

75 (return) [ Personal satire was condemned by the laws of the

twelve tables: Si male condiderit in quem quis carmina, jus est

Judiciumque—Horat. Sat. ii. 1. 82. ——Julian (in Misopogon, p.

337) owns himself subject to the law; and the Abbé de la Bleterie

(Hist. de Jovien, tom. ii. p. 92) has eagerly embraced a

declaration so agreeable to his own system, and, indeed, to the

true spirit of the Imperial constitution.]

76 (return) [ Zosimus, l. iii. p. 158.]

77 (return) [ See Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 71, p. 296,)

Ammianus, (xxii. 9,) and the Theodosian Code (l. xii. tit. i.

leg. 50-55.) with Godefroy’s Commentary, (tom. iv. p. 390-402.)

Yet the whole subject of the _Curia_, notwithstanding very ample

materials, still remains the most obscure in the legal history of

the empire.]

78 (return) [ Quæ paulo ante arida et siti anhelantia visebantur,

ea nunc perlui, mundari, madere; Fora, Deambulacra, Gymnasia,

lætis et gaudentibus populis frequentari; dies festos, et

celebrari veteres, et novos in honorem principis consecrari,

(Mamertin. xi. 9.) He particularly restored the city of Nicopolis

and the Actiac games, which had been instituted by Augustus.]

79 (return) [ Julian. Epist. xxxv. p. 407-411. This epistle,

which illustrates the declining age of Greece, is omitted by the

Abbé de la Bleterie, and strangely disfigured by the Latin

translator, who, by rendering _tributum_, and _populus_, directly

contradicts the sense of the original.]

80 (return) [ He reigned in Mycenæ at the distance of fifty

stadia, or six miles from Argos: but these cities, which

alternately flourished, are confounded by the Greek poets.

Strabo, l. viii. p. 579, edit. Amstel. 1707.]

81 (return) [ Marsham, Canon. Chron. p. 421. This pedigree from

Temenus and Hercules may be suspicious; yet it was allowed, after

a strict inquiry, by the judges of the Olympic games, (Herodot.

l. v. c. 22,) at a time when the Macedonian kings were obscure

and unpopular in Greece. When the Achæan league declared against

Philip, it was thought decent that the deputies of Argos should

retire, (T. Liv. xxxii. 22.)]

The laborious administration of military and civil affairs, which

were multiplied in proportion to the extent of the empire,

exercised the abilities of Julian; but he frequently assumed the

two characters of Orator 82 and of Judge, 83 which are almost

unknown to the modern sovereigns of Europe. The arts of

persuasion, so diligently cultivated by the first Cæsars, were

neglected by the military ignorance and Asiatic pride of their

successors; and if they condescended to harangue the soldiers,

whom they feared, they treated with silent disdain the senators,

whom they despised. The assemblies of the senate, which

Constantius had avoided, were considered by Julian as the place

where he could exhibit, with the most propriety, the maxims of a

republican, and the talents of a rhetorician. He alternately

practised, as in a school of declamation, the several modes of

praise, of censure, of exhortation; and his friend Libanius has

remarked, that the study of Homer taught him to imitate the

simple, concise style of Menelaus, the copiousness of Nestor,

whose words descended like the flakes of a winter’s snow, or the

pathetic and forcible eloquence of Ulysses. The functions of a

judge, which are sometimes incompatible with those of a prince,

were exercised by Julian, not only as a duty, but as an

amusement; and although he might have trusted the integrity and

discernment of his Prætorian præfects, he often placed himself by

their side on the seat of judgment. The acute penetration of his

mind was agreeably occupied in detecting and defeating the

chicanery of the advocates, who labored to disguise the truths of

facts, and to pervert the sense of the laws. He sometimes forgot

the gravity of his station, asked indiscreet or unseasonable

questions, and betrayed, by the loudness of his voice, and the

agitation of his body, the earnest vehemence with which he

maintained his opinion against the judges, the advocates, and

their clients. But his knowledge of his own temper prompted him

to encourage, and even to solicit, the reproof of his friends and

ministers; and whenever they ventured to oppose the irregular

sallies of his passions, the spectators could observe the shame,

as well as the gratitude, of their monarch. The decrees of Julian

were almost always founded on the principles of justice; and he

had the firmness to resist the two most dangerous temptations,

which assault the tribunal of a sovereign, under the specious

forms of compassion and equity. He decided the merits of the

cause without weighing the circumstances of the parties; and the

poor, whom he wished to relieve, were condemned to satisfy the

just demands of a wealthy and noble adversary. He carefully

distinguished the judge from the legislator; 84 and though he

meditated a necessary reformation of the Roman jurisprudence, he

pronounced sentence according to the strict and literal

interpretation of those laws, which the magistrates were bound to

execute, and the subjects to obey.

82 (return) [ His eloquence is celebrated by Libanius, (Orat.

Parent. c. 75, 76, p. 300, 301,) who distinctly mentions the

orators of Homer. Socrates (l. iii. c. 1) has rashly asserted

that Julian was the only prince, since Julius Cæsar, who

harangued the senate. All the predecessors of Nero, (Tacit.

Annal. xiii. 3,) and many of his successors, possessed the

faculty of speaking in public; and it might be proved by various

examples, that they frequently exercised it in the senate.]

83 (return) [ Ammianus (xxi. 10) has impartially stated the

merits and defects of his judicial proceedings. Libanius (Orat.

Parent. c. 90, 91, p. 315, &c.) has seen only the fair side, and

his picture, if it flatters the person, expresses at least the

duties, of the judge. Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv. p. 120,) who

suppresses the virtues, and exaggerates even the venial faults of

the Apostate, triumphantly asks, whether such a judge was fit to

be seated between Minos and Rhadamanthus, in the Elysian Fields.]

84 (return) [ Of the laws which Julian enacted in a reign of

sixteen months, fifty-four have been admitted into the codes of

Theodosius and Justinian. (Gothofred. Chron. Legum, p. 64-67.)

The Abbé de la Bleterie (tom. ii. p. 329-336) has chosen one of

these laws to give an idea of Julian’s Latin style, which is

forcible and elaborate, but less pure than his Greek.]

The generality of princes, if they were stripped of their purple,

and cast naked into the world, would immediately sink to the

lowest rank of society, without a hope of emerging from their

obscurity. But the personal merit of Julian was, in some measure,

independent of his fortune. Whatever had been his choice of life,

by the force of intrepid courage, lively wit, and intense

application, he would have obtained, or at least he would have

deserved, the highest honors of his profession; and Julian might

have raised himself to the rank of minister, or general, of the

state in which he was born a private citizen. If the jealous

caprice of power had disappointed his expectations, if he had

prudently declined the paths of greatness, the employment of the

same talents in studious solitude would have placed beyond the

reach of kings his present happiness and his immortal fame. When

we inspect, with minute, or perhaps malevolent attention, the

portrait of Julian, something seems wanting to the grace and

perfection of the whole figure. His genius was less powerful and

sublime than that of Cæsar; nor did he possess the consummate

prudence of Augustus. The virtues of Trajan appear more steady

and natural, and the philosophy of Marcus is more simple and

consistent. Yet Julian sustained adversity with firmness, and

prosperity with moderation. After an interval of one hundred and

twenty years from the death of Alexander Severus, the Romans

beheld an emperor who made no distinction between his duties and

his pleasures; who labored to relieve the distress, and to revive

the spirit, of his subjects; and who endeavored always to connect

authority with merit, and happiness with virtue. Even faction,

and religious faction, was constrained to acknowledge the

superiority of his genius, in peace as well as in war, and to

confess, with a sigh, that the apostate Julian was a lover of his

country, and that he deserved the empire of the world. 85

85 (return) [

... Ductor fortissimus armis; Conditor et legum celeberrimus; ore

manûque Consultor patriæ; sed non consultor habendæ Religionis;

amans tercentum millia Divûm. Pertidus ille Deo, sed non et

perfidus orbi. Prudent. Apotheosis, 450, &c.

The consciousness of a generous sentiment seems to have raised

the Christian post above his usual mediocrity.]

Chapter XXIII: Reign Of Julian.—Part I.

The Religion Of Julian.—Universal Toleration.—He Attempts To

Restore And Reform The Pagan Worship—To Rebuild The Temple Of

Jerusalem—His Artful Persecution Of The Christians.—Mutual Zeal

And Injustice.

The character of Apostate has injured the reputation of Julian;

and the enthusiasm which clouded his virtues has exaggerated the

real and apparent magnitude of his faults. Our partial ignorance

may represent him as a philosophic monarch, who studied to

protect, with an equal hand, the religious factions of the

empire; and to allay the theological fever which had inflamed the

minds of the people, from the edicts of Diocletian to the exile

of Athanasius. A more accurate view of the character and conduct

of Julian will remove this favorable prepossession for a prince

who did not escape the general contagion of the times. We enjoy

the singular advantage of comparing the pictures which have been

delineated by his fondest admirers and his implacable enemies.

