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The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World
Since his death on a Persian battlefield in A.D. 363, the violent end of the Emperor Julian has become synonymous with the death of paganism. But how did a young philosopher-warrior, who ruled for only eighteen months, come to be seen as one of the most potent threats to Christianity?
Driven by a burning hatred of the Church, rooted in the brutal murder of his family and the treachery of his Christian predecessor Emperor Constantius II, Julian dedicated his brief reign to the eradication of this new and dangerous cult. He vowed to rid the Roman Empire of heresy and restore paganism to the hearts and minds of its citizens.
Although vilified throughout history as the 'Apostate', Julian was an inspirational and visionary leader. He made appointments on merit rather than influence or money, cut down on bureaucracy and had an economic policy geared to avoid corruption and waste. His experiment with paganism may have ultimately failed, but Julian has long been a hero of secular humanists and critics of Christianity's historical record.
Drawing on Julian's own writings, and using extensive new archaeological and literary research, Adrian Murdoch explores the vivid, engaging and complex character of this controversial emperor. The Last Pagan will fascinate anyone with an interest in ancient history or the history of Christianity.
Driven by a burning hatred of the Church, rooted in the brutal murder of his family and the treachery of his Christian predecessor Emperor Constantius II, Julian dedicated his brief reign to the eradication of this new and dangerous cult. He vowed to rid the Roman Empire of heresy and restore paganism to the hearts and minds of its citizens.
Although vilified throughout history as the 'Apostate', Julian was an inspirational and visionary leader. He made appointments on merit rather than influence or money, cut down on bureaucracy and had an economic policy geared to avoid corruption and waste. His experiment with paganism may have ultimately failed, but Julian has long been a hero of secular humanists and critics of Christianity's historical record.
Drawing on Julian's own writings, and using extensive new archaeological and literary research, Adrian Murdoch explores the vivid, engaging and complex character of this controversial emperor. The Last Pagan will fascinate anyone with an interest in ancient history or the history of Christianity.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 15, 2024
This was an absolutely outstanding book on the Roman emperor Julian. A very cultured individual who read and wrote a lot, and luckily for us, several of his writings are still available to us. He is mostly known for his rejection of Christianity and for being the last emperor who still believed in the pagan gods. Murdoch does an amazing job at making Julian feel like a real person, this is of course made easier due to his surviving writings, but is a great change compared to other emperors on whom we do not have much information, let alone of what they thought or said.
This emperor who was also a philosopher and an author, did not reign very long and neither did he leave much for posterity. Barely any of his buildings survived, and his pro-pagan religious policies were quickly reversed when he died. However, he is still an extremely interesting character to read about. It is intriguing to think about what would have happened if he had reigned longer, rather than being killed on the battlefield in Persia.
Murdoch's style of writing was excellent and very thrilling. This resulted in the fact that I just could not put this book down and finished it quickly. Murdoch made me feel as if I was present on the battlefield, seeing Julian getting speared through his side. It was almost as if I stood there among the military staff and advisers in Julian's tent while he was dying of his wound. This is something difficult that not many historians do, which makes this book stand out.
A great book that truly deserves five stars!
This emperor who was also a philosopher and an author, did not reign very long and neither did he leave much for posterity. Barely any of his buildings survived, and his pro-pagan religious policies were quickly reversed when he died. However, he is still an extremely interesting character to read about. It is intriguing to think about what would have happened if he had reigned longer, rather than being killed on the battlefield in Persia.
Murdoch's style of writing was excellent and very thrilling. This resulted in the fact that I just could not put this book down and finished it quickly. Murdoch made me feel as if I was present on the battlefield, seeing Julian getting speared through his side. It was almost as if I stood there among the military staff and advisers in Julian's tent while he was dying of his wound. This is something difficult that not many historians do, which makes this book stand out.
A great book that truly deserves five stars!
May 9, 2012
I first learned about Julian in a rabbinic school history class many years ago. Julian, thanks to his offer of permission and support for the Roman Jewish community to rebuild the Temple, has rather a glowing reputation in Jewish history. The story stuck in my mind, and I wanted to learn a little more.
Julian's life is certainly interesting enough, mostly because of his renunciation of Christianity and embrace of traditional Greco-Roman paganism. Murdoch does a fairly good job of outlining the political and social ramifications of Julian's personal religious life and public policies on religion. I also really enjoyed his treatment of the various versions of Julian's death, as Murdoch delves into the timelines of who said what when, and also the political ramifications of each successive version of events.
As for the rest, you have to be far more interested in military campaigns in fourth-century Iraq than I am to get really excited about Julian's last months. And while this isn't really fair to the author--it's not a novel after all--a love interest would have improved the literary quality of Julian's life no end.
