Julian's Hatred of Christianity

During the time of Constantine and Constantius II, Judaism was seen as not only a false theology but as a religion of those who were “savage” and “blasphemous”. (Armstrong). As a result, Jews in Jerusalem faced constant discrimination by their imperially backed Christian neighbors. For example, during this time, Jews were barred from owning slaves, could not intermarry with Christians, and were overall targeted by the Roman empire in an attempt to weaken their community. Following these years of oppression and persecution many Jews under Roman rule worried that their culture and religion were doomed. However, after the death of Constantius II and the rise of emperor Julian into power, the narrative suddenly flipped. Julian quickly undid the years of discriminatory law passed by his predecessors and began driving out Christian influence and power within the Roman kingdom. Most importantly though, Julian promised the Jewish people that he would rebuild both their city of Jerusalem and the Temple within (Armstrong). Yet, Julian was not Jewish, in fact he still practiced Roman paganism. This raises the question, why was Julian so fervently opposed to Christianity and supportive of Jews if he did not practice Judaism?

Despite his disposition to the religion, Julian was raised as a Christian. There are several possible reasons that Julian abandoned his Christian faith. Some suggest that as a result of his upbringing, Julians Christian beliefs were already weak. During his adolescence Julian was under the teachings of Eusebius, the bishop of Nicomedeia. Yet, Eusebius, a Christian, did little to influence or teach Julian on a personal level (Edward James Martin). Due to this, Julian was largely taught by Mardonius, a servant of the family who practiced an intense puritan Paganism. Although Julian would not declare himself a pagan until his twenties, this paganistic teaching certainly influenced his uncertainty with the Christian faith (Edward James Martin). With this lack of devotedness, Julian would grow to detest Christianity, largely due to the influence of what many claim is the key reason for his hatred of the faith; his cousin, Constantius II. 

After his rise to emperor, Constantius II, in an attempt to ensure his claim to power, had both Julian's father and older brother killed. This, compounded with the death of his mother early in life, left Julian an orphan (“Julian | Roman Emperor”). Obviously, this fueled his hatred toward his cousin. Given this, and the fact that Constantius was a driving force behind the spread of Christianity in Rome, Julian grew to hate both Constantius and his beloved Christianity. As a result, Julian reverted to the ancient Roman paganism. He believed that Christianity was an affront to the ancient traditions that had been a part of Roman culture for so long. These experiences resulted in Julian’s rule being one of Christian oppression, even if that meant uplifting Judaism just to spite Christians. 

Works Cited

Armstrong, Karen. Jerusalem. Ballantine Books, 1997.

Edward James Martin. The Emperor Julian. Legare Street Press, 2023.

“Julian | Roman Emperor.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Roman-emperor.