The actions of Julian are faithfully related by a judicious and

candid historian, the impartial spectator of his life and death.

The unanimous evidence of his contemporaries is confirmed by the

public and private declarations of the emperor himself; and his

various writings express the uniform tenor of his religious

sentiments, which policy would have prompted him to dissemble

rather than to affect. A devout and sincere attachment for the

gods of Athens and Rome constituted the ruling passion of Julian;

1 the powers of an enlightened understanding were betrayed and

corrupted by the influence of superstitious prejudice; and the

phantoms which existed only in the mind of the emperor had a real

and pernicious effect on the government of the empire. The

vehement zeal of the Christians, who despised the worship, and

overturned the altars of those fabulous deities, engaged their

votary in a state of irreconcilable hostility with a very

numerous party of his subjects; and he was sometimes tempted by

the desire of victory, or the shame of a repulse, to violate the

laws of prudence, and even of justice. The triumph of the party,

which he deserted and opposed, has fixed a stain of infamy on the

name of Julian; and the unsuccessful apostate has been

overwhelmed with a torrent of pious invectives, of which the

signal was given by the sonorous trumpet 2 of Gregory Nazianzen.

3 The interesting nature of the events which were crowded into

the short reign of this active emperor, deserve a just and

circumstantial narrative. His motives, his counsels, and his

actions, as far as they are connected with the history of

religion, will be the subject of the present chapter.

1 (return) [ I shall transcribe some of his own expressions from

a short religious discourse which the Imperial pontiff composed

to censure the bold impiety of a Cynic. Orat. vii. p. 212. The

variety and copiousness of the Greek tongue seem inadequate to

the fervor of his devotion.]

2 (return) [ The orator, with some eloquence, much enthusiasm,

and more vanity, addresses his discourse to heaven and earth, to

men and angels, to the living and the dead; and above all, to the

great Constantius, an odd Pagan expression. He concludes with a

bold assurance, that he has erected a monument not less durable,

and much more portable, than the columns of Hercules. See Greg.

Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 50, iv. p. 134.]

3 (return) [ See this long invective, which has been

injudiciously divided into two orations in Gregory’s works, tom.

i. p. 49-134, Paris, 1630. It was published by Gregory and his

friend Basil, (iv. p. 133,) about six months after the death of

Julian, when his remains had been carried to Tarsus, (iv. p.

120;) but while Jovian was still on the throne, (iii. p. 54, iv.

p. 117) I have derived much assistance from a French version and

remarks, printed at Lyons, 1735.]

The cause of his strange and fatal apostasy may be derived from

the early period of his life, when he was left an orphan in the

hands of the murderers of his family. The names of Christ and of

Constantius, the ideas of slavery and of religion, were soon

associated in a youthful imagination, which was susceptible of

the most lively impressions. The care of his infancy was

intrusted to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, 4 who was related to

him on the side of his mother; and till Julian reached the

twentieth year of his age, he received from his Christian

preceptors the education, not of a hero, but of a saint. The

emperor, less jealous of a heavenly than of an earthly crown,

contented himself with the imperfect character of a catechumen,

while he bestowed the advantages of baptism 5 on the nephews of

Constantine. 6 They were even admitted to the inferior offices of

the ecclesiastical order; and Julian publicly read the Holy

Scriptures in the church of Nicomedia. The study of religion,

which they assiduously cultivated, appeared to produce the

fairest fruits of faith and devotion. 7 They prayed, they fasted,

they distributed alms to the poor, gifts to the clergy, and

oblations to the tombs of the martyrs; and the splendid monument

of St. Mamas, at Cæsarea, was erected, or at least was

undertaken, by the joint labor of Gallus and Julian. 8 They

respectfully conversed with the bishops, who were eminent for

superior sanctity, and solicited the benediction of the monks and

hermits, who had introduced into Cappadocia the voluntary

hardships of the ascetic life. 9 As the two princes advanced

towards the years of manhood, they discovered, in their religious

sentiments, the difference of their characters. The dull and

obstinate understanding of Gallus embraced, with implicit zeal,

the doctrines of Christianity; which never influenced his

conduct, or moderated his passions. The mild disposition of the

younger brother was less repugnant to the precepts of the gospel;

and his active curiosity might have been gratified by a

theological system, which explains the mysterious essence of the

Deity, and opens the boundless prospect of invisible and future

worlds. But the independent spirit of Julian refused to yield the

passive and unresisting obedience which was required, in the name

of religion, by the haughty ministers of the church. Their

speculative opinions were imposed as positive laws, and guarded

by the terrors of eternal punishments; but while they prescribed

the rigid formulary of the thoughts, the words, and the actions

of the young prince; whilst they silenced his objections, and

severely checked the freedom of his inquiries, they secretly

provoked his impatient genius to disclaim the authority of his

ecclesiastical guides. He was educated in the Lesser Asia, amidst

the scandals of the Arian controversy. 10 The fierce contests of

the Eastern bishops, the incessant alterations of their creeds,

and the profane motives which appeared to actuate their conduct,

insensibly strengthened the prejudice of Julian, that they

neither understood nor believed the religion for which they so

fiercely contended. Instead of listening to the proofs of

Christianity with that favorable attention which adds weight to

the most respectable evidence, he heard with suspicion, and

disputed with obstinacy and acuteness, the doctrines for which he

already entertained an invincible aversion. Whenever the young

princes were directed to compose declamations on the subject of

the prevailing controversies, Julian always declared himself the

advocate of Paganism; under the specious excuse that, in the

defence of the weaker cause, his learning and ingenuity might be

more advantageously exercised and displayed.

4 (return) [ Nicomediæ ab Eusebio educatus Episcopo, quem genere

longius contingebat, (Ammian. xxii. 9.) Julian never expresses

any gratitude towards that Arian prelate; but he celebrates his

preceptor, the eunuch Mardonius, and describes his mode of

education, which inspired his pupil with a passionate admiration

for the genius, and perhaps the religion of Homer. Misopogon, p.

351, 352.]

5 (return) [ Greg. Naz. iii. p. 70. He labored to effect that

holy mark in the blood, perhaps of a Taurobolium. Baron. Annal.

Eccles. A. D. 361, No. 3, 4.]

6 (return) [ Julian himself (Epist. li. p. 454) assures the

Alexandrians that he had been a Christian (he must mean a sincere

one) till the twentieth year of his age.]

7 (return) [ See his Christian, and even ecclesiastical

education, in Gregory, (iii. p. 58,) Socrates, (l. iii. c. 1,)

and Sozomen, (l. v. c. 2.) He escaped very narrowly from being a

bishop, and perhaps a saint.]

8 (return) [ The share of the work which had been allotted to

Gallus, was prosecuted with vigor and success; but the earth

obstinately rejected and subverted the structures which were

imposed by the sacrilegious hand of Julian. Greg. iii. p. 59, 60,

61. Such a partial earthquake, attested by many living

spectators, would form one of the clearest miracles in

ecclesiastical story.]

9 (return) [ The _philosopher_ (Fragment, p. 288,) ridicules the

iron chains, &c, of these solitary fanatics, (see Tillemont, Mém.

Eccles. tom. ix. p. 661, 632,) who had forgot that man is by

nature a gentle and social animal. The _Pagan_ supposes, that

because they had renounced the gods, they were possessed and

tormented by evil dæmons.]

10 (return) [ See Julian apud Cyril, l. vi. p. 206, l. viii. p.

253, 262. “You persecute,” says he, “those heretics who do not

mourn the dead man precisely in the way which you approve.” He

shows himself a tolerable theologian; but he maintains that the

Christian Trinity is not derived from the doctrine of Paul, of

Jesus, or of Moses.]

