Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Killing Julian: The Death Of An Emperor And The Religious History Of The Later Roman Empire, Benjamin James Rogaczewski

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses an intriguing question concerning the death of emperor Julian, known throughout history as "the Apostate." Although Julian ruled for less than two years, his reign and death were the center of debate for centuries. Ancient writers composed different death narratives for the last "pagan" emperor, elaborating upon certain details in the narratives and adding portions, probably fictionalized, of the story where they thought necessary. It is my view that these different death narratives were used as literary loci to discuss the growing power of the church and the relations between church and state. Analysis of these narratives, …