Irrational pet peeves: the chapter quotes and chapter titles taken from nineteenth century English poetry that have no apparent connection to Julian or the fourth century. Added to this is the occasional howler from Murdoch--the suggestion that ten-year-old Julian and his teenage half-brother might not have much in common, not only because of the age gap, and because they had not grown up together, but because they had different hair colors left me giggling.
Julian's life is certainly interesting enough, mostly because of his renunciation of Christianity and embrace of traditional Greco-Roman paganism. Murdoch does a fairly good job of outlining the political and social ramifications of Julian's personal religious life and public policies on religion. I also really enjoyed his treatment of the various versions of Julian's death, as Murdoch delves into the timelines of who said what when, and also the political ramifications of each successive version of events.
As for the rest, you have to be far more interested in military campaigns in fourth-century Iraq than I am to get really excited about Julian's last months. And while this isn't really fair to the author--it's not a novel after all--a love interest would have improved the literary quality of Julian's life no end.
Irrational pet peeves: the chapter quotes and chapter titles taken from nineteenth century English poetry that have no apparent connection to Julian or the fourth century. Added to this is the occasional howler from Murdoch--the suggestion that ten-year-old Julian and his teenage half-brother might not have much in common, not only because of the age gap, and because they had not grown up together, but because they had different hair colors left me giggling.
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April 30, 2008Emporer Julian was--and is!--my hero!
April 20, 2012
Dumb, dumb title. The "Ancient World" didn't die. I put this one aside and read Gore Vidal's Julian first. That let me come back to Murdoch to compare and widen my knowledge.
Getting the background from Vidal's version was helpful. I returned to Murdoch's book and found it very informative. I found my self commenting on it in comparative reviews and in discussions of religion on Facebooks. Julian was was important by bringing the Romans, esp. the army, back to Greek and Roman gods rather than the syncretism with early christian religious ideas and, esp. structures. Of course, we know the early christian church and its structure fit better with the emperor's and military leaders' desire for greater power and hierarchical organization inforcing that power.
Getting the background from Vidal's version was helpful. I returned to Murdoch's book and found it very informative. I found my self commenting on it in comparative reviews and in discussions of religion on Facebooks. Julian was was important by bringing the Romans, esp. the army, back to Greek and Roman gods rather than the syncretism with early christian religious ideas and, esp. structures. Of course, we know the early christian church and its structure fit better with the emperor's and military leaders' desire for greater power and hierarchical organization inforcing that power.
February 6, 2017
Let's be honest, I'd never have picked up a book about such a specific topic if not chosen by our special guest for an upcoming Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. Having figured out the requisite number of pages to read daily (12) in order to finish in time, I viewed it mostly as an assignment.
Now I can say that this book should simply be considered fascinating, never as an "assignment." The author somehow manages to invest the story with the immediacy that makes me interested in Julian's next steps, understand the military campaigns from both the soldierly and strategic points of view, and always read more than my allotted 12 pages.
It's really interesting to read about someone who sounds as if he had Augustine's intelligence but went from Christian to pagan (albeit about 100 years before Augustine took the reverse course). Of course, being intelligent is far from being an honest truth-seeker, so there is that.
Having finished the book I can say that Julian is the sort of enemy one could admire. His strategy to defeat Christians was really clever and had he lived he might have been able to organize the pagans to put up a good fight. I can see why he is still considered interesting despite his short reign.
Now I can say that this book should simply be considered fascinating, never as an "assignment." The author somehow manages to invest the story with the immediacy that makes me interested in Julian's next steps, understand the military campaigns from both the soldierly and strategic points of view, and always read more than my allotted 12 pages.
It's really interesting to read about someone who sounds as if he had Augustine's intelligence but went from Christian to pagan (albeit about 100 years before Augustine took the reverse course). Of course, being intelligent is far from being an honest truth-seeker, so there is that.
Having finished the book I can say that Julian is the sort of enemy one could admire. His strategy to defeat Christians was really clever and had he lived he might have been able to organize the pagans to put up a good fight. I can see why he is still considered interesting despite his short reign.
June 11, 2025
Julian the 'Apostate' is a fascinating figure and one that has attracted many biographers and will continue to do so, though I wonder how much of Julian's marketability still goes back to Gore Vidal's novel 'Julian'? Maybe because he was excoriated by Christians for returning to 'paganism' but revered by Jews for allowing them to rebuild the Temple (a project which never got far because Julian didn't reign long enough) he is attractive to us and of interest to historians.
But although scholarship can and does constantly add fragments to our understanding of the Roman world through archaeology and epigraphy it is unfortunately true that just as we never likely to read Sappho's complete poetry we are almost certainly never going to find a copy of any of the lost ancient histories which illuminate the numerous lacunae in Julian's story. We can reinterpret, reexamine and rethink Julian as we understand how completely the views and information handed down is a prisoner of the assumptions of those making it. But can we really know Julian? Probably not and a mountain very interesting speculation grows ever heavier on this last member of the Constantine dynasty. If Julian hadn't become 'apostate' would he have any biographers, let alone novelists interested in his life?