As soon as Gallus was invested with the honors of the purple,

Julian was permitted to breathe the air of freedom, of

literature, and of Paganism. 11 The crowd of sophists, who were

attracted by the taste and liberality of their royal pupil, had

formed a strict alliance between the learning and the religion of

Greece; and the poems of Homer, instead of being admired as the

original productions of human genius, were seriously ascribed to

the heavenly inspiration of Apollo and the muses. The deities of

Olympus, as they are painted by the immortal bard, imprint

themselves on the minds which are the least addicted to

superstitious credulity. Our familiar knowledge of their names

and characters, their forms and attributes, _seems_ to bestow on

those airy beings a real and substantial existence; and the

pleasing enchantment produces an imperfect and momentary assent

of the imagination to those fables, which are the most repugnant

to our reason and experience. In the age of Julian, every

circumstance contributed to prolong and fortify the illusion; the

magnificent temples of Greece and Asia; the works of those

artists who had expressed, in painting or in sculpture, the

divine conceptions of the poet; the pomp of festivals and

sacrifices; the successful arts of divination; the popular

traditions of oracles and prodigies; and the ancient practice of

two thousand years. The weakness of polytheism was, in some

measure, excused by the moderation of its claims; and the

devotion of the Pagans was not incompatible with the most

licentious scepticism. 12 Instead of an indivisible and regular

system, which occupies the whole extent of the believing mind,

the mythology of the Greeks was composed of a thousand loose and

flexible parts, and the servant of the gods was at liberty to

define the degree and measure of his religious faith. The creed

which Julian adopted for his own use was of the largest

dimensions; and, by strange contradiction, he disdained the

salutary yoke of the gospel, whilst he made a voluntary offering

of his reason on the altars of Jupiter and Apollo. One of the

orations of Julian is consecrated to the honor of Cybele, the

mother of the gods, who required from her effeminate priests the

bloody sacrifice, so rashly performed by the madness of the

Phrygian boy. The pious emperor condescends to relate, without a

blush, and without a smile, the voyage of the goddess from the

shores of Pergamus to the mouth of the Tyber, and the stupendous

miracle, which convinced the senate and people of Rome that the

lump of clay, which their ambassadors had transported over the

seas, was endowed with life, and sentiment, and divine power. 13

For the truth of this prodigy he appeals to the public monuments

of the city; and censures, with some acrimony, the sickly and

affected taste of those men, who impertinently derided the sacred

traditions of their ancestors. 14

11 (return) [ Libanius, Orat. Parentalis, c. 9, 10, p. 232, &c.

Greg. Nazianzen. Orat. iii. p 61. Eunap. Vit. Sophist. in Maximo,

p. 68, 69, 70, edit Commelin.]

12 (return) [ A modern philosopher has ingeniously compared the

different operation of theism and polytheism, with regard to the

doubt or conviction which they produce in the human mind. See

Hume’s Essays vol. ii. p. 444- 457, in 8vo. edit. 1777.]

13 (return) [ The Idæan mother landed in Italy about the end of

the second Punic war. The miracle of Claudia, either virgin or

matron, who cleared her fame by disgracing the graver modesty of

the Roman Indies, is attested by a cloud of witnesses. Their

evidence is collected by Drakenborch, (ad Silium Italicum, xvii.

33;) but we may observe that Livy (xxix. 14) slides over the

transaction with discreet ambiguity.]

14 (return) [ I cannot refrain from transcribing the emphatical

words of Julian: Orat. v. p. 161. Julian likewise declares his

firm belief in the ancilia, the holy shields, which dropped from

heaven on the Quirinal hill; and pities the strange blindness of

the Christians, who preferred the cross to these celestial

trophies. Apud Cyril. l. vi. p. 194.]

But the devout philosopher, who sincerely embraced, and warmly

encouraged, the superstition of the people, reserved for himself

the privilege of a liberal interpretation; and silently withdrew

from the foot of the altars into the sanctuary of the temple. The

extravagance of the Grecian mythology proclaimed, with a clear

and audible voice, that the pious inquirer, instead of being

scandalized or satisfied with the literal sense, should

diligently explore the occult wisdom, which had been disguised,

by the prudence of antiquity, under the mask of folly and of

fable. 15 The philosophers of the Platonic school, 16 Plotinus,

Porphyry, and the divine Iamblichus, were admired as the most

skilful masters of this allegorical science, which labored to

soften and harmonize the deformed features of Paganism. Julian

himself, who was directed in the mysterious pursuit by Ædesius,

the venerable successor of Iamblichus, aspired to the possession

of a treasure, which he esteemed, if we may credit his solemn

asseverations, far above the empire of the world. 17 It was

indeed a treasure, which derived its value only from opinion; and

every artist who flattered himself that he had extracted the

precious ore from the surrounding dross, claimed an equal right

of stamping the name and figure the most agreeable to his

peculiar fancy. The fable of Atys and Cybele had been already

explained by Porphyry; but his labors served only to animate the

pious industry of Julian, who invented and published his own

allegory of that ancient and mystic tale. This freedom of

interpretation, which might gratify the pride of the Platonists,

exposed the vanity of their art. Without a tedious detail, the

modern reader could not form a just idea of the strange

allusions, the forced etymologies, the solemn trifling, and the

impenetrable obscurity of these sages, who professed to reveal

the system of the universe. As the traditions of Pagan mythology

were variously related, the sacred interpreters were at liberty

to select the most convenient circumstances; and as they

translated an arbitrary cipher, they could extract from _any_

fable _any_ sense which was adapted to their favorite system of

religion and philosophy. The lascivious form of a naked Venus was

tortured into the discovery of some moral precept, or some

physical truth; and the castration of Atys explained the

revolution of the sun between the tropics, or the separation of

the human soul from vice and error. 18

15 (return) [ See the principles of allegory, in Julian, (Orat.

vii. p. 216, 222.) His reasoning is less absurd than that of some

modern theologians, who assert that an extravagant or

contradictory doctrine must be divine; since no man alive could

have thought of inventing it.]

16 (return) [ Eunapius has made these sophists the subject of a

partial and fanatical history; and the learned Brucker (Hist.

Philosoph. tom. ii. p. 217-303) has employed much labor to

illustrate their obscure lives and incomprehensible doctrines.]

17 (return) [ Julian, Orat. vii p 222. He swears with the most

fervent and enthusiastic devotion; and trembles, lest he should

betray too much of these holy mysteries, which the profane might

deride with an impious Sardonic laugh.]

18 (return) [ See the fifth oration of Julian. But all the

allegories which ever issued from the Platonic school are not

worth the short poem of Catullus on the same extraordinary

subject. The transition of Atys, from the wildest enthusiasm to

sober, pathetic complaint, for his irretrievable loss, must

inspire a man with pity, a eunuch with despair.]

The theological system of Julian appears to have contained the

sublime and important principles of natural religion. But as the

faith, which is not founded on revelation, must remain destitute

of any firm assurance, the disciple of Plato imprudently relapsed

into the habits of vulgar superstition; and the popular and

philosophic notion of the Deity seems to have been confounded in

the practice, the writings, and even in the mind of Julian. 19

The pious emperor acknowledged and adored the Eternal Cause of

the universe, to whom he ascribed all the perfections of an

infinite nature, invisible to the eyes and inaccessible to the

understanding, of feeble mortals. The Supreme God had created, or

rather, in the Platonic language, had generated, the gradual

succession of dependent spirits, of gods, of dæmons, of heroes,

and of men; and every being which derived its existence

immediately from the First Cause, received the inherent gift of

immortality. That so precious an advantage might not be lavished

upon unworthy objects, the Creator had intrusted to the skill and

power of the inferior gods the office of forming the human body,

and of arranging the beautiful harmony of the animal, the

vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms. To the conduct of these

divine ministers he delegated the temporal government of this

lower world; but their imperfect administration is not exempt

from discord or error. The earth and its inhabitants are divided

among them, and the characters of Mars or Minerva, of Mercury or

Venus, may be distinctly traced in the laws and manners of their

peculiar votaries. As long as our immortal souls are confined in

a mortal prison, it is our interest, as well as our duty, to

solicit the favor, and to deprecate the wrath, of the powers of

heaven; whose pride is gratified by the devotion of mankind; and

whose grosser parts may be supposed to derive some nourishment

from the fumes of sacrifice. 20 The inferior gods might sometimes

condescend to animate the statues, and to inhabit the temples,

which were dedicated to their honor. They might occasionally

visit the earth, but the heavens were the proper throne and

symbol of their glory. The invariable order of the sun, moon, and

stars, was hastily admitted by Julian, as a proof of their

_eternal_ duration; and their eternity was a sufficient evidence

that they were the workmanship, not of an inferior deity, but of

the Omnipotent King. In the system of Platonists, the visible was

a type of the invisible world. The celestial bodies, as they were

informed by a divine spirit, might be considered as the objects

the most worthy of religious worship. The Sun, whose genial

influence pervades and sustains the universe, justly claimed the

adoration of mankind, as the bright representative of the Logos,

the lively, the rational, the beneficent image of the

intellectual Father. 21

19 (return) [ The true religion of Julian may be deduced from the

Cæsars, p. 308, with Spanheim’s notes and illustrations, from the

fragments in Cyril, l. ii. p. 57, 58, and especially from the

theological oration in Solem Regem, p. 130-158, addressed in the

confidence of friendship, to the præfect Sallust.]

20 (return) [ Julian adopts this gross conception by ascribing to

his favorite Marcus Antoninus, (Cæsares, p. 333.) The Stoics and

Platonists hesitated between the analogy of bodies and the purity

of spirits; yet the gravest philosophers inclined to the

whimsical fancy of Aristophanes and Lucian, that an unbelieving

age might starve the immortal gods. See Observations de Spanheim,

p. 284, 444, &c.]

21 (return) [ Julian. Epist. li. In another place, (apud Cyril.

l. ii. p. 69,) he calls the Sun God, and the throne of God.

Julian believed the Platonician Trinity; and only blames the

Christians for preferring a mortal to an immortal _Logos_.]

