Description
Julian is called the Apostate because of his abandonment of Christianity and his restoration of traditional paganism as the state religion. He restored pagan temples and even ordered that the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt. He was also a philosopher with a deep interest in Neoplatonic thinking. His reforms of the government were intended to purge the top-heavy state bureaucracy and revitalize a failing empire. An able military commander he died from a wound received in battle against the Persians. His apocryphal dying words were ”You have won, Galilean”, foreshadowing the return of Christianity on his death.
