Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture PDF
Preview Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture
Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture Julian, the last pagan emperor of the Roman empire, died in war in 363. In the Byzantine (that is, the Eastern Roman) empire, the figure of Julian aroused conflicting reactions: antipathy towards his apostasy but also admi- ration for his accomplishments, particularly as an author writing in Greek. Julian died young, and his attempt to reinstate paganism was a failure, but, paradoxically, his brief and unsuccessful policy resonated for centuries. This book analyses Julian from the perspectives of Byzantine Culture. The history of his posthumous reputation reveals differences in cultural perspectives and it is most intriguing with regard to the Eastern Roman empire which survived for almost a millennium after the fall of the West- ern empire. Byzantine culture viewed Julian in multiple ways, first as the legitimate emperor of the enduring Roman empire; second as the author of works written in Greek and handed down for generations in the language that scholars, the Church, and the state administration all continued to use; and third as an open enemy of Christianity. Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture will appeal to both researchers and students of Byzantine perspectives on Julian, Greco-Roman Pagan- ism, and the Later Roman Empire, as well as those interested in Byzantine Historiography. Stefano Trovato is Director of the Biblioteca Universitaria (Ministero della Cultura) in Padua, Italy. His research focuses on the classical tradition, with a special interest in the perceptions of the ancient past in the medieval and modern worlds. Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture Stefano Trovato Translated by Sergio Knipe First published in English 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Stefano Trovato Translated by Sergio Knipe The right of Stefano Trovato to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Published in Italian by Forum 2014 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-1-032-01747-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-01748-8 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-17981-8 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003179818 Typeset in Times New Roman by codeMantra Cytheriacis columbis et omnibus pacem et amorem dantibus Contents Foreword ix Preface xi I Son of the devil and sophist of wickedness: the black legend 1 II A sulphurous and versatile emperor 23 III The reinvention of Julian by chroniclers, historians, and hagiographers 38 IV The blood of innocents: the victims of a sovereign who is “deceitful, capable of anything, and skilled in doing evil” 48 V The blood of innocents: “A great persecution against the Christians” 91 VI Even the dead against Julian 129 VII “Constantine, the son of a prostitute, recognized the true God and you abandon him?” Telescoping Julian and Constantine 151 VIII Julian in Byzantine liturgical books, a synthesis of the early medieval Byzantine hagiographical tradition 178 IX Between old stories and new imaginative reconstructions: a glance before the decline of Byzantium 196 viii Contents X Approaching the end: a new beginning, longing for a distant past 210 XI The end: beyond Byzantium 237 Bibliography 247 List of Abbreviations 305 Index 307 Foreword Julian, Emperor Constantine’s nephew and successor, ascended the throne at the young age of 30, in 361, in the wake of his successful campaign in Gaul and of a military insurrection. He devoted his reign to an attempt to overthrow the religious policies towards Christians inaugurated by the Constantinian revolution and then consolidated by Constantius II. Within the short span of two years, the young emperor committed himself both to the reform of social and the structures of the Roman State and to the res- toration and revitalisation of pagan traditions and forms of worship, in an effort to make them newly attractive. He surrounded himself with the most prominent intellectuals, including rhetoric teachers and the heads of philo- sophical schools, particularly the Neoplatonists, heirs to a kind of spiritual- ity that could attract the most fervid minds and souls yearning for a new and direct relationship with the divine and its manifestations. Julian’s shocking death during the Persian campaign on 26 June 363 apparently confirmed a prophecy by the elderly Bishop of Alexandria, Athanasius, who had said of him: “This is only a small cloud; it will soon pass”. However, the strength and vitality of the emperor’s attempted restoration and of the means and forces he had deployed were quite clear to St Augustine, who in De civitate Dei was to stress the Apostate’s egregia indoles. Forty years after the emper- or’s death, he noted: “What would have happened, if Constantine hadn’t reigned so long, and if Julian hadn’t been stripped of his life so early?” Al- most 70 years after the emperor’s death, the Bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, felt the need to compose a powerful and articulate refutation of Against the Galileans, noting that this work, which questioned Christianity’s doctrinal foundations with passionate and competent arguments, continued to elicit much interest and attention. The deep mark left by Julian – whether it was only apparent or truly significant – was a question that needed exploring in relation to its endur- ance in the Byzantine world. But all we had were some partial, limited works by individual authors who provided glimpses of significant traces, yet did not draw a full assessment of the extent of the phenomenon that might make it possible to grasp the web of relations linking different ages and texts. Stefano Trovato’s research, which began during his doctorate at Udine,
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