The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 280 pages
• Published by: Inner Traditions April 29, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1594772266
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1594772269
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 12.8 ounces

Product Review
“A thoroughly engaging book about one of the fourth century’s most interesting emperors.”
(The Journal of Classics Teaching )

“Keenly paced and gorgeously written . . . quite simply one of the best historical biographies of the year.”
(Catholic Herald )

“Friendly to its controversial subject and an easy read.”
(Church Times )

Product Description
A history of Julian, the grandson of Constantine, and his failed attempt to reverse the Christian tide that swept the Roman Empire

• Portrays the “Apostate” as a poet-philosopher, arguing that had he survived, Christianity would have been checked in its rise

• Details reforms enacted by Julian during his two-year reign that marginalized Christians, effectively limiting their role in the social and political life of the Empire

• Shows how after Julian’s death the Church used paganism to represent evil and opposition to God, a tactic whose traces still linger

The violent death of the emperor Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus, AD 332-363) on a Persian battlefield has become synonymous with the death of paganism. Vilified throughout history as the “Apostate,” the young philosopher-warrior was the last and arguably the most potent threat to Christianity.

The Last Pagan looks at Julian’s journey from an aristocratic Christian childhood to his initiation into pagan cults and his mission to establish paganism as the dominant faith of the Roman world. Julian’s death, only two years into his reign, initiated a culture-wide suppression by the Church of all things it picked to identify as pagan. Only in recent decades, with the weakening of the Church’s influence and the resurgence of paganism, have the effects of that suppression begun to wane. Drawing upon more than 700 pages of Julian’s original writings, Adrian Murdoch shows that had Julian lived longer our history and our present-day culture would likely be very different.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World (Hardcover) It isn't very difficult to notice the religious fervor in the air of the United States, most particularly of the various Christian faiths. The hard-core proponents of Christianity - the so-called Religious Right - are trying to dominate government policy, and it is the rare politician who is willing to distance himself (or herself) from the Judeo-Christian faiths. Of course, such ardent faith will have its backlash, as noted by books such as Dawkins's The God Delusion. Along a similar line, though much more mildly, you can find Adrian Murdoch's The Last Pagan, a generally favorable biography of the Roman emperor Julian. Julian reigned from 361 to 363, a couple dozen years after Constantine had made Christianity the official state religion of the Empire. Julian had other ideas and tried to restore paganism. His short tenure in office - he would die from wounds received in battle - ended his effort and paganism would fall permanently out of power as a force in Western government. This, however, is the end of the story, and Murdoch provides a full (though relatively brief) biography of Julian. In the tangled politics after Constantine's death, Julian's uncle Constantius would come out on top, mainly by killing all the opposition. Julian would survive primarily because of his youth and his seeming lack of ambition. Put in what was an initially figurehead role in the Western army, Julian had his share of military successes and soon his army was forcing the purple on him. Julian's reluctance to being a usurper to the throne would be short-lived, but before civil war could erupt, Constantius would die of natural causes (if any death could really be "natural" among the emperors). Julian's restoration of paganism was not a persecution of Christianity, which he still promoted tolerance of. For the Christians of the era, however, intolerance of paganism was a matter of course, and it wouldn't take long after his death for Julian to be vilified. Only in more recent times would his reputation be reconsidered. Even among many Christians, he doesn't seem worth the effort to really hate anymore, as he was scarcely more significant than a James Garfield or William Henry Harrison. But even if his real impact in Roman history was small, he still can be a hero to some and provides one of the great historic "what-ifs": if he reigned longer, could he have truly restructured the religion of the Empire? How well does Murdoch depict all this? Reasonably well, although at times he is a slow read with a fondness for the occasional overly-fancy term. Overall, however, he has written an entertainingly informative book. Julian may not have been the most important figure in Roman history, but his life was interesting and does offer lessons that are good even today.