Of course not and although an 'apostate' the one thing that is obvious about Julian is how thoroughly 'christian' his way of thinking was. If he had lived longer there would not have been a resumption of 'paganism' but the creation of a 'paganism' transformed into an erzatz form of christian church. Julian was simply trying to replace the magic stories about one 'sky god' with the magic stories of 'many sky gods'. But the time of the ancient gods was past, Julian no more understood what haad gone before then his christian enemies.
But Julian is fascinating and his times are equally fascinating and this biography is a wonderful exploration of his life and times and the multitudinous questions that surround them.
But although scholarship can and does constantly add fragments to our understanding of the Roman world through archaeology and epigraphy it is unfortunately true that just as we never likely to read Sappho's complete poetry we are almost certainly never going to find a copy of any of the lost ancient histories which illuminate the numerous lacunae in Julian's story. We can reinterpret, reexamine and rethink Julian as we understand how completely the views and information handed down is a prisoner of the assumptions of those making it. But can we really know Julian? Probably not and a mountain very interesting speculation grows ever heavier on this last member of the Constantine dynasty. If Julian hadn't become 'apostate' would he have any biographers, let alone novelists interested in his life?
Of course not and although an 'apostate' the one thing that is obvious about Julian is how thoroughly 'christian' his way of thinking was. If he had lived longer there would not have been a resumption of 'paganism' but the creation of a 'paganism' transformed into an erzatz form of christian church. Julian was simply trying to replace the magic stories about one 'sky god' with the magic stories of 'many sky gods'. But the time of the ancient gods was past, Julian no more understood what haad gone before then his christian enemies.
But Julian is fascinating and his times are equally fascinating and this biography is a wonderful exploration of his life and times and the multitudinous questions that surround them.
December 4, 2015
A fairly unbiased biography of a very controversial figure, Julian "the Apostate," the Roman emperor who tried to turn the empire back to paganism after Constantine began the empire down the path of Christianity as its state cult. Considering the passion this subject has inspired, even in the primary sources, doing any kind of fair treatment of Julian is an impressive achievement in and of itself. My only complaint is how short this work was, although this may be as much a function of how few good sources we have for the life of Julian. Definitely worth reading for anyone with an interest in late Rome, late antiquity, or the history of the interplay between Greco-Roman paganism and Christianity.
February 11, 2020
A good, accessible introduction to the life of Julian 'the Apostate'. There are a handful of non-debatable inaccuracies in the book, which is unfortunate. For the most part, however, it is a well-researched, well-written historical biography.
April 3, 2022
There are few things I love more than doomed causes, good people struggling against corrupt systems of power, and great historical "what ifs?".
Julian encapsulates all of these. An orphan whose entire family was murdered by his uncle Constantine the Great, and by Constantine's son Constantinus II, Julian cuts a lonely figure. He was raised in obscurity in Asia Minor under close guard, and whose only solace seems to have been his studies. He remained, for the rest of his life, a scholar first and foremost, and a politician second.
Murdoch’s book is brief. It’s a survey of the Emperor’s life more than an in depth exploration of Julian’s character, policies, or beliefs. You get only the vaguest sense of the bookish young man who became Medieval Europe’s favourite bogeyman, and some of Murdoch’s leaps of logic would not pass the lowest bars of a first year University history course. Of particularly bad note is the section on Julian’s death, where Murdoch jumps through only the loosest rungs of evidence to produce his conclusion-- against that of the Emperor’s contemporaries-- that Julian lived for three days post battle and died of peritonitis.
There was also an instance of shockingly bad fact-checking in which Murdoch identifies the site of Julius Caesar's assassination as being "the steps of the Forum". Caesar was, of course, murdered at Curia of Pompey in what is now the Largo di Torre Argentina. He seems to be confusing the building with either the Curia Cornelia, or the later Curia Julia, both located in the Forum.
Who ultimately was Julian? A scholar. A soldier and a defender of justice. A devout and ascetic polytheist. And beyond it all, a deeply flawed, but humanistic man.
Murdoch sums him up quite novelly:
Amusing, perhaps, that both Julian’s and Guevara’s views have seen a resurgence in popularity since Murdoch first published this text in 2003.
Julian encapsulates all of these. An orphan whose entire family was murdered by his uncle Constantine the Great, and by Constantine's son Constantinus II, Julian cuts a lonely figure. He was raised in obscurity in Asia Minor under close guard, and whose only solace seems to have been his studies. He remained, for the rest of his life, a scholar first and foremost, and a politician second.
