Julian the Apostate

Julian the Apostate (331–363) was the last non-Christian Roman emperor and a philosopher who wrote in Greek. A nephew of Constantine the Great, he lost his father in the massacre of 337. Raised Christian, he turned to Neoplatonism around twenty. Made Caesar of Gaul in 355, he fought Germanic raiders on the Rhine, and in 360 his Lutetia soldiers proclaimed him emperor. Constantius died naming him heir and Julian entered Constantinople in 361.

In 362 he restored pagan temples, withdrew the privileges Constantine had given Christian bishops and, by his School Edict, barred Christians from teaching the classics.

In 363 he invaded Persia, won before Ctesiphon but failed to take it, burned his fleet and pushed inland with a harried army. At Samarra a spear struck him and he died within three days; last words 'You have won, Galilean' are thought apocryphal. Jovian succeeded, ceded Nisibis and restored Christianity.