Julian II "The Apostate" - Flavius Claudius Julianus (ca. AD 332 - 363): Grandson of Constantius I Chlorus and Theodora; Half-brother of Constantius Gallus; Husband and half-cousin of Helena the Younger; Nephew of Licinius I and Constantia; Cousin of Delmatius, Hanniballianus, Licinius II and Nepotian; Half-nephew of Constantine the Great; Half-cousin of Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius II, Constans and Constantina (wife of Hanniballianus and Constantius Gallus). AD 355 - 360 - as Caesar under Constantius II AD 360 - 363 - as Augustus

Mints: Antioch, Aquileia, Arelate, Constantinopolis, Cyzicus, Heraclea, Lugdunum, Nicomedia, Rome, Sirmium, Siscia, Thessalonica, Treveri.

Biography: Flavius Claudius Julianus, universally known as "Julian the Apostate," was born the son of Julius Constantius, a half-brother of Constantine the Great. Educated by a pagan eunuch after the death of his father in the massacres following the death of Constantine, Julian cultivated a taste and appreciation of classical Greek and Roman culture and continued to study them well into his adult life. Repeatedly exiled and called back under Constantine's successors, he finally gained stature in the early 350s, when Constantius made him a Caesar and entrusted him with a major campaign in Gaul. Julian acquitted himself well. Jealous of his raising popularity Constantius attempted to reduce his troops. At this the soldiers revolted and proclaimed Julian Augustus in 360. He them marched on Constantinople, but the timely death of Constantius allowed him to enter the capital unopposed in December 361. Julian's immediate concern seems to have been with restoring the freedom of worship for all pagans, endowing pagan cults with state subsidies and providing them with a priestly hierarchy and institutional framework similar to that of the Christians. He also sought to encourage Judaism. An educated man, he was a prolific author and many of his speeches and letters are preserved. It is a small wonder all this earned him the hatred of future Christian apologists. His administrative capacity matched his learning. By all this, however, his luck deserted him at a crucial juncture. Nurturing designs to defeat the Persians once and forever, in late 362 he mounted a large-scale military expedition that reached the Persian capital. The Persians denied him an open battle, however, and while waiting for reinforcements Julian was wounded in a skirmish in a near-by region. The wound festered and he died several days thereafter.

List all Julian II "The Apostate" coins in the Catalog.

Search Julian II "The Apostate" coins in our Shopping Mall.

« back