Murdoch’s book is brief. It’s a survey of the Emperor’s life more than an in depth exploration of Julian’s character, policies, or beliefs. You get only the vaguest sense of the bookish young man who became Medieval Europe’s favourite bogeyman, and some of Murdoch’s leaps of logic would not pass the lowest bars of a first year University history course. Of particularly bad note is the section on Julian’s death, where Murdoch jumps through only the loosest rungs of evidence to produce his conclusion-- against that of the Emperor’s contemporaries-- that Julian lived for three days post battle and died of peritonitis.
There was also an instance of shockingly bad fact-checking in which Murdoch identifies the site of Julius Caesar's assassination as being "the steps of the Forum". Caesar was, of course, murdered at Curia of Pompey in what is now the Largo di Torre Argentina. He seems to be confusing the building with either the Curia Cornelia, or the later Curia Julia, both located in the Forum.
Who ultimately was Julian? A scholar. A soldier and a defender of justice. A devout and ascetic polytheist. And beyond it all, a deeply flawed, but humanistic man.
Murdoch sums him up quite novelly:
“If we are looking for a modern parallel it is almost easiest to see him as a Che Guevara figure. Not naturally a soldier, yet forced into that role; then a rebel and finally an undoubtedly charismatic leader for a system of beliefs whose resurrection we can now see as having been doomed to failure.”
Amusing, perhaps, that both Julian’s and Guevara’s views have seen a resurgence in popularity since Murdoch first published this text in 2003.
March 28, 2016
Adrian Murdoch gives us a very comprehensive history of this emperor and his very short reign. Starting from before his birth and ending with how he was perceived through history after his death, he shows us how this complex intellectual ruler was scorned by many, but seen as a hero to others. What I particularly liked was how the author gives us a neutral portrait. Here, Julian is presented to us warts and all. He was, despite his flaws, a deep thinker, philosopher, fairly competent administrator, shrewd politician and of course, a pagan. Despite his disastrous war in Persia, he was a brilliant tactician, and his victories against the Germanic tribes are sometimes forgotten. I also like the quotes that are given from Julian as well as other writers. Hearing these voices from long ago gave the book a warm touch of humanity. In the end, Murdoch tries to give us reasons why Julian is still so appealing, being that he left behind so little, and that his measures for rejuvenating paganism died with him.
The only thing that nagged me a little is the way the author sometimes wrote. His writing is engaging, but at times the way he wrote certain things made me pause. Frequently!
It was like I had to read certain passages a few times to get it. Also, his fancy vocabulary got me too: I know what cashiered and decimate mean, But in the context of how soldiers were treated if they were found to be less than stellar in their performance, I wasn't sure. I'm not complaining, a good author needs a fine vocabulary, but at the same time, the flow of the narrative kept breaking.
The only thing that nagged me a little is the way the author sometimes wrote. His writing is engaging, but at times the way he wrote certain things made me pause. Frequently!
It was like I had to read certain passages a few times to get it. Also, his fancy vocabulary got me too: I know what cashiered and decimate mean, But in the context of how soldiers were treated if they were found to be less than stellar in their performance, I wasn't sure. I'm not complaining, a good author needs a fine vocabulary, but at the same time, the flow of the narrative kept breaking.
January 4, 2021
In the 1600-plus years since his death, Emperor Julian “the Apostate” has been alternately vilified as an enemy of Christ and glorified as the standard-bearer for freedom of thought. Julian’s father and most of the rest of his family were murdered by the intolerantly Christian emperor Constantius II, but the murders were done to eliminate possible rivals for power. It’s not hard to understand why Julian saw Christianity in a dark light. When he was thrust out of his chosen scholarly life into a military and administrative position in the service of Constantius, and turned out to have outstanding talents for both, it didn’t take long for fate to lead him to power. As emperor, Julian felt strong enough to go against the growing stream of Christianity in which factions fought and killed over infinitesimal differences of belief. When Julian led his army against Persia and died, the vilification began.
Murdoch is clearly pro-Julian, but he presents him as a human being with as many of his faults and virtues as can be found in the surviving literature. Large collections of Julian’s own writings survive, as do letters and histories of people who knew him. The result is a portrait of a fascinating human being.
My favorite biography read of 2020
Murdoch is clearly pro-Julian, but he presents him as a human being with as many of his faults and virtues as can be found in the surviving literature. Large collections of Julian’s own writings survive, as do letters and histories of people who knew him. The result is a portrait of a fascinating human being.
My favorite biography read of 2020
August 24, 2022
Loved it. Couldnt help feeling sad at this last pagan struggling against the tide of what was already an unstopable wave of a religion for slaves and women. What damage it did and still does to the european soul and psyche is for all to see.
March 6, 2019
Its a fine biography of Julian who was an interesting character given he was so contrary to his times. The book provokes the imagining "what if". At the same time its hard not to think of Julian as just another religious zealot, but simply of an old fashioned stripe.
