Customer Reviews

Julian, Volume III (Loeb Classical Library, No. 157)

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This is a good book, mostly a compilation of julians letters to various figures in the old roman empire. bishops, generals, governors, and townspeople. But the chapter i most recommend is
Against the Galilaeans. Its a side by side cross examination of Christianity Versus Paganism. A good read for anyone who isnt afraid to have their faith debated. Julian asks a lot of relevant questions on the nature of divinity, debates sections of text, Pagan and Christian, extensively, and places those wich are relevant side by side, for a compare/contrast session that is sure to leave you asking questions at best, and offended at worst. He is a bit brash sometimes, and tries to make a case against parts of the bible, but that makes it more interesting, and he asks himself a lot of the same questions that i did. It also helps that this book is over 1200 years old, and is still very relevant. I recommend it.

The third volume of the Emperor Julian's works contains invaluable information concerning his views on Pagan religion. Included are letters to members of the Pagan priesthood, as well as general information regarding Julian's religious ideas written to friends. Julian's works are certainly the most important primary resources for late antiquity Paganism... as emperor his view was unique in that he had resources far beyond those of his contemporaries.

Julian, known as Julian the Apostate by his opponents, was Roman emperor from 361 to 363. He was the last pagan ruler of the Roman Empire, and the only one who wrote an extensive treatise against Christianity. Julian was brought up as a Christian but apostasized later in life, becoming a zeolus pagan and Neo-Platonist. As emperor he attempted to do away with Christianity, which had become the state religion of the Empire under Julian's predeccesors Constantine the Great and Constantius (who were incidentally Julian's relatives). This pagan counter-offensive came to an abrupt end when Julian was killed in combat against the Parthians in 363.

Loeb Classical Library have translated all of Julian's extant writings, and published them in three volumes. The most interesting volume is this, the third, since it contains a re-construction of Julian's treatise against Christianity, "Against the Galileans". As usual in this series, the Old Greek original text is reproduced alongside the English translation. (Other English translations of "Against the Galileans" are also available here at Amazon.com.)

"Against the Galileans" is a very interesting text. Many of Julian's arguments against Christianity feel very modern, showing that critics of the Christian message had pretty much the same objections then as now. Some of the emperor's arguments can be used even by atheists, others could presumably be used by New Age believers. Obviously, Julian also has a few arguments of his own. The term "Galilean" is Julians insulting name for the Christians.

In a short review like this, only the barest outline of Julian's arguments are possible. To Julian, the Christians are wicked people who have apostasized from the pagan traditions of their fathers to Judaism. But they distort even the Jewish Bible, and sometimes the words of Jesus himself. Thus, their creed is completely new and hence false. In the ancient world, everything new was suspect by definition, as the old and venerable was seen as better.

Julian doesn't believe that the Jews are the chosen people. After all, the Jews are insignificant and have often been conquered by stronger nations, such as Egyptians, Babylonians and Romans. God cares for all of humanity, not just for a small nation in a part of Palestine. The God of the Jewish Bible must be a purely local god, a subordinate to the highest God. Besides, the Jews are primitive, have no great poets and scientists, and their laws are more cruel than those of the Romans. Despite this criticism of the Jews, Julian is nevertheless quite pro-Jewish. He prefers the ancient traditions of Israel to the novelty of the "Galileans". Indeed, Julian even writes that the Jews in many ways resemble the pagans, for instance in their sacrifices. Julian actually wanted to rebuild the Jewish temple, a project that came to naught when he fell in battle.

A large part of Julian's text deals with what we would call "Bible difficulties". To Julian, Christianity distorts the Jewish Bible (the Old Testament). There are no prophecies of Jesus in the OT, the Jewish laws are forever and cannot be suspended as Paul argued, and the consistent monotheism of the OT is incompatible with the Trinity. Perhaps more sarcastically, Julian argues that the Christians distort their own New Testament as well. For instance, he points out that neither Matthew, Mark, Luke nor Paul ever refers to Jesus as "God". Only John does this, but Julian assumes that the Gospel of John was written later than the others, and hence lack value. Julian then mocks the Christians for worshipping corpses, by which he means Jesus and the martyrs.

A common pagan argument against Christianity seems to have been that the Christians were common folk, almost wretches. This elitist argument is rehashed by Julian, who write that the apostles deluded maidservants, slaves and women, and people like Cornelius and Sergius, of whom no further historical record exists. He belittles the miracles of Jesus, pointing out that they took place in a few Palestinian villages, and hence were unimportant. How can a creed that began in a remote rural region and has only existed for 300 years, mostly among the underclass, really be divine, especially if its inherently illogical as well? That seems to be the gist of Julian's arguments.

No matter what one might think of "Against the Galileans", it is nevertheless a fascinating read, especially considering that it was written by a man who was, albeit for a few years only, the ruler of the Roman Empire.

Since there are so many of these darn things the review shall be divided into three sections. First, a brief description of the Loeb series of books and their advantages/disadvantages. Second shall be my thoughts on the author himself, his accuracy, as well as his style and the style of his translator. This is of course only my opinion and should be treated as such. The final part shall review what this particular book actually covers.

The Loeb series date back to the turn of the last century. They are designed for people with at least some knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are a sort of compromise between a straight English translation and an annotated copy of the original text. On the left page is printed the text in Greek or Latin depending on the language of the writer and on the right side is the text in English. For somebody who knows even a little Greek or Latin these texts are invaluable. You can try to read the text in the original language knowing that you can correct yourself by looking on the next page or you can read the text in translation and check the translation with the original for more detail. While some of the translations are excellent mostly they are merely serviceable since they are designed more as an aid to translation rather than a translation in themselves. Most of them follow the Greek or Latin very closely. These books are also very small, maybe just over a quarter the size of your average hardcover book. This means that you'll need to buy more than just one book to read a complete work. They are also somewhat pricey considering their size. The Loeb Collection is very large but most of the more famous works can be found in better (and cheaper) translations elsewhere. If you want to read a rarer book or read one in the original language then you can't do better than the Loeb Editions.

There are 3 volumes of Julian in the Loeb series which includes all his known works. Julian the Apostate was Emperor of Rome in the middle of the 4th Century. He was a member of Constantine's family but he abandoned Constantine's new faith and tried to return Rome to paganism. He was also a philosopher which explain the quantity of his writing which has survived. Ever since a child he had been locked away in a villa by his cousin Constantius who also had his father killed. His life before becoming Emperor was filled with danger since any hint that he could be a threat to his cousin would be met with deadly consequences. In the end through lucky chance he ended up as Emperor only to be killed in just over a year when his Persian campaign failed disastrously. He is easily the best documented Emperor in Roman history since we have more of his writings than of any other Emperor's as well as an excellent history by Ammianus Marcellinus (the last great Latin historian), panegyrics and letters by the orator Libanius, and violent denouncements from Christian writers like Gregory of Nazianzus all of whom knew him personally. He wrote letters, orations, philosophical treatises, satires, and hymns. He also wrote a Commentary of his wars in Gaul which was based off of Caesar's Commentaries and which is unfortunately lost. Also missing is his denunciation of Christianity called Against the Galilaeans. Only fragments survive. His works are (mostly) easy to read and engaging and the translation is solid if a little formal. It was translated in 1923 after all. This is one of those cases where this material is unavailable outside of the Loeb series.

This last volume contains a collection of Julian's remaining letters. Letters are never as easy to read as other works but there is much valuable information in these. While they do vary significantly depending on the topic and the recipient on the whole they are interesting and keep your interest. Also included in this volume is the remainders of Julian's 'Against the Galileans,' his diatribe against Christianity.