Julian- Gore Vidal- A Review

Vidal's Julian is an epic historical novel, capturing the short reign of this popular Roman emperor, who, with good intentions in the 2^nd century, attempted to bring back Hellenism, in the face of the new, violent and pervasive religion, Christianity. It was his uncle, Constantine I, that established Christianity as a State religion. A highly educated man of philosophy, Christianity, and the ancient Mystery Schools, Julian did not desire to destroy the new religious movement, but to bring back the old “pagan” beliefs, to restore Rome back to its former glory. If he would have survived his invasion of Persia, many scholars believe that Christianity might not have attained the success it did under Roman sponsorship and rule.

The historical novel has never been my “go to” source for understanding the past. Vidal made it a cottage industry, however, for his narratives of the American Empire began with the novel. Burr, followed by his most popular, Lincoln. In all, he published six of the empire narratives, ending with my personal favourite, Washington D.C..

Julian was researched and written entirely in Rome, taking just under five years to complete the project. In my readings of Vidal, he never clarified why, as a novelist, he chose this particular subject matter. Julian is a popular Roman emperor for classical historians, and perhaps known and respected in very small circles, but he is not the “stuff of popular culture”. That said, Julian was on The New York Best Seller list for months, gaining the acclaim of mainstream critics, as well as many academics. This is a highly educational and entertaining read.

Over the past 3-4 years, I have been researching and writing about the rise of Christianity, with the idea in the back of my mind, that the early movement went astray. More to the point, my thesis is, that, the Catholic Church, through the teachings of Saint Paul, as many theologians regard as the First Heretic, moved against the original teaching of the Nazarene, creating a whole new religion. Vidal's novel covers, more or less, a similar path of research. Julian fought against the hypocrisy of the first Church Fathers, arguing that their borrowing from the Mystery Schools, which include history and ritual, has nothing to do with the original teachings. Because Saint Paul needed to”sell” this new religion to the masses, cut and pasted from the popular Roman religions, including a strong hate for Judaism. The novel never mentions this ideological siege against the Jews in the later development of the religion. At the end of the novel, one of the famous Church Fathers makes an appearance: John Chrysostom. An influential Christian zeolite, who was infamously antisemitic.

The novel is structured as if the reader is a researcher of the time. We read the letters between two philosophy teachers, Priscus and Libanius. Both men are now quite old, worrying that Christian spies are in ever corner, ready to turn them in for writing or speaking against the Church. Both men taught Julian, while in his youth, during his short time in Athens. Priscus was a close friend during Julian's time of the Persia campaign; the campaign where the emperor met his suspicious death.

When one reads academic history about Julian, his death is most often referred to as “suspicious”. Vidal makes a call, and reveals the mystery of the man's death. From my readings, his conclusion is logical and, as it is a novel, quite dramatic, and in a way, desperately sad.

To gain some insight into the time period, a time where Christianity became a social force; understanding the arguments and views of the period; arriving at a new comprehension of a compassionate, sensitive, and intelligent Roman emperor, there is no better historical novel than Julian.