In every age, the absence of genuine inspiration is supplied by

the strong illusions of enthusiasm, and the mimic arts of

imposture. If, in the time of Julian, these arts had been

practised only by the pagan priests, for the support of an

expiring cause, some indulgence might perhaps be allowed to the

interest and habits of the sacerdotal character. But it may

appear a subject of surprise and scandal, that the philosophers

themselves should have contributed to abuse the superstitious

credulity of mankind, 22 and that the Grecian mysteries should

have been supported by the magic or theurgy of the modern

Platonists. They arrogantly pretended to control the order of

nature, to explore the secrets of futurity, to command the

service of the inferior dæmons, to enjoy the view and

conversation of the superior gods, and by disengaging the soul

from her material bands, to reunite that immortal particle with

the Infinite and Divine Spirit.

22 (return) [ The sophists of Eunapias perform as many miracles

as the saints of the desert; and the only circumstance in their

favor is, that they are of a less gloomy complexion. Instead of

devils with horns and tails, Iamblichus evoked the genii of love,

Eros and Anteros, from two adjacent fountains. Two beautiful boys

issued from the water, fondly embraced him as their father, and

retired at his command, p. 26, 27.]

The devout and fearless curiosity of Julian tempted the

philosophers with the hopes of an easy conquest; which, from the

situation of their young proselyte, might be productive of the

most important consequences. 23 Julian imbibed the first

rudiments of the Platonic doctrines from the mouth of Ædesius,

who had fixed at Pergamus his wandering and persecuted school.

But as the declining strength of that venerable sage was unequal

to the ardor, the diligence, the rapid conception of his pupil,

two of his most learned disciples, Chrysanthes and Eusebius,

supplied, at his own desire, the place of their aged master.

These philosophers seem to have prepared and distributed their

respective parts; and they artfully contrived, by dark hints and

affected disputes, to excite the impatient hopes of the

_aspirant_, till they delivered him into the hands of their

associate, Maximus, the boldest and most skilful master of the

Theurgic science. By his hands, Julian was secretly initiated at

Ephesus, in the twentieth year of his age. His residence at

Athens confirmed this unnatural alliance of philosophy and

superstition.

He obtained the privilege of a solemn initiation into the

mysteries of Eleusis, which, amidst the general decay of the

Grecian worship, still retained some vestiges of their primæval

sanctity; and such was the zeal of Julian, that he afterwards

invited the Eleusinian pontiff to the court of Gaul, for the sole

purpose of consummating, by mystic rites and sacrifices, the

great work of his sanctification. As these ceremonies were

performed in the depth of caverns, and in the silence of the

night, and as the inviolable secret of the mysteries was

preserved by the discretion of the initiated, I shall not presume

to describe the horrid sounds, and fiery apparitions, which were

presented to the senses, or the imagination, of the credulous

aspirant, 24 till the visions of comfort and knowledge broke upon

him in a blaze of celestial light. 25 In the caverns of Ephesus

and Eleusis, the mind of Julian was penetrated with sincere,

deep, and unalterable enthusiasm; though he might sometimes

exhibit the vicissitudes of pious fraud and hypocrisy, which may

be observed, or at least suspected, in the characters of the most

conscientious fanatics. From that moment he consecrated his life

to the service of the gods; and while the occupations of war, of

government, and of study, seemed to claim the whole measure of

his time, a stated portion of the hours of the night was

invariably reserved for the exercise of private devotion. The

temperance which adorned the severe manners of the soldier and

the philosopher was connected with some strict and frivolous

rules of religious abstinence; and it was in honor of Pan or

Mercury, of Hecate or Isis, that Julian, on particular days,

denied himself the use of some particular food, which might have

been offensive to his tutelar deities. By these voluntary fasts,

he prepared his senses and his understanding for the frequent and

familiar visits with which he was honored by the celestial

powers. Notwithstanding the modest silence of Julian himself, we

may learn from his faithful friend, the orator Libanius, that he

lived in a perpetual intercourse with the gods and goddesses;

that they descended upon earth to enjoy the conversation of their

favorite hero; that they gently interrupted his slumbers by

touching his hand or his hair; that they warned him of every

impending danger, and conducted him, by their infallible wisdom,

in every action of his life; and that he had acquired such an

intimate knowledge of his heavenly guests, as readily to

distinguish the voice of Jupiter from that of Minerva, and the

form of Apollo from the figure of Hercules. 26 These sleeping or

waking visions, the ordinary effects of abstinence and

fanaticism, would almost degrade the emperor to the level of an

Egyptian monk. But the useless lives of Antony or Pachomius were

consumed in these vain occupations. Julian could break from the

dream of superstition to arm himself for battle; and after

vanquishing in the field the enemies of Rome, he calmly retired

into his tent, to dictate the wise and salutary laws of an

empire, or to indulge his genius in the elegant pursuits of

literature and philosophy.

23 (return) [ The dexterous management of these sophists, who

played their credulous pupil into each other’s hands, is fairly

told by Eunapius (p. 69- 79) with unsuspecting simplicity. The

Abbé de la Bleterie understands, and neatly describes, the whole

comedy, (Vie de Julian, p. 61-67.)]

24 (return) [ When Julian, in a momentary panic, made the sign of

the cross the dæmons instantly disappeared, (Greg. Naz. Orat.

iii. p. 71.) Gregory supposes that they were frightened, but the

priests declared that they were indignant. The reader, according

to the measure of his faith, will determine this profound

question.]

25 (return) [ A dark and distant view of the terrors and joys of

initiation is shown by Dion Chrysostom, Themistius, Proclus, and

Stobæus. The learned author of the Divine Legation has exhibited

their words, (vol. i. p. 239, 247, 248, 280, edit. 1765,) which

he dexterously or forcibly applies to his own hypothesis.]

26 (return) [ Julian’s modesty confined him to obscure and

occasional hints: but Libanius expiates with pleasure on the

facts and visions of the religious hero. (Legat. ad Julian. p.

157, and Orat. Parental. c. lxxxiii. p. 309, 310.)]

The important secret of the apostasy of Julian was intrusted to

the fidelity of the _initiated_, with whom he was united by the

sacred ties of friendship and religion. 27 The pleasing rumor was

cautiously circulated among the adherents of the ancient worship;

and his future greatness became the object of the hopes, the

prayers, and the predictions of the Pagans, in every province of

the empire. From the zeal and virtues of their royal proselyte,

they fondly expected the cure of every evil, and the restoration

of every blessing; and instead of disapproving of the ardor of

their pious wishes, Julian ingenuously confessed, that he was

ambitious to attain a situation in which he might be useful to

his country and to his religion. But this religion was viewed

with a hostile eye by the successor of Constantine, whose

capricious passions altercately saved and threatened the life of

Julian. The arts of magic and divination were strictly prohibited

under a despotic government, which condescended to fear them; and

if the Pagans were reluctantly indulged in the exercise of their

superstition, the rank of Julian would have excepted him from the

general toleration. The apostate soon became the presumptive heir

of the monarchy, and his death could alone have appeased the just

apprehensions of the Christians. 28 But the young prince, who

aspired to the glory of a hero rather than of a martyr, consulted

his safety by dissembling his religion; and the easy temper of

polytheism permitted him to join in the public worship of a sect

which he inwardly despised. Libanius has considered the hypocrisy

of his friend as a subject, not of censure, but of praise. “As

the statues of the gods,” says that orator, “which have been

defiled with filth, are again placed in a magnificent temple, so

the beauty of truth was seated in the mind of Julian, after it

had been purified from the errors and follies of his education.

His sentiments were changed; but as it would have been dangerous

to have avowed his sentiments, his conduct still continued the

same. Very different from the ass in Æsop, who disguised himself

with a lion’s hide, our lion was obliged to conceal himself under

the skin of an ass; and, while he embraced the dictates of

reason, to obey the laws of prudence and necessity.” 29 The

dissimulation of Julian lasted about ten years, from his secret

initiation at Ephesus to the beginning of the civil war; when he

declared himself at once the implacable enemy of Christ and of

Constantius. This state of constraint might contribute to

strengthen his devotion; and as soon as he had satisfied the

obligation of assisting, on solemn festivals, at the assemblies

of the Christians, Julian returned, with the impatience of a

lover, to burn his free and voluntary incense on the domestic

chapels of Jupiter and Mercury. But as every act of dissimulation

must be painful to an ingenuous spirit, the profession of

Christianity increased the aversion of Julian for a religion

which oppressed the freedom of his mind, and compelled him to

hold a conduct repugnant to the noblest attributes of human

nature, sincerity and courage.

27 (return) [ Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. x. p. 233, 234. Gallus

had some reason to suspect the secret apostasy of his brother;

and in a letter, which may be received as genuine, he exhorts

Julian to adhere to the religion of their _ancestors;_ an

argument which, as it should seem, was not yet perfectly ripe.

See Julian, Op. p. 454, and Hist. de Jovien tom ii. p. 141.]