I would have been more interested to learn about how he effected the continued emergence of Christianity. Was this brief hiatus in the Galilean take over of the West at all effected by his reign? Murdoch provides little in the way of religious history.
I would have been more interested to learn about how he effected the continued emergence of Christianity. Was this brief hiatus in the Galilean take over of the West at all effected by his reign? Murdoch provides little in the way of religious history.
October 15, 2013
It is the time period of the late Roman empire and the capital is Constantinople--named after the Emperor Constantine--who made Christianity the official state religion in order to consolidate his power. Two Emperors now hold power--one in the East and one in the West. This was created to keep absolute power out of the hands of just one man and also to more efficiently run such an enormous empire.
Julian was originally indoctrinated into the early Christian religion as a child. But in his teens he renounced this religion and returned to the pagan gods of earlier Rome. He had to keep this secret, however, as he was the nephew of Constantine.
This young man was a voracious scholar who read every book he could get his hands on. He studied rhetoric, law, religions of other cultures, history, philosophy and more. Reading was his way of coping with a troubled childhood as he was shunted from location to location to prevent him from becoming involved in power plays by political factions. His father was murdered and his cousins fought for the Emperor's throne. Civil war was the result and he had to keep his head down and his opinions to himself just to stay alive. He was sent into the Roman army fighting rebellious tribes in Gaul by his surviving cousin (and the new Emperor). With any luck he would be killed in battle and the Emperor would have had one more potential rival "silenced". But Julian became an expert in military strategy and quelled the tribes' raids. His legions grew to love this slim bookworm. And thus his power grew until he could challenge the Emperor's power.
While studying his books, he immersed himself in eastern religious cults such as the military man's favorite, the worship of the pagan god Mithra. He also embraced the old Roman gods and sacrificed frequently to them. When this became known (after he became Emperor) he faced a backlash from Christian leaders. They called him Julian the Apostate and he is known by this name even today. But his innovative changes to government improved tax collections, justice in Roman courts and peace with former enemies. He reigned for only eighteen months and died while on campaign against the Parthians. If he had lived longer, his changes to the empire may have extended Roman civilization for much longer and forestalled the empire's fall.
Julian was originally indoctrinated into the early Christian religion as a child. But in his teens he renounced this religion and returned to the pagan gods of earlier Rome. He had to keep this secret, however, as he was the nephew of Constantine.
This young man was a voracious scholar who read every book he could get his hands on. He studied rhetoric, law, religions of other cultures, history, philosophy and more. Reading was his way of coping with a troubled childhood as he was shunted from location to location to prevent him from becoming involved in power plays by political factions. His father was murdered and his cousins fought for the Emperor's throne. Civil war was the result and he had to keep his head down and his opinions to himself just to stay alive. He was sent into the Roman army fighting rebellious tribes in Gaul by his surviving cousin (and the new Emperor). With any luck he would be killed in battle and the Emperor would have had one more potential rival "silenced". But Julian became an expert in military strategy and quelled the tribes' raids. His legions grew to love this slim bookworm. And thus his power grew until he could challenge the Emperor's power.
While studying his books, he immersed himself in eastern religious cults such as the military man's favorite, the worship of the pagan god Mithra. He also embraced the old Roman gods and sacrificed frequently to them. When this became known (after he became Emperor) he faced a backlash from Christian leaders. They called him Julian the Apostate and he is known by this name even today. But his innovative changes to government improved tax collections, justice in Roman courts and peace with former enemies. He reigned for only eighteen months and died while on campaign against the Parthians. If he had lived longer, his changes to the empire may have extended Roman civilization for much longer and forestalled the empire's fall.
August 20, 2012
At a certain level, I'm just glad this book is done. Given that it's only 222 pages, it should have been done long ago. The problem is not it's boring or it's long winded. It's that the book is dense.
Every sentence contains enough information for a chapter (okay not really, but you see my point). There are few extraneous words here. In fact, the only extraneous ones seem to belong to Julian himself. The book quotes Julian a lot--which is a good thing. Julian's own writing provides a window to his character, and helps breath life into "another book about an emperor."
Julian, if he hadn't gotten on the Zeus-train, would have been a footnote emperor at best. Maybe not even that. "...followed by Julian, who was succeeded by..." Instead, he's been reviled in art, idolized by humanists, and built up as a symbol of tolerance (though he wasn't actually that tolerant).
Beyond this fact, you have an unwilling general, who turned out to be quite good at it, and an okay emperor, who might have been good or bad, you just have no way to judge.
This book is a thorough study into Julian, incredibly dense, readable, and filled with everything you need to know about the guy.
As a fun side note, this book is also good for reading aloud to your eight-year-old when you want her to get to sleep. Works like a charm.
