The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 (Loeb)

INTRODUCTION

In contrast to the wholesale butchery with which Constantius had begun his reign, Julian appointed a commission—partly composed of former officers of Constantius—to sit at Chalcedon across the Bosporus and try his enemies, especially those who had aided the cruelties of Constantius or were accessories to the death of Gallus. Ammianus (22. 3) describes the work of this commission, which included Sallust, Mamertinus, and Nevitta the Goth. Among those condemned to death were the notorious informer and agent of Constantius, Paul (nicknamed “the Chain”),See Letter 53; Ammianus 14. 5. 6; 19. 12. the eunuch Eusebius (chamberlain of Constantius; see Letter 4, p. 11), and the ex-prefect and consul Florentius, whose oppression of the Gallic provincials is described in the same letter. Florentius managed to hide himself until after Julian’s death.

On February 4, 362, Julian proclaimed religious freedom in the Empire and ordered the restoration of the temples. All who had used the temples as quarries or had bought portions of them to build houses were ordered to restore the stone and marble.See Letter 29, to Count Julian, p. 99. This often caused great hardship to individuals, and even Libanius, a devout pagan, interceded more than once in his letterse.g., Letter 724, Foerster. with local officials on behalf of those affected by Julian’s edict. The Emperor also recalled the ecclesiastics who had been exiled by the Arian Constantius, including Aetius, to whom he wrote Letter 15, and the famous orthodox prelate Athanasius, for whom see Letters 24, 46, 47.See the account of the life of Athanasius, p. xxxix.