History Literature / Julian

** Julian starts off his memoir by mimicking ''Marcus Aurelius To Himself'', though he drops it quickly. Aurelius is mentioned from time to time, with Julian looking at him as a model [[ThePhilosopherKing Philosopher King]]. Priscus thinks him overrated.

* ShutUpKirk: Libanius' exchange with Saint John of Chrysostom, an important Church father (and an ex-student of his), who notes that Christianity has definitively taken root in Europe for good:

* IncestIsRelative / UnholyMatrimony: Gallus and Constantina.

* BadassBeard: Subverted with Julian, who insists on combing his long beard into a point (Everyone tells him it looks ridiculous).

* UnfortunateNames: Hilarius. Unfortunately, Gallus gets him alone and [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity does not Ensue.]]

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: What ''was'' the deal with that imperial robe--the one that got a deacon killed? You order the wrong color garment (in this case, the same as the Emperor's), and are immediately found guilty of treason? The tailor is executed too. [[WitchHunt Better safe than sorry]], we guess. Literally no one is safe in Rome.

* BadDreams: Interestingly happens to Gallus, Julian, and Constantius. Gallus simply has nightmares in the days before his execution. Constantius and Julian, on the other hand, have dreams that could be anything from AnxietyDreams to DreamingTheTruth to DreamingOfThingsToCome. Julian gives great weight to his.

* AGodAmI: Perhaps the worst thing Maximus does is to convince Julian that Cybele had spoken to him, telling him that she'd send the spirit of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat to guide him, and that his victory is assured. This gets him into trouble.

--> ''Tell the King: on earth has fallen the glorious dwelling, and the water-springs that spoke are still. Nothing is left the god, no roof, no shelter, and in his hand the prophet laurel flowers no more.''[[note]]This is an adaptation of the famous final prophesy issued by the Delphic Pythoness in the reign of Theodosius, dramatically brought forward by Vidal[[/note]]

* EndOfAnAge: The book highlights Julian's brief reign as the end of the Ancient World with Christianity setting a ResetButton and changing civilization forever. Hellenistic religion despite Julian's fervent efforts to revive it is in total decay and in the end [[ForegoneConclusion it will die out.]]

* ReligionIsWrong: ''Julian'' focuses on the eponymous Emperor's (failed) attempt to stem the rising tide of Christianity in Rome. (Vidal himself is a lifelong atheist.) While it extends much sympathy to Julian's religious tolerance and his attempt to halt Christianity without persecuting it, both Libanius and Priscus point that his attempt to revive Hellenistic religions only highlighted that it was NotSoDifferent from Catholicism in the end with practice becoming just as rigid and rigorous as Christianity.

* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Vidal is firmly on the side of the Enlightenment with Libanius and Priscus essentially serving as stand-ins as critics of the Emperor Julian's romantic dreams of single-handedly restoring antiquity against the tide of history and society. In the end, Julian became the embodiment of the end of antiquity with all his plans and reforms overturned on his death, while Libanius realizes that the classic world of Hellenism and antiquity has lost to Christianity, but he takes hope in the expectation that one day Christianity too will decline and lose favour among the people, much like the Gods it had replaced:

* WeAREStrugglingTogether: The Christians oppose Julian, while constantly killing each other such weighty questions as "Is the Son of the ''same'' substance as the Father, or merely ''similiar''?"

* PetTheDog: Emperor Theodosius, devout Christian and fervent persecutor of pagans, decides to legitimize Libanius's bastard son, partly as consolation for refusing to punish his biography of Julian.

* NoSocialSkills: Constantius is actually rather dull and quite shy. He can only interact with others as Emperor.