Every sentence contains enough information for a chapter (okay not really, but you see my point). There are few extraneous words here. In fact, the only extraneous ones seem to belong to Julian himself. The book quotes Julian a lot--which is a good thing. Julian's own writing provides a window to his character, and helps breath life into "another book about an emperor."
Julian, if he hadn't gotten on the Zeus-train, would have been a footnote emperor at best. Maybe not even that. "...followed by Julian, who was succeeded by..." Instead, he's been reviled in art, idolized by humanists, and built up as a symbol of tolerance (though he wasn't actually that tolerant).
Beyond this fact, you have an unwilling general, who turned out to be quite good at it, and an okay emperor, who might have been good or bad, you just have no way to judge.
This book is a thorough study into Julian, incredibly dense, readable, and filled with everything you need to know about the guy.
As a fun side note, this book is also good for reading aloud to your eight-year-old when you want her to get to sleep. Works like a charm.
October 6, 2016
Julian the Apostate is one of my favorite historical figures, and this biography does a good job of presenting what is known about him and setting up the world in which he lived. Ultimately, Julian was a person who found himself in a very different role than he envisioned for himself, and did his best at his job while also staying true to himself and what he was good at. I think just about anyone who finds themselves grappling with the work/life balance question can sympathize with him!
I will say that I think reading Julian by Gore Vidal helped to flesh things out - obviously Vidal's work was fiction, but Julian's "voice" felt very similar to me across both of these works, and I believe they make good companion pieces. I didn't love the random poetry excerpts that started each chapter, and I think the "death of the ancient world" subtitle of the book is unnecessary and misleading, but minus those fluffy-stuff critiques, I'm glad I read this.
2016 reading challenge: a biography
I will say that I think reading Julian by Gore Vidal helped to flesh things out - obviously Vidal's work was fiction, but Julian's "voice" felt very similar to me across both of these works, and I believe they make good companion pieces. I didn't love the random poetry excerpts that started each chapter, and I think the "death of the ancient world" subtitle of the book is unnecessary and misleading, but minus those fluffy-stuff critiques, I'm glad I read this.
2016 reading challenge: a biography
July 19, 2007
When I visited Rome and the Vatican City, I quite suddenly got interested in paganism and something pagan. Is anything wrong with me? Hehehe...
The book is a fair reading. A bit technical in some parts as it is indeed a popular history book. A glimpse about the conflict of paganism, but it doesn't really engage the conflict that julian experienced. Didnt really inform me about paganism more than just some pointers to look further. A vague understanding of paganism such as it is polytheistic, originated from greece (Hellenism?), sacrifice as mode of ritual, etc.
Julian's portrayed as a philosopher-emperor-warrior whose tragic death is considered as the end of paganism in the classic era.
The book is a fair reading. A bit technical in some parts as it is indeed a popular history book. A glimpse about the conflict of paganism, but it doesn't really engage the conflict that julian experienced. Didnt really inform me about paganism more than just some pointers to look further. A vague understanding of paganism such as it is polytheistic, originated from greece (Hellenism?), sacrifice as mode of ritual, etc.
Julian's portrayed as a philosopher-emperor-warrior whose tragic death is considered as the end of paganism in the classic era.
December 12, 2015
This is a good, brief account of Julian's life (with an overblown subtitle). The interplay between paganism and Christianity in the late Roman Empire is beyond the scope of this book, so very little space is devoted to placing Julian's actions in that context (so there was no need for the subtitle). It does, however, shed some fairly unbiased (as we are likely to get) light on Julian's character. It also includes a short survey of Julian's afterlife in art and literature, which is a nice conclusion to the work. I read this to brush up on Julian before reading the famous Gore Vidal novel, and I definitely recommend it to others looking for a concise but well-written version of the emperor's life.
April 2, 2013
Adrian Murdoch writes quite well and is engaging throughout The Last Pagan. I am grateful for the book, especially since it is hard to find writings devoted specifically to Julian, who was a pagan with the intent of ushering in a new age of paganism in the Roman Empire. The Introduction is where a capsulized version of the book's story is presented. The chapters which follow present significant details of Julian's life, including: an interesting biographical sketch which shows how scholarly Julian was; a discussion of what Julian did as emperor; his military travails in Persia & premature death; and, how Julian has been looked upon in the centuries following his death.
November 7, 2025
The Last Pagan by Adrian Murdoch is a solid historical account of the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor Julian. Murdoch traces the political and military climate that lead to Julian’s unenthusiastic call to Caesar, his reluctant command of Roman forces in Gaul, his anticlimactic rise to Augustus and his short 18 month reign as the most powerful man in the Roman Empire.
Murdoch presents the history of Julian’s life - personal, political and military - in a chronological narrative that builds the character of Julian with each turn of the page. To this end, Murdoch accomplishes his goal.
