Salvete
Gnæus Dionysius Draco wrote:I took Gibbons' comment that Iulianus was an active christian-hater with a big grain of salt. On the other hand, I think there's some truth in the fact that he was overambitious (his campaigns in the east, for example, during which he died). Additionally I think that he was simply trying to break the power the Church was beginning to have. Part of it may have been a genuine interest in reviving the pagan heritage. I'm writing this from the top of my head so shoot me if I'm incorrect, but I'm also under the impression that he actually tried to create a 'Religio Romana church' or something along those lines, and that his interest in philosophy was actually very shallow.
Being an abridged edition means it incorporates the views of the editors and translators more than Gibbons.
From what I have read of Julians' words I find his approach to religion to have been more philosophical than due to religious conviction. I recall him trying to restore temples and support the ex patria culti deorum in a kind of haphazard way, not that he was trying to set up a pagan church. He may have because of the way he had been taught, or it might have been some christian propaganda against him, but I have not heard that before.
I would agree that part of his efforts was aimed to break the influence of the christian church over the imperial administration. What angered the bishops was that Julian ordered a religious tolerance. That did not really entail the establishment or restoration of the pagan religions. It meant only that pagans could once again serve in the army and administration. The restoration of the temples and cultideorum came as a means to support his effort at tolerance. That may be why, also, that he appears to some to have been less than sincere in his pagan convictions.
As for his military expectations, his campaign was flawed in several respects, but I do not think any Roman commander would really have done it so differently considering the organization of the Roman army of the time, its dependence on the rivers for its supply lines, and thus its vunerability in any campaign that sought to penetrate the region.
Was Julian competant to be emperor? Apparently he was, more than many others who held the office, but not successful. His real failure was to establish firm control over the administration of his empire.
Valete
Moravius Piscinus