28 (return) [ Gregory, (iii. p. 50,) with inhuman zeal, censures

Constantius for paring the infant apostate. His French translator

(p. 265) cautiously observes, that such expressions must not be

prises à la lettre.]

29 (return) [ Libanius, Orat. Parental. c ix. p. 233.]

Chapter XXIII: Reign Of Julian.—Part II.

The inclination of Julian might prefer the gods of Homer, and of

the Scipios, to the new faith, which his uncle had established in

the Roman empire; and in which he himself had been sanctified by

the sacrament of baptism. But, as a philosopher, it was incumbent

on him to justify his dissent from Christianity, which was

supported by the number of its converts, by the chain of

prophecy, the splendor of miracles, and the weight of evidence.

The elaborate work, 30 which he composed amidst the preparations

of the Persian war, contained the substance of those arguments

which he had long revolved in his mind. Some fragments have been

transcribed and preserved, by his adversary, the vehement Cyril

of Alexandria; 31 and they exhibit a very singular mixture of wit

and learning, of sophistry and fanaticism. The elegance of the

style and the rank of the author, recommended his writings to the

public attention; 32 and in the impious list of the enemies of

Christianity, the celebrated name of Porphyry was effaced by the

superior merit or reputation of Julian. The minds of the faithful

were either seduced, or scandalized, or alarmed; and the pagans,

who sometimes presumed to engage in the unequal dispute, derived,

from the popular work of their Imperial missionary, an

inexhaustible supply of fallacious objections. But in the

assiduous prosecution of these theological studies, the emperor

of the Romans imbibed the illiberal prejudices and passions of a

polemic divine. He contracted an irrevocable obligation to

maintain and propagate his religious opinions; and whilst he

secretly applauded the strength and dexterity with which he

wielded the weapons of controversy, he was tempted to distrust

the sincerity, or to despise the understandings, of his

antagonists, who could obstinately resist the force of reason and

eloquence.

30 (return) [ Fabricius (Biblioth. Græc. l. v. c. viii, p. 88-90)

and Lardner (Heathen Testimonies, vol. iv. p. 44-47) have

accurately compiled all that can now be discovered of Julian’s

work against the Christians.]

31 (return) [ About seventy years after the death of Julian, he

executed a task which had been feebly attempted by Philip of

Side, a prolix and contemptible writer. Even the work of Cyril

has not entirely satisfied the most favorable judges; and the

Abbé de la Bleterie (Preface a l’Hist. de Jovien, p. 30, 32)

wishes that some _theologien philosophe_ (a strange centaur)

would undertake the refutation of Julian.]

32 (return) [ Libanius, (Orat. Parental. c. lxxxvii. p. 313,) who

has been suspected of assisting his friend, prefers this divine

vindication (Orat. ix in necem Julian. p. 255, edit. Morel.) to

the writings of Porphyry. His judgment may be arraigned,

(Socrates, l. iii. c. 23,) but Libanius cannot be accused of

flattery to a dead prince.]

The Christians, who beheld with horror and indignation the

apostasy of Julian, had much more to fear from his power than

from his arguments. The pagans, who were conscious of his fervent

zeal, expected, perhaps with impatience, that the flames of

persecution should be immediately kindled against the enemies of

the gods; and that the ingenious malice of Julian would invent

some cruel refinements of death and torture which had been

unknown to the rude and inexperienced fury of his predecessors.

But the hopes, as well as the fears, of the religious factions

were apparently disappointed, by the prudent humanity of a

prince, 33 who was careful of his own fame, of the public peace,

and of the rights of mankind. Instructed by history and

reflection, Julian was persuaded, that if the diseases of the

body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel

nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind. The

reluctant victim may be dragged to the foot of the altar; but the

heart still abhors and disclaims the sacrilegious act of the

hand. Religious obstinacy is hardened and exasperated by

oppression; and, as soon as the persecution subsides, those who

have yielded are restored as penitents, and those who have

resisted are honored as saints and martyrs. If Julian adopted the

unsuccessful cruelty of Diocletian and his colleagues, he was

sensible that he should stain his memory with the name of a

tyrant, and add new glories to the Catholic church, which had

derived strength and increase from the severity of the pagan

magistrates. Actuated by these motives, and apprehensive of

disturbing the repose of an unsettled reign, Julian surprised the

world by an edict, which was not unworthy of a statesman, or a

philosopher. He extended to all the inhabitants of the Roman

world the benefits of a free and equal toleration; and the only

hardship which he inflicted on the Christians, was to deprive

them of the power of tormenting their fellow-subjects, whom they

stigmatized with the odious titles of idolaters and heretics. The

pagans received a gracious permission, or rather an express

order, to open All their temples; 34 and they were at once

delivered from the oppressive laws, and arbitrary vexations,

which they had sustained under the reign of Constantine, and of

his sons. At the same time the bishops and clergy, who had been

banished by the Arian monarch, were recalled from exile, and

restored to their respective churches; the Donatists, the

Novatians, the Macedonians, the Eunomians, and those who, with a

more prosperous fortune, adhered to the doctrine of the Council

of Nice. Julian, who understood and derided their theological

disputes, invited to the palace the leaders of the hostile sects,

that he might enjoy the agreeable spectacle of their furious

encounters. The clamor of controversy sometimes provoked the

emperor to exclaim, “Hear me! the Franks have heard me, and the

Alemanni;” but he soon discovered that he was now engaged with

more obstinate and implacable enemies; and though he exerted the

powers of oratory to persuade them to live in concord, or at

least in peace, he was perfectly satisfied, before he dismissed

them from his presence, that he had nothing to dread from the

union of the Christians. The impartial Ammianus has ascribed this

affected clemency to the desire of fomenting the intestine

divisions of the church, and the insidious design of undermining

the foundations of Christianity, was inseparably connected with

the zeal which Julian professed, to restore the ancient religion

of the empire. 35

33 (return) [ Libanius (Orat. Parent. c. lviii. p. 283, 284) has

eloquently explained the tolerating principles and conduct of his

Imperial friend. In a very remarkable epistle to the people of

Bostra, Julian himself (Epist. lii.) professes his moderation,

and betrays his zeal, which is acknowledged by Ammianus, and

exposed by Gregory (Orat. iii. p.72)]

34 (return) [ In Greece the temples of Minerva were opened by his

express command, before the death of Constantius, (Liban. Orat.

Parent. c. 55, p. 280;) and Julian declares himself a Pagan in

his public manifesto to the Athenians. This unquestionable

evidence may correct the hasty assertion of Ammianus, who seems

to suppose Constantinople to be the place where he discovered his

attachment to the gods]

35 (return) [ Ammianus, xxii. 5. Sozomen, l. v. c. 5. Bestia

moritur, tranquillitas redit.... omnes episcopi qui de propriis

sedibus fuerant exterminati per indulgentiam novi principis ad

acclesias redeunt. Jerom. adversus Luciferianos, tom. ii. p. 143.

Optatus accuses the Donatists for owing their safety to an

apostate, (l. ii. c. 16, p. 36, 37, edit. Dupin.)]

As soon as he ascended the throne, he assumed, according to the

custom of his predecessors, the character of supreme pontiff; not

only as the most honorable title of Imperial greatness, but as a

sacred and important office; the duties of which he was resolved

to execute with pious diligence. As the business of the state

prevented the emperor from joining every day in the public

devotion of his subjects, he dedicated a domestic chapel to his

tutelar deity the Sun; his gardens were filled with statues and

altars of the gods; and each apartment of the palace displaced

the appearance of a magnificent temple. Every morning he saluted

the parent of light with a sacrifice; the blood of another victim

was shed at the moment when the Sun sunk below the horizon; and

the Moon, the Stars, and the Genii of the night received their

respective and seasonable honors from the indefatigable devotion

of Julian. On solemn festivals, he regularly visited the temple

of the god or goddess to whom the day was peculiarly consecrated,

and endeavored to excite the religion of the magistrates and

people by the example of his own zeal. Instead of maintaining the

lofty state of a monarch, distinguished by the splendor of his

purple, and encompassed by the golden shields of his guards,

Julian solicited, with respectful eagerness, the meanest offices

which contributed to the worship of the gods. Amidst the sacred

but licentious crowd of priests, of inferior ministers, and of

female dancers, who were dedicated to the service of the temple,

it was the business of the emperor to bring the wood, to blow the

fire, to handle the knife, to slaughter the victim, and,

thrusting his bloody hands into the bowels of the expiring

animal, to draw forth the heart or liver, and to read, with the

consummate skill of an haruspex, imaginary signs of future

events. The wisest of the Pagans censured this extravagant

superstition, which affected to despise the restraints of

prudence and decency. Under the reign of a prince, who practised

the rigid maxims of economy, the expense of religious worship

consumed a very large portion of the revenue; a constant supply

of the scarcest and most beautiful birds was transported from

distant climates, to bleed on the altars of the gods; a hundred

oxen were frequently sacrificed by Julian on one and the same

day; and it soon became a popular jest, that if he should return

with conquest from the Persian war, the breed of horned cattle

must infallibly be extinguished. Yet this expense may appear

inconsiderable, when it is compared with the splendid presents

which were offered either by the hand, or by order, of the

emperor, to all the celebrated places of devotion in the Roman

world; and with the sums allotted to repair and decorate the

ancient temples, which had suffered the silent decay of time, or

the recent injuries of Christian rapine. Encouraged by the

example, the exhortations, the liberality, of their pious

sovereign, the cities and families resumed the practice of their

neglected ceremonies. “Every part of the world,” exclaims

Libanius, with devout transport, “displayed the triumph of

religion; and the grateful prospect of flaming altars, bleeding

victims, the smoke of incense, and a solemn train of priests and

prophets, without fear and without danger. The sound of prayer

and of music was heard on the tops of the highest mountains; and

the same ox afforded a sacrifice for the gods, and a supper for

their joyous votaries.” 36

36 (return) [ The restoration of the Pagan worship is described

by Julian, (Misopogon, p. 346,) Libanius, (Orat. Parent. c. 60,

p. 286, 287, and Orat. Consular. ad Julian. p. 245, 246, edit.