It doesn’t read like a historian trying to proof or disprove every potential claim or rumor about Julian, instead it’s a historical biography illuminating this “would-be” unknown emperor. I enjoyed Murdoch’s way of framing Julian.
However, this book suffers from a few completely avoidable issues.
1. Density: Murdoch quotes names, places and sources with dizzying speed. I felt myself, at times, loosing the narrative due to the constant hashing out of minute details. It would have been more effective for the average reader if some of these details were cut and the ones that were included should have been explained in more detail. I’m a history enthusiast, but I’m not a scholar so things like maps and explanations for why these people, places and sources are important would have gone a long way in aiding my understanding.
2. No section headings. The chapters felt long and it made the narrative drag. It would have been wonderful to have the chapters broken up with subheadings to help guide the reader back to the topic at hand. Again, the density made the reading drudge along and it caused me to often forget where I was in the narrative. Maybe it’s just because we are now in the age of chat GPT but, even still, this would have been a welcome addition.
3. Deceptive subtitle. If 2003 had clickbait, this would be it. Don’t get confused, this book was a biography of Julian the Apostate that focused heavily on political and military history. This book had almost nothing related to “the death of the ancient world.” And it didn’t even really give reasons why or in what way Julian was the last pagan. For this alone I knocked this book down a star.
All in all, solid history. But with a little less detail and a little more organization, this could have been a much more joyful read.
Murdoch presents the history of Julian’s life - personal, political and military - in a chronological narrative that builds the character of Julian with each turn of the page. To this end, Murdoch accomplishes his goal.
It doesn’t read like a historian trying to proof or disprove every potential claim or rumor about Julian, instead it’s a historical biography illuminating this “would-be” unknown emperor. I enjoyed Murdoch’s way of framing Julian.
However, this book suffers from a few completely avoidable issues.
1. Density: Murdoch quotes names, places and sources with dizzying speed. I felt myself, at times, loosing the narrative due to the constant hashing out of minute details. It would have been more effective for the average reader if some of these details were cut and the ones that were included should have been explained in more detail. I’m a history enthusiast, but I’m not a scholar so things like maps and explanations for why these people, places and sources are important would have gone a long way in aiding my understanding.
2. No section headings. The chapters felt long and it made the narrative drag. It would have been wonderful to have the chapters broken up with subheadings to help guide the reader back to the topic at hand. Again, the density made the reading drudge along and it caused me to often forget where I was in the narrative. Maybe it’s just because we are now in the age of chat GPT but, even still, this would have been a welcome addition.
3. Deceptive subtitle. If 2003 had clickbait, this would be it. Don’t get confused, this book was a biography of Julian the Apostate that focused heavily on political and military history. This book had almost nothing related to “the death of the ancient world.” And it didn’t even really give reasons why or in what way Julian was the last pagan. For this alone I knocked this book down a star.
All in all, solid history. But with a little less detail and a little more organization, this could have been a much more joyful read.
May 27, 2018
This is a fairly competent biography of the Emperor Julian, accessible (seemingly designed for) those unfamiliar with the late Roman Empire.
Murdoch takes the reader from Julian's birth to his death invading Persia, giving plenty of background to place his life and actions in the context of his tumultuous times. He examines the possible motives surrounding decisions made by actors in the story, which the sources are often misleading about, when they aren't completely left for the reader to surmise. Though at times he seems to accept too readily what the sources say. Murdoch is also fond of drawing comparisons between events in the story and ones with which the reader is probably more familiar. Some of these work quite well, such as Murdoch's comparison of Christians singing psalms to protest Julian's relocation of a Saint's body as the "fourth-century equivalent of protest songs" (125). Others are relatively pointless and confusing, but most worked well-enough in my opinion. Finally, Murdoch spends significant time on how Julian has been remembered over the ages, from being demonized in medieval polemics to being championed as an opponent of the Church (and popery!) by English Protestants and everything in between. At times he seems to have included every single appearance that Julian makes in all media up until the 21st century (and he might have: Julian is not the most well-known Emperor), which made reading the Epilogue somewhat tedious.
Regarding the title, the Ancient World can only be said to have truly died during the events described if it is entirely conflated with paganism in the Empire. It seems that Julian's death was probably when the long death of paganism crossed the event horizon and became unable to be meaningfully reversed in the Roman Empire.
This is good history; it does (most) of what it set out to do, it's well written, and decently entertaining. 4 stars.
