CHAPTER XLIV.
FROM THE DEATH OF CONSTANTINE, A.D. 337, TO ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS, A.D. 476.
The three sons of the late emperor, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, as soon as their father was dead, put to death their two cousins, Hannibalianus and Dalmatius, with many more of their relatives; only Gallus and Julian, the children of Julius Constantius, being left alive. They then divided the empire, A.D. 337, Constantine, the elder, retaining the new capital, Constans receiving the western provinces, while to Constantius was left Syria and the East. Sapor, king of Persia, invaded the Eastern provinces, and defeated the Romans in various battles. Meanwhile a quarrel broke out between Constantine and Constans, and the former, having invaded his brother's provinces, was defeated and slain, A.D. 350. Ten years afterward Constans was himself put to death by Magnentius, an ambitious soldier, who at once assumed the name of emperor. Constantius marched against him, but found that Vetranio, præfect of Illyricum, had joined him, instigated by the Princess Constantina. He finally, however, defeated Magnentius, and deposed the aged Vetranio, and thus became the master of Rome. Having recalled Gallus and Julian from banishment, the emperor gave them the title of Cæsars. Gallus proved unfit for public affairs, while Julian won the esteem of all men by his conduct and valor. He drove the Germans out of Gaul, which they had invaded, and even crossed the Rhine, in imitation of Julius Cæsar.
Constantius now became jealous of the rising fame of Julian, who was beloved by the Western legions, and commanded him to send the finest part of his army to the East. Julian prepared to obey, but the soldiers rose in revolt, proclaiming him Julian Augustus. He sent messengers to the emperor demanding the recognition of his election; but war could not long be averted. Julian abjured Christianity, which he had hitherto professed, together with his allegiance to the emperor, and led a small army of well-chosen soldiers against his rival. Meantime Constantius, in A.D. 361, November 3d, died of a fever in Syria, while Julian entered Constantinople December 11th, amid the applause of the people. He was acknowledged emperor. He was now in his thirty-second year, in many particulars the most remarkable of the second Flavian family.
Julian had been educated by the Platonic philosophers, and resolved to restore the ancient form of religion. He sacrificed to the pagan gods, rebuilt their temples, revived the practice of augury, or divination, and vainly strove to impose upon the human mind a superstition which it had just thrown off. In order to mortify the Christians, he resolved to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, and restore the Jews to their ancient seat. But some natural phenomenon interposed; the workmen were driven away by balls of fire, and Julian abandoned his design.
Except this unphilosophical hostility toward the Christians, whose faith he had once professed, Julian seems to have made a sincere attempt to improve the condition of his people. He lived with frugality, rewarded merit, and encouraged learning, except where it was employed in the defense of Christianity. He was also successful in his wars against the Germans and the Persians, but at length was defeated by the latter, and was killed A.D. 363, June 26th.
Julian affected in his dress and manners the rudeness and indifference of a philosopher, was free from vice, possessed considerable learning, and wrote a work of some value, in which he compared and studied the characters of the long line of his predecessors.