Morel.,) Ammianus, (xxii. 12,) and Gregory Nazianzen, (Orat. iv.

p. 121.) These writers agree in the essential, and even minute,

facts; but the different lights in which they view the extreme

devotion of Julian, are expressive of the gradations of

self-applause, passionate admiration, mild reproof, and partial

invective.]

But the genius and power of Julian were unequal to the enterprise

of restoring a religion which was destitute of theological

principles, of moral precepts, and of ecclesiastical discipline;

which rapidly hastened to decay and dissolution, and was not

susceptible of any solid or consistent reformation. The

jurisdiction of the supreme pontiff, more especially after that

office had been united with the Imperial dignity, comprehended

the whole extent of the Roman empire. Julian named for his

vicars, in the several provinces, the priests and philosophers

whom he esteemed the best qualified to cooperate in the execution

of his great design; and his pastoral letters, 37 if we may use

that name, still represent a very curious sketch of his wishes

and intentions. He directs, that in every city the sacerdotal

order should be composed, without any distinction of birth and

fortune, of those persons who were the most conspicuous for the

love of the gods, and of men. “If they are guilty,” continues he,

“of any scandalous offence, they should be censured or degraded

by the superior pontiff; but as long as they retain their rank,

they are entitled to the respect of the magistrates and people.

Their humility may be shown in the plainness of their domestic

garb; their dignity, in the pomp of holy vestments. When they are

summoned in their turn to officiate before the altar, they ought

not, during the appointed number of days, to depart from the

precincts of the temple; nor should a single day be suffered to

elapse, without the prayers and the sacrifice, which they are

obliged to offer for the prosperity of the state, and of

individuals. The exercise of their sacred functions requires an

immaculate purity, both of mind and body; and even when they are

dismissed from the temple to the occupations of common life, it

is incumbent on them to excel in decency and virtue the rest of

their fellow-citizens. The priest of the gods should never be

seen in theatres or taverns. His conversation should be chaste,

his diet temperate, his friends of honorable reputation; and if

he sometimes visits the Forum or the Palace, he should appear

only as the advocate of those who have vainly solicited either

justice or mercy. His studies should be suited to the sanctity of

his profession. Licentious tales, or comedies, or satires, must

be banished from his library, which ought solely to consist of

historical or philosophical writings; of history, which is

founded in truth, and of philosophy, which is connected with

religion. The impious opinions of the Epicureans and sceptics

deserve his abhorrence and contempt; 38 but he should diligently

study the systems of Pythagoras, of Plato, and of the Stoics,

which unanimously teach that there _are_ gods; that the world is

governed by their providence; that their goodness is the source

of every temporal blessing; and that they have prepared for the

human soul a future state of reward or punishment.” The Imperial

pontiff inculcates, in the most persuasive language, the duties

of benevolence and hospitality; exhorts his inferior clergy to

recommend the universal practice of those virtues; promises to

assist their indigence from the public treasury; and declares his

resolution of establishing hospitals in every city, where the

poor should be received without any invidious distinction of

country or of religion. Julian beheld with envy the wise and

humane regulations of the church; and he very frankly confesses

his intention to deprive the Christians of the applause, as well

as advantage, which they had acquired by the exclusive practice

of charity and beneficence. 39 The same spirit of imitation might

dispose the emperor to adopt several ecclesiastical institutions,

the use and importance of which were approved by the success of

his enemies. But if these imaginary plans of reformation had been

realized, the forced and imperfect copy would have been less

beneficial to Paganism, than honorable to Christianity. 40 The

Gentiles, who peaceably followed the customs of their ancestors,

were rather surprised than pleased with the introduction of

foreign manners; and in the short period of his reign, Julian had

frequent occasions to complain of the want of fervor of his own

party. 41

37 (return) [ See Julian. Epistol. xlix. lxii. lxiii., and a long

and curious fragment, without beginning or end, (p. 288-305.) The

supreme pontiff derides the Mosaic history and the Christian

discipline, prefers the Greek poets to the Hebrew prophets, and

palliates, with the skill of a Jesuit the _relative_ worship of

images.]

38 (return) [ The exultation of Julian (p. 301) that these

impious sects and even their writings, are extinguished, may be

consistent enough with the sacerdotal character; but it is

unworthy of a philosopher to wish that any opinions and arguments

the most repugnant to his own should be concealed from the

knowledge of mankind.]

39 (return) [ Yet he insinuates, that the Christians, under the

pretence of charity, inveigled children from their religion and

parents, conveyed them on shipboard, and devoted those victims to

a life of poverty or pervitude in a remote country, (p. 305.) Had

the charge been proved it was his duty, not to complain, but to

punish.]

40 (return) [ Gregory Nazianzen is facetious, ingenious, and

argumentative, (Orat. iii. p. 101, 102, &c.) He ridicules the

folly of such vain imitation; and amuses himself with inquiring,

what lessons, moral or theological, could be extracted from the

Grecian fables.]

41 (return) [ He accuses one of his pontiffs of a secret

confederacy with the Christian bishops and presbyters, (Epist.

lxii.) &c. Epist. lxiii.]

The enthusiasm of Julian prompted him to embrace the friends of

Jupiter as his personal friends and brethren; and though he

partially overlooked the merit of Christian constancy, he admired

and rewarded the noble perseverance of those Gentiles who had

preferred the favor of the gods to that of the emperor. 42 If

they cultivated the literature, as well as the religion, of the

Greeks, they acquired an additional claim to the friendship of

Julian, who ranked the Muses in the number of his tutelar

deities. In the religion which he had adopted, piety and learning

were almost synonymous; 43 and a crowd of poets, of rhetoricians,

and of philosophers, hastened to the Imperial court, to occupy

the vacant places of the bishops, who had seduced the credulity

of Constantius. His successor esteemed the ties of common

initiation as far more sacred than those of consanguinity; he

chose his favorites among the sages, who were deeply skilled in

the occult sciences of magic and divination; and every impostor,

who pretended to reveal the secrets of futurity, was assured of

enjoying the present hour in honor and affluence. 44 Among the

philosophers, Maximus obtained the most eminent rank in the

friendship of his royal disciple, who communicated, with

unreserved confidence, his actions, his sentiments, and his

religious designs, during the anxious suspense of the civil war.

45 As soon as Julian had taken possession of the palace of

Constantinople, he despatched an honorable and pressing

invitation to Maximus, who then resided at Sardes in Lydia, with

Chrysanthius, the associate of his art and studies. The prudent

and superstitious Chrysanthius refused to undertake a journey

which showed itself, according to the rules of divination, with

the most threatening and malignant aspect: but his companion,

whose fanaticism was of a bolder cast, persisted in his

interrogations, till he had extorted from the gods a seeming

consent to his own wishes, and those of the emperor. The journey

of Maximus through the cities of Asia displayed the triumph of

philosophic vanity; and the magistrates vied with each other in

the honorable reception which they prepared for the friend of

their sovereign. Julian was pronouncing an oration before the

senate, when he was informed of the arrival of Maximus. The

emperor immediately interrupted his discourse, advanced to meet

him, and after a tender embrace, conducted him by the hand into

the midst of the assembly; where he publicly acknowledged the

benefits which he had derived from the instructions of the

philosopher. Maximus, 46 who soon acquired the confidence, and

influenced the councils of Julian, was insensibly corrupted by

the temptations of a court. His dress became more splendid, his

demeanor more lofty, and he was exposed, under a succeeding

reign, to a disgraceful inquiry into the means by which the

disciple of Plato had accumulated, in the short duration of his

favor, a very scandalous proportion of wealth. Of the other

philosophers and sophists, who were invited to the Imperial

residence by the choice of Julian, or by the success of Maximus,

few were able to preserve their innocence or their reputation.