Murdoch takes the reader from Julian's birth to his death invading Persia, giving plenty of background to place his life and actions in the context of his tumultuous times. He examines the possible motives surrounding decisions made by actors in the story, which the sources are often misleading about, when they aren't completely left for the reader to surmise. Though at times he seems to accept too readily what the sources say. Murdoch is also fond of drawing comparisons between events in the story and ones with which the reader is probably more familiar. Some of these work quite well, such as Murdoch's comparison of Christians singing psalms to protest Julian's relocation of a Saint's body as the "fourth-century equivalent of protest songs" (125). Others are relatively pointless and confusing, but most worked well-enough in my opinion. Finally, Murdoch spends significant time on how Julian has been remembered over the ages, from being demonized in medieval polemics to being championed as an opponent of the Church (and popery!) by English Protestants and everything in between. At times he seems to have included every single appearance that Julian makes in all media up until the 21st century (and he might have: Julian is not the most well-known Emperor), which made reading the Epilogue somewhat tedious.
Regarding the title, the Ancient World can only be said to have truly died during the events described if it is entirely conflated with paganism in the Empire. It seems that Julian's death was probably when the long death of paganism crossed the event horizon and became unable to be meaningfully reversed in the Roman Empire.
This is good history; it does (most) of what it set out to do, it's well written, and decently entertaining. 4 stars.
May 4, 2019
Relatively short and well-paced account of Julian's short reign. There is, as is customary, a side swipe here and there at traditional Christianity and attempts to debunk the Church's side of the story, but nevertheless there is plenty of meat to chew on.
Julian, at an earlier time in history, before Christianity, would have been a figure worthy of respect. His efficiency and ascetic life are noteworthy, his tax reforms saved the Empire, and he was neither dumb nor a coward. However, he revealed a lack of ability to think long-term with regards to military and religious matters. He tried to re-invent paganism along Christian lines, which was doomed to failure (paganism after all is concerned with the perpetuation of strength, not helping the weak and needy, which Julian's fellow pagans were quick to point out to him). His campaign against Persia lacked any real strategy and ended in his death and the loss of territory.
The man had no real endgame in any of his endeavors and has been propped up by that despicable propagandist Gibbons merely to attack Christianity. This book reveals these underlying truths, if half-heartedly at times.
Julian, at an earlier time in history, before Christianity, would have been a figure worthy of respect. His efficiency and ascetic life are noteworthy, his tax reforms saved the Empire, and he was neither dumb nor a coward. However, he revealed a lack of ability to think long-term with regards to military and religious matters. He tried to re-invent paganism along Christian lines, which was doomed to failure (paganism after all is concerned with the perpetuation of strength, not helping the weak and needy, which Julian's fellow pagans were quick to point out to him). His campaign against Persia lacked any real strategy and ended in his death and the loss of territory.
The man had no real endgame in any of his endeavors and has been propped up by that despicable propagandist Gibbons merely to attack Christianity. This book reveals these underlying truths, if half-heartedly at times.
April 4, 2024
A slow, workmanlike biography, but it gets the job done, conveying context on the Roman Empire during the 4th century AD, a period that began with Constantine I imposing Christianity, featured tremendous brutality and paranoia among the empire's ruling families, and led to Julian's ascension to emperor mostly by l... [see the rest on my book review site.]
November 2, 2019
An excellent account of Julian's life and reign. I disagree with other reviewers say that the book is boring. It is an academic work, not a novel like Gore Vidal's. I just found the last chapter about Julian's death a bit protracted.
May 21, 2020
Very interesting book and the best I have read on the life of Julian. It does need a good map and I likely would have rated the book higher if it had one.
June 30, 2021
a little bummed there wasn’t much more depth than in the “the history of rome” podcast but i don’t think that’s the author’s fault. my man was emperor for like 18 months. good book.
March 3, 2023
Simply remarkable. Wonderfully written book about a fascinating and little known Emperor and his desire to "defeat" Christianity so as to protect and lift up paganism.
September 10, 2023
Easily, the best work about Julian the Apostate made to date. Beautifully written by someone clearly passionate about the historical figure.
July 2, 2010
I must say this book reminded me why I always so disliked Roman history--nothing but military campaigns and political intrigue all the time. I don't know what I expected here, however, I didn't get it. This was a competent rehash of the history of the period, leaning heavily on Julian's own writings. It also focused on the treatment of Julian as an historical and literary figure through the ages. Despite so much of Julian's writing surviving, it was still hard to know or grasp the origin and fervency of his religious beliefs. And he was emperor for such a short period of time that I seriously doubt he made inroads at all into the march to dominance of Christianity. I suppose if he weren't technically the last pagan emperor of Rome, he'd be mostly overlooked. I feel like Gore Vidal did a better job, even though it was fictional, of helping me understand this complex person.
February 13, 2013
I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book 3 or 2 stars. If you are particularly interested in Julian the Apostate, then I would say this book was quite well done and I would recommend it. It was certainly written well, even humorous, however I'm not really inspired to go read a bunch of other books on Julian or others mentioned in this book, which is what tipped the balance to a 2 instead of a 3.
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