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Julian, who had become skeptical of Christianity due to the intrigues and murders under Constantius, restablished the persecution of Christians upon his ascent to the imperial throne. One of these was a 362 edict of tolerance that suppressed the on-going persecution of pagans and destruction of their temples. His actions sought to undermine Christian efforts to resist reestablishment of paganism in the empire. His edict for schools prohibited Christian teachers from using the pagan sources that formed the core of Roman education. Thus, he was attempting to alienate Christian students from Roman society by depriving them of the knowledge needed for worldly success. By recalling exiled [[bishop]]s, Julian encouraged dissension among the Christians, who were already fighting the [[heresy]] of [[Arianism|Arius]].
Though he encouraged the restoration of pagan temples, Julian appeared not to practice the civic paganism of the pre-Constantine empire, but rather associated himself with a magical approach to the classical philosophies called ''theurgy'' or ''neoplatonism''. In any event, his practices were not Christian. He believed himself to be Alexander the Great in another body through the transmigration of souls, as taught by Plato and Pythagoras. He wrote a number of controversial works, some of which have survived, including philosophical treatises, hymns, and of course satires or critiques of Christianity and [[Constantine the Great]]. His efforts to bring back paganism were doomed from the start, however, as most of the Empire by then was rather indifferent to it.
In 362, Julian began a campaign against the Persians in the east. There, on [[June 26]], 363, Julian received a fatal wound during the Battle of Ctesiphon, a victorious but inconclusive battle. He had not worn any armor, either through confidence of a victory or through haste or forgetfulness. With his death the last formal opposition to Christianity ended, and, in February 380, [[Theodosius the Great (Emperoremperor)|Theodosius I]] (Theodosius the Great) published the edict that all his subjects should profess Christianity.
==External links==
[[Category:Rulers]]
[[Category:Roman Emperors]]
[[ro:Iulian Apostatul]]