The liberal gifts of money, lands, and houses, were insufficient

to satiate their rapacious avarice; and the indignation of the

people was justly excited by the remembrance of their abject

poverty and disinterested professions. The penetration of Julian

could not always be deceived: but he was unwilling to despise the

characters of those men whose talents deserved his esteem: he

desired to escape the double reproach of imprudence and

inconstancy; and he was apprehensive of degrading, in the eyes of

the profane, the honor of letters and of religion. 47 48

42 (return) [ He praises the fidelity of Callixene, priestess of

Ceres, who had been twice as constant as Penelope, and rewards

her with the priesthood of the Phrygian goddess at Pessinus,

(Julian. Epist. xxi.) He applauds the firmness of Sopater of

Hierapolis, who had been repeatedly pressed by Constantius and

Gallus to _apostatize_, (Epist. xxvii p. 401.)]

43 (return) [ Orat. Parent. c. 77, p. 202. The same sentiment is

frequently inculcated by Julian, Libanius, and the rest of their

party.]

44 (return) [ The curiosity and credulity of the emperor, who

tried every mode of divination, are fairly exposed by Ammianus,

xxii. 12.]

45 (return) [ Julian. Epist. xxxviii. Three other epistles, (xv.

xvi. xxxix.,) in the same style of friendship and confidence, are

addressed to the philosopher Maximus.]

46 (return) [ Eunapius (in Maximo, p. 77, 78, 79, and in

Chrysanthio, p. 147, 148) has minutely related these anecdotes,

which he conceives to be the most important events of the age.

Yet he fairly confesses the frailty of Maximus. His reception at

Constantinople is described by Libanius (Orat. Parent. c. 86, p.

301) and Ammianus, (xxii. 7.) * Note: Eunapius wrote a

continuation of the History of Dexippus. Some valuable fragments

of this work have been recovered by M. Mai, and reprinted in

Niebuhr’s edition of the Byzantine Historians.—M.]

47 (return) [ Chrysanthius, who had refused to quit Lydia, was

created high priest of the province. His cautious and temperate

use of power secured him after the revolution; and he lived in

peace, while Maximus, Priscus, &c., were persecuted by the

Christian ministers. See the adventures of those fanatic

sophists, collected by Brucker, tom ii. p. 281-293.]

48 (return) [ Sec Libanius (Orat. Parent. c. 101, 102, p. 324,

325, 326) and Eunapius, (Vit. Sophist. in Proæresio, p. 126.)

Some students, whose expectations perhaps were groundless, or

extravagant, retired in disgust, (Greg. Naz. Orat. iv. p. 120.)

It is strange that we should not be able to contradict the title

of one of Tillemont’s chapters, (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p.

960,) “La Cour de Julien est pleine de philosphes et de gens

perdus.”]

The favor of Julian was almost equally divided between the

Pagans, who had firmly adhered to the worship of their ancestors,

and the Christians, who prudently embraced the religion of their

sovereign. The acquisition of new proselytes 49 gratified the

ruling passions of his soul, superstition and vanity; and he was

heard to declare, with the enthusiasm of a missionary, that if he

could render each individual richer than Midas, and every city

greater than Babylon, he should not esteem himself the benefactor

of mankind, unless, at the same time, he could reclaim his

subjects from their impious revolt against the immortal gods. 50

A prince who had studied human nature, and who possessed the

treasures of the Roman empire, could adapt his arguments, his

promises, and his rewards, to every order of Christians; 51 and

the merit of a seasonable conversion was allowed to supply the

defects of a candidate, or even to expiate the guilt of a

criminal. As the army is the most forcible engine of absolute

power, Julian applied himself, with peculiar diligence, to

corrupt the religion of his troops, without whose hearty

concurrence every measure must be dangerous and unsuccessful; and

the natural temper of soldiers made this conquest as easy as it

was important. The legions of Gaul devoted themselves to the

faith, as well as to the fortunes, of their victorious leader;

and even before the death of Constantius, he had the satisfaction

of announcing to his friends, that they assisted with fervent

devotion, and voracious appetite, at the sacrifices, which were

repeatedly offered in his camp, of whole hecatombs of fat oxen.

52 The armies of the East, which had been trained under the

standard of the cross, and of Constantius, required a more artful

and expensive mode of persuasion. On the days of solemn and

public festivals, the emperor received the homage, and rewarded

the merit, of the troops. His throne of state was encircled with

the military ensigns of Rome and the republic; the holy name of

Christ was erased from the _Labarum;_ and the symbols of war, of

majesty, and of pagan superstition, were so dexterously blended,

that the faithful subject incurred the guilt of idolatry, when he

respectfully saluted the person or image of his sovereign. The

soldiers passed successively in review; and each of them, before

he received from the hand of Julian a liberal donative,

proportioned to his rank and services, was required to cast a few

grains of incense into the flame which burnt upon the altar. Some

Christian confessors might resist, and others might repent; but

the far greater number, allured by the prospect of gold, and awed

by the presence of the emperor, contracted the criminal

engagement; and their future perseverance in the worship of the

gods was enforced by every consideration of duty and of interest.

By the frequent repetition of these arts, and at the expense of

sums which would have purchased the service of half the nations

of Scythia, Julian gradually acquired for his troops the

imaginary protection of the gods, and for himself the firm and

effectual support of the Roman legions. 53 It is indeed more than

probable, that the restoration and encouragement of Paganism

revealed a multitude of pretended Christians, who, from motives

of temporal advantage, had acquiesced in the religion of the

former reign; and who afterwards returned, with the same

flexibility of conscience, to the faith which was professed by

the successors of Julian.

49 (return) [ Under the reign of Lewis XIV. his subjects of every

rank aspired to the glorious title of _Convertisseur_, expressive

of their zea and success in making proselytes. The word and the

idea are growing obsolete in France may they never be introduced

into England.]

50 (return) [ See the strong expressions of Libanius, which were

probably those of Julian himself, (Orat. Parent. c. 59, p. 285.)]

51 (return) [ When Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. x. p. 167) is

desirous to magnify the Christian firmness of his brother

Cæsarius, physician to the Imperial court, he owns that Cæsarius

disputed with a formidable adversary. In his invectives he

scarcely allows any share of wit or courage to the apostate.]

52 (return) [ Julian, Epist. xxxviii. Ammianus, xxii. 12. Adeo ut

in dies pæne singulos milites carnis distentiore sagina

victitantes incultius, potusque aviditate correpti, humeris

impositi transeuntium per plateas, ex publicis ædibus..... ad sua

diversoria portarentur. The devout prince and the indignant

historian describe the same scene; and in Illyricum or Antioch,

similar causes must have produced similar effects.]

53 (return) [ Gregory (Orat. iii. p. 74, 75, 83-86) and Libanius,

(Orat. Parent. c. lxxxi. lxxxii. p. 307, 308,). The sophist owns

and justifies the expense of these military conversions.]

While the devout monarch incessantly labored to restore and

propagate the religion of his ancestors, he embraced the

extraordinary design of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. In a

public epistle 54 to the nation or community of the Jews,

dispersed through the provinces, he pities their misfortunes,

condemns their oppressors, praises their constancy, declares

himself their gracious protector, and expresses a pious hope,

that after his return from the Persian war, he may be permitted

to pay his grateful vows to the Almighty in his holy city of

Jerusalem. The blind superstition, and abject slavery, of those

unfortunate exiles, must excite the contempt of a philosophic

emperor; but they deserved the friendship of Julian, by their

implacable hatred of the Christian name. The barren synagogue

abhorred and envied the fecundity of the rebellious church; the

power of the Jews was not equal to their malice; but their

gravest rabbis approved the private murder of an apostate; 55 and

their seditious clamors had often awakened the indolence of the

Pagan magistrates. Under the reign of Constantine, the Jews

became the subjects of their revolted children nor was it long

before they experienced the bitterness of domestic tyranny. The

civil immunities which had been granted, or confirmed, by

Severus, were gradually repealed by the Christian princes; and a

rash tumult, excited by the Jews of Palestine, 56 seemed to

justify the lucrative modes of oppression which were invented by

the bishops and eunuchs of the court of Constantius. The Jewish

patriarch, who was still permitted to exercise a precarious

jurisdiction, held his residence at Tiberias; 57 and the

neighboring cities of Palestine were filled with the remains of a

people who fondly adhered to the promised land. But the edict of

Hadrian was renewed and enforced; and they viewed from afar the

walls of the holy city, which were profaned in their eyes by the

triumph of the cross and the devotion of the Christians. 58

54 (return) [ Julian’s epistle (xxv.) is addressed to the

community of the Jews. Aldus (Venet. 1499) has branded it with

an; but this stigma is justly removed by the subsequent editors,

Petavius and Spanheim. This epistle is mentioned by Sozomen, (l.

v. c. 22,) and the purport of it is confirmed by Gregory, (Orat.

iv. p. 111.) and by Julian himself (Fragment. p. 295.)]

