XXIII.

CHAP. enmity of Julian deprived the clergy of the privi leges which had been conferred by the favour of Constantine, they complained of the most cruel oppression; and the free toleration of idolaters and heretics was a subject of grief and scandal to the orthodox party *. The acts of violence, which were no longer countenanced by the magistrates, were still committed by the zeal of the people. At Pessinus, the altar of Cybele was overturned almost in the presence of the emperor; and in the city of Casarea in Cappadocia, the temple of Fortune, the sole place of worship which had been left to the Pagans, was destroyed by the rage of a popular tumult. On these occasions, a prince, who felt for the honour of the gods, was not disposed to interrupt the course of justice; and his mind was still more deeply exasperated, when he found, that the fanatics, who had deserved and suffered the punishment of incendiaries, were rewarded with the honours of martyrdom f. The Christian subjects of Julian were assured of the hostile designs of their sovereign; and, to their jealous apprehension, every circumstance of his government might afford some grounds of discontent and suspicion. In the ordinary administration of the

Hear the furious and absurd complaint of Optatus (de Schismat. Donatist. 1. ii. c. 16, 17.).

+ Greg. Nazianzen. Orat. iii. p. 91. iv. P. 133. He praises the rioters of Cæsarea, τέτων δε των μεγαλοφύων και θερμών εις Ευσέβειαν. See Sozomen, L. v. 4. 11. Tillemont (Mén. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 649, 650.) owns that their behaviour was not, dans l'ordre commun; but he is perfectly satisfied, as the great St Basil always celebrated the festival of these blessed martyrs.

XXIII.

the laws, the Christians, who formed so large a CHAP. part of the people, must frequently be condemned: but their indulgent brethren, without examining the merits of the cause, presumed their innocence, allowed their claims, and imputed the severity of their judge to the partial malice of religious persecution *. These present hardships, intolerable as they might appear, were represented as a slight prelude of the impending calamities, The Christians considered Julian as a cruel and crafty tyrant; who suspended the execution of his revenge, till he should return victorious from the Persian war. They expected, that as soon as he had triumphed over the foreign enemies of Rome, he would lay aside the irksome mask of dissimulation; that the amphitheatres would stream with the blood of hermits and bishops; and that the Christians, who still persevered in the profession of the faith, would be deprived of the common benefits of nature and society t.. Every calumny that could

* Julian determined a law-suit against the new Christian ci ty at Maiuma, the port of Gaza; and his sentence, though it might be imputed to bigotry, was never reversed by his sucSozomen, 1. v. c. 3. Reland. Palestine. tom. ii.

cessors.

p. 791.

+ Gregory (Orat. iii. p. 93, 94, 95. Orat. iv. p. 114.) pretends to speak from the information of Julian's confidents, whom Orosius (vii. 30.) could not have seen.

Gregory (Orat. iii. p. 91.) charges the Apostate with secret sacrifices of boys and girls; and positively affirms, that the dead bodies were thrown into the Orontes, See Theodoret, l. iii. c. 26, 27.; and the equivocal candour of the Abbé de la Bleterie, Vie de Julien, p. 351, 352. Yet contemporary malice could not impute to Julian the troops of martyrs, more especially in the West, which Baronius so greedily swallows, and Tillemont so faintly rejects (Mém. Eccles, tom. vii. p. 1295-1315.).

XXIII.

CHAP. Could wound the reputation of the Apostate, was credulously embraced by the fears and hatred of his adversaries; and their indiscreet clamours provoked the temper of a sovereign, whom it was their duty to respect, and their interest to flatter. They still protested, that prayers and tears were their only weapons against the impious tyrant, whose head they devoted to the justice of offended Heaven. But they insinuated, with sullen resolution, that their submission was no longer the effect of weakness; and that, in the imperfect state of human virtue, the patience, which is founded on principle, may be exhausted by persecution. It is impossible to determine how far the zeal of Julian would have prevailed over his good sense and humanity: but, if we seriously reflect on the strength and spirit of the church, we shall be convinced, that, before the emperor could have extinguished the religion of Christ, he muct have involved his country in the horrors of a civil war *.

CHAP

* The resignation of Gregory is truly edifying (Orat. iv. p. 123, 121.). Yet, when an officer of Julian attempted to seize the church of Nazianzus, he would have lost his life, if he had not yielded to the zeal of the bishop and people (Orat. xix. p. 308.). See the reflections of Chrysostom, as they are alleged by Tillemont (Mém. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 575.).

CHAP. XXIV.

Residence of Julian at Antioch.-His successful Expedition against the Persians.-Passage of the Tigris.-The Retreat and Death of Julian.Election of Jovian.-He saves the Roman Army. by a disgraceful Treaty.

THE

HE philosophical fable which Julian composed under the name of the CÆSARS *, is one of the most agreeable and instructive productions of ancient witt. During the freedom and equality of the days of the Saturnalia, Romulus prepared a feast for the deities of Olympus, who had adopted him as a worthy associate, and for the Roman princes, who had reigned over his martial people, and the vanquished nations of the earth. The immortals were placed in just order on their thrones of state, and the table of the Cæsars was spread below the Moon,

in

* See this fable or satire, p. 306–336. of the Leipsig edition of Julian's works. The French version of the learned Ezekiel Spanheim (Paris, 1683.) is coarse, languid, and incorrect; and his notes, proofs, illustrations, &c. are piled on each other till they form a mass of 557 close-printed quarto pages. The Abbé de la Bleterie (Vie de Jovien, tom. i. p. 241393.) has more happily expressed the spirit, as well as the of the original, which he illustrates with some concise and curious notes.

sense,

+Spanheim (in his preface) has most learnedly discussed the etymology, origin, resemblance, and disagreement of the Greek satyrs, a dramatic piece, which was acted after the tragedy; and the Latin satires (from satura) a miscellaneous composition, either in prose or verse. But the Cæsars of Julian are of such an original cast, that the critic is perplexed to which class he should ascribe them.

С НАР.
XXIV.

The Caesars

of Julian.

CHAP.
XXIV.

The

in the upper region of the air. The tyrants,
who would have disgraced the society of gods
and men, were thrown headlong, by the inex-
orable Nemesis, into the Tartarean abyss.
rest of the Cæsars successively advanced to their
seats and, as they passed, the vices, the defects,
the blemishes of their respective characters, were
maliciously noticed by old Silenus, a laughing
moralist, who disguised the wisdom of a philoso-
pher under the mask of a Bacchanal *. As soon
as the feast was ended, the voice of Mercury
proclaimed the will of Jupiter, that a celestial
crown should be the reward of superior merit.
Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Trajan, and Marcus
Antoninus, were selected as the most illustrious
candidates; the cffeminate Constantine † was not
excluded from this honourable competition, and
the great Alexander was invited to dispute the
prize of glory with the Roman heroes. Each
of the candidates was allowed to display the merit
of his own exploits; but, in the judgment of
the gods, the modest silence of Marcus pleaded
more powerfully than the elaborate orations of
his haughty rivals. When the Judges of this
awful contest proceeded to examine the heart,
and to scrutinize the springs of action; the su-
periority of the Imperial Stoic appeared still

more

*This mixed character of Silenus is finely painted in the sixth eclogue of Virgil.

Every impartial reader must perceive and condemn the partiality of Julian against his uncle Constantine, and the Christian religion. On this occasion, the interpreters are compelled, by a more sacred interest, to renounce their alles giance, and to desert the cause of their author.