Speaking of the relationship between Constantine II and the Julian family, it is really wonderful. As early as the death of Constantine the Great, Constantine II found an excuse to slaughter Julian's family. Fortunately, the cruel brother decided to go easy on Julian. After Constantine II proclaimed himself emperor, he pitied You Shi and invited him to succeed him.
Because he lost his family when he was a child, Julian was considered no threat to Constantinople. So he peed and lived a stable life in Bitinia, far from the center of the empire. It was quiet here. George W. julian has long been influenced by the strict "arius doctrine", which is extremely tolerant of Greek philosophy. Therefore, while studying Christianity, George W. Julian became interested in Neo-Platonism and other related theories.
Perhaps because of childhood confusion and loneliness, Julian gradually began to doubt the sanctity of secular life. In his eyes, Augustus, who openly presided over imperial affairs, was a single husband who murdered his loved ones, which made him doubt the fairness of his faith, and the bishops and theologians he met on weekdays could not bring him secular comfort.
/kloc-at the age of 0/8, Julian was finally allowed to end his long-term exile and was able to communicate briefly with Nicomeda in Constantinople. During this period, he met Jane Bricos of Ephesus. This man happens to be promoting a new philosophy that harmonizes all religions. Perhaps it was from this moment that Julian gradually gave up his belief in one god and began to indulge in speculation.
In 35 1 year, Julian's brother Gallus was named "Caesar" by the new emperor Constantine, and gained the right to re-enter politics. But Gallus didn't cherish this opportunity. His rule in the East can be described as chaos. During his short three-year term, he actually angered his soldiers and local residents. Persia took advantage of the chaos to incite Armenia to resist Rome again, and the imperial frontier defense was finally in a hurry.
Coincidentally, the emperor got the news that Julian wrote satirical poems to laugh at him from nowhere. In a rage, he decided to put the two brothers in prison at the same time. A few days later, Gallus was executed by the emperor. Julian was surprised and scared, but somehow, the emperor never ordered him to be killed.
Another year later, Rome and Persia resumed war, probably because they felt at ease with their loved ones. The emperor named Julian "Caesar of the West", ordered him to lead an army to resist the enemy who invaded Mesopotamia, and married his sister.
Under the rule of Constantine the Great, several brothers who shared power with him all died of natural or man-made disasters, which had to make people frown. If Julian continues to cooperate with the emperor step by step, will it one day lead to death?
But the urgency of the war does not allow Julian to think too much. In the subsequent Gaul War and Strasbourg War, you successfully defended the integrity of the empire and won the praise of soldiers and people.
In 360, Constantine still wanted to drive Julian to the eastern provinces in the old way. He wanted to use the opportunity of his expedition to Persia to kill You Shi and his own army. But Julian saw through the emperor's trick At this time, You Shi was still in Gaul, and his soldiers supported him as emperor in Paris. This event marked the official break between You Shi and Constantinople.
War is imminent. But when Julian had just arrived in Italy with his army, the news of Constantinople's illness and death reached his camp. Julian took over the power of the Roman Empire as easy as blowing off dust and escaped the bad luck of being killed by his brother's design.
According to secular standards, Julian is an emperor who is proficient in the art of Huang Lao. At the beginning of his tenure, he abolished the extravagant habit of emphasizing ostentation and extravagance in imperial affairs since Constantine and advocated simplicity. He expelled eunuchs and singers from the East and made a law that these filthy people were not allowed to participate in imperial affairs.
Not only at the official level, but also in private life, Julian lived up to his title of "Emperor of Philosophy". He also knows the restraint of private life. After his wife died in childbirth, he never married her again. He likes to dress himself up in the style of Greek scholars. He did not remove his beard like the Romans did, but grew a long beard for himself. In every way, Julian is different from previous emperors in temperament. It was his unique personality that met the needs of the Romans for rest and health.
Julian's most important political action is his protection of freedom of religious belief (except Christianity) and his re-oppression of Christianity and Christians. It can be seen from the efficiency of his promotion of governance that his hatred and hatred of Christianity has really reached the extreme. So that later Christian historians regarded him as a heinous criminal and dubbed him an "apostate".
Why are they called "apostates" instead of "heretics"? That's because Julian used to be an officially recognized Christian and was baptized a long time ago. It is said that before he went to Ephesus, he worked as a priest in a local church and read scriptures. But after he was attracted by the philosophical speculation of Neo-Platonism, You Shi stood on the opposite side of Christianity to the letter.
Julian initially chose to fight against the Christian church by restoring and re-spreading polytheism. For this reason, he specially reformed the country's fiscal and taxation system and vigorously promoted people who believed in polytheism from ordinary people to enter the government. These fresh blood entering imperial institutions may be summoned by the emperor at any time, and the emperor is willing to entrust them with the task of reviving the temple.
Later, You Shi also chose to cooperate with Judaism, the biggest rival of Christianity at that time. The emperor is very envious of people who can keep piety to God all the year round, and the sacrifice in Jewish tradition is regarded as a major standard of piety by him. However, Jews entered the "rabbinical era" after BC. Instead of offering sacrifices, they chose to express their piety through public meetings and preaching laws.
You Shi made it clear to Jewish leaders that he was willing to help them restore ancient Jewish rituals. Jews are certainly happy to listen, because the reason why they no longer hold sacrifices is because of the painful reality that "altars and temples" have been destroyed. The cooperation between Jews and Youshi promoted the unity and revival of the Jewish nation to a certain extent. It is precisely because of the Roman monarch's respect for Jewish beliefs that Jews living in Persia began a wave of westward migration. This will soon lead to further contradictions between Persia and the Roman Empire.
The emperor's policy of supporting Jews and his greed for Armenia and Mesopotamia aroused the anger of the Persian king. In March 363 AD, You Shi led a great army eastward and headed for the Persian town of Susa. However, due to poor logistics supply, we finally had to stop moving forward. On June 26th, in the encounter in Malanga, the emperor's cavalry was unfortunately ambushed by the enemy, and the emperor was seriously injured. Mr. You's speech before his death showed that he "hated all the policies of authoritarian countries, and if God gave time, he would like to bring more happiness to the Roman people." Although such an idealistic emperor devoted himself to alleviating the people's suffering, he still plunged his subjects into the pain of war. Julian's life, who says it doesn't look like a sad tragedy?
Yano Qizi: The Story of the Romans, CITIC Publishing House, 20 1 1 Edition.
Ferdinand Ross: The End of the Ancient World, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, 20 13.
(Author: Haoran Literature and History Porcelain National Dump)