55 (return) [ The Misnah denounced death against those who

abandoned the foundation. The judgment of zeal is explained by

Marsham (Canon. Chron. p. 161, 162, edit. fol. London, 1672) and

Basnage, (Hist. des Juifs, tom. viii. p. 120.) Constantine made a

law to protect Christian converts from Judaism. Cod. Theod. l.

xvi. tit. viii. leg. 1. Godefroy, tom. vi. p. 215.]

56 (return) [ Et interea (during the civil war of Magnentius)

Judæorum seditio, qui Patricium, nefarie in regni speciem

sustulerunt, oppressa. Aurelius Victor, in Constantio, c. xlii.

See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 379, in 4to.]

57 (return) [ The city and synagogue of Tiberias are curiously

described by Reland. Palestin. tom. ii. p. 1036-1042.]

58 (return) [ Basnage has fully illustrated the state of the Jews

under Constantine and his successors, (tom. viii. c. iv. p.

111-153.)]

Chapter XXIII: Reign Of Julian.—Part III.

In the midst of a rocky and barren country, the walls of

Jerusalem 59 enclosed the two mountains of Sion and Acra, within

an oval figure of about three English miles. 60 Towards the

south, the upper town, and the fortress of David, were erected on

the lofty ascent of Mount Sion: on the north side, the buildings

of the lower town covered the spacious summit of Mount Acra; and

a part of the hill, distinguished by the name of Moriah, and

levelled by human industry, was crowned with the stately temple

of the Jewish nation. After the final destruction of the temple

by the arms of Titus and Hadrian, a ploughshare was drawn over

the consecrated ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction. Sion

was deserted; and the vacant space of the lower city was filled

with the public and private edifices of the Ælian colony, which

spread themselves over the adjacent hill of Calvary. The holy

places were polluted with mountains of idolatry; and, either from

design or accident, a chapel was dedicated to Venus, on the spot

which had been sanctified by the death and resurrection of

Christ. 61 6111 Almost three hundred years after those stupendous

events, the profane chapel of Venus was demolished by the order

of Constantine; and the removal of the earth and stones revealed

the holy sepulchre to the eyes of mankind. A magnificent church

was erected on that mystic ground, by the first Christian

emperor; and the effects of his pious munificence were extended

to every spot which had been consecrated by the footstep of

patriarchs, of prophets, and of the Son of God. 62

59 (return) [ Reland (Palestin. l. i. p. 309, 390, l. iii. p.

838) describes, with learning and perspicuity, Jerusalem, and the

face of the adjacent country.]

60 (return) [ I have consulted a rare and curious treatise of M.

D’Anville, (sur l’Ancienne Jerusalem, Paris, 1747, p. 75.) The

circumference of the ancient city (Euseb. Preparat. Evangel. l.

ix. c. 36) was 27 stadia, or 2550 _toises_. A plan, taken on the

spot, assigns no more than 1980 for the modern town. The circuit

is defined by natural landmarks, which cannot be mistaken or

removed.]

61 (return) [ See two curious passages in Jerom, (tom. i. p. 102,

tom. vi. p. 315,) and the ample details of Tillemont, (Hist, des

Empereurs, tom. i. p. 569. tom. ii. p. 289, 294, 4to edition.)]

6111 (return) [ On the site of the Holy Sepulchre, compare the

chapter in Professor Robinson’s Travels in Palestine, which has

renewed the old controversy with great vigor. To me, this temple

of Venus, said to have been erected by Hadrian to insult the

Christians, is not the least suspicious part of the whole

legend.-M. 1845.]

62 (return) [ Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 25-47,

51-53. The emperor likewise built churches at Bethlem, the Mount

of Olives, and the oa of Mambre. The holy sepulchre is described

by Sandys, (Travels, p. 125-133,) and curiously delineated by Le

Bruyn, (Voyage au Levant, p. 28-296.)]

The passionate desire of contemplating the original monuments of

their redemption attracted to Jerusalem a successive crowd of

pilgrims, from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and the most

distant countries of the East; 63 and their piety was authorized

by the example of the empress Helena, who appears to have united

the credulity of age with the warm feelings of a recent

conversion. Sages and heroes, who have visited the memorable

scenes of ancient wisdom or glory, have confessed the inspiration

of the genius of the place; 64 and the Christian who knelt before

the holy sepulchre, ascribed his lively faith, and his fervent

devotion, to the more immediate influence of the Divine Spirit.

The zeal, perhaps the avarice, of the clergy of Jerusalem,

cherished and multiplied these beneficial visits. They fixed, by

unquestionable tradition, the scene of each memorable event. They

exhibited the instruments which had been used in the passion of

Christ; the nails and the lance that had pierced his hands, his

feet, and his side; the crown of thorns that was planted on his

head; the pillar at which he was scourged; and, above all, they

showed the cross on which he suffered, and which was dug out of

the earth in the reign of those princes, who inserted the symbol

of Christianity in the banners of the Roman legions. 65 Such

miracles as seemed necessary to account for its extraordinary

preservation, and seasonable discovery, were gradually propagated

without opposition. The custody of the _true cross_, which on

Easter Sunday was solemnly exposed to the people, was intrusted

to the bishop of Jerusalem; and he alone might gratify the

curious devotion of the pilgrims, by the gift of small pieces,

which they encased in gold or gems, and carried away in triumph

to their respective countries. But as this gainful branch of

commerce must soon have been annihilated, it was found convenient

to suppose, that the marvelous wood possessed a secret power of

vegetation; and that its substance, though continually

diminished, still remained entire and unimpaired. 66 It might

perhaps have been expected, that the influence of the place and

the belief of a perpetual miracle, should have produced some

salutary effects on the morals, as well as on the faith, of the

people. Yet the most respectable of the ecclesiastical writers

have been obliged to confess, not only that the streets of

Jerusalem were filled with the incessant tumult of business and

pleasure, 67 but that every species of vice—adultery, theft,

idolatry, poisoning, murder—was familiar to the inhabitants of

the holy city. 68 The wealth and preëminence of the church of

Jerusalem excited the ambition of Arian, as well as orthodox,

candidates; and the virtues of Cyril, who, since his death, has

been honored with the title of Saint, were displayed in the

exercise, rather than in the acquisition, of his episcopal

dignity. 69

63 (return) [ The Itinerary from Bourdeaux to Jerusalem was

composed in the year 333, for the use of pilgrims; among whom

Jerom (tom. i. p. 126) mentions the Britons and the Indians. The

causes of this superstitious fashion are discussed in the learned

and judicious preface of Wesseling. (Itinarar. p. 537-545.)

——Much curious information on this subject is collected in the

first chapter of Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge.—M.]

64 (return) [ Cicero (de Finibus, v. 1) has beautifully expressed

the common sense of mankind.]

65 (return) [ Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 326, No. 42-50) and

Tillemont (Mém. Eccles. tom. xii. p. 8-16) are the historians and

champions of the miraculous _invention_ of the cross, under the

reign of Constantine. Their oldest witnesses are Paulinus,

Sulpicius Severus, Rufinus, Ambrose, and perhaps Cyril of

Jerusalem. The silence of Eusebius, and the Bourdeaux pilgrim,

which satisfies those who think perplexes those who believe. See

Jortin’s sensible remarks, vol. ii. p 238-248.]

66 (return) [ This multiplication is asserted by Paulinus,

(Epist. xxxvi. See Dupin. Bibliot. Eccles. tom. iii. p. 149,) who

seems to have improved a rhetorical flourish of Cyril into a real

fact. The same supernatural privilege must have been communicated

to the Virgin’s milk, (Erasmi Opera, tom. i. p. 778, Lugd. Batav.

1703, in Colloq. de Peregrinat. Religionis ergo,) saints’ heads,

&c. and other relics, which are repeated in so many different

churches. * Note: Lord Mahon, in a memoir read before the Society

of Antiquaries, (Feb. 1831,) has traced in a brief but

interesting manner, the singular adventures of the “true” cross.

It is curious to inquire, what authority we have, except of

_late_ tradition, for the _Hill_ of Calvary. There is none in the

sacred writings; the uniform use of the common word, instead of

any word expressing assent or acclivity, is against the

notion.—M.]

67 (return) [ Jerom, (tom. i. p. 103,) who resided in the

neighboring village of Bethlem, describes the vices of Jerusalem

from his personal experience.]

68 (return) [ Gregor. Nyssen, apud Wesseling, p. 539. The whole

epistle, which condemns either the use or the abuse of religious

pilgrimage, is painful to the Catholic divines, while it is dear

and familiar to our Protestant polemics.]

69 (return) [ He renounced his orthodox ordination, officiated as

a deacon, and was re-ordained by the hands of the Arians. But

Cyril afterwards changed with the times, and prudently conformed

to the Nicene faith. Tillemont, (Mém. Eccles. tom. viii.,) who

treats his memory with tenderness and respect, has thrown his

virtues into the text, and his faults into the notes, in decent

obscurity, at the end of the volume.]