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"Keenly paced and beautifully written . . . quite simply one of the best historical biographies of the year."
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The violent death of the emperor Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus, AD 332 363) on a Persian battlefield has become synonymous with the death of paganism. Vilified throughout history as the Apostate, the young philosopher-warrior was the last and arguably the most potent threat to Christianity. THE LAST PAGAN examines Julian's journey from an aristocratic Christian childhood to his initiation into pagan cults and his mission to establish paganism as the dominant faith of the Roman world. Julian's death, only two years into his reign, initiated a culture-wide suppression by the Church of all things it chose to identify as pagan. Only in recent decades, with the weakening of the Church's influence and the resurgence of paganism, have the effects of that suppression begun to wane. Drawing upon more than 700 pages of Julian's original writings, Adrian Murdoch shows that had Julian lived longer our history and our present-day culture would likely be very different. · Portrays the Apostate as a poet-philosopher, arguing that had he survived, Christianity would have been checked in its rise · Details reforms enacted by Julian during his two-year reign that marginalized Christians, effectively limiting their role in the social and political life of the Empire · Shows how after Julian's death the Church used paganism to represent evil and opposition to God, a tactic whose traces still linger
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A fascinating and yet scholarly account of Julian's life and the influence he exerted on the empire he led - recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Excellent. I'm generally interested in history (part. ancient history), but this wasn't an area I knew much about. Interesting to see paganism as the mainstream and traditional state religion, challenged by upstart Christianity! Both authoritative and very readable - recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never understood why Julian the Apostate isn't better known. A new biography was overdue and this is an excellent attempt.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good for beginners
I think that many reviewers have pointed out the strong sides to this book, while missing many of its weak spots. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Norse Victorian
A ruler as a man
About two decades ago I read the somewhat scholarly work by Bowersock on this fascinating character, and a popular history had been long overdue. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2009 by E. L. Wisty
Absolutely Brilliant
I brought this book after having read Adrian Murdoch's terrific 'The Last Roman', a biography of Rome's last emperor, Romulus Augustulus. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2008 by D. Evans
An excellent biography of Julian - not "the death of the Ancient...
A biography of Julian it is - but a description of the death of the pagan world it is not. There is only one mention of Theodosius I can remember and he was responsible for... Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2007 by Sarakani
Brilliant biography
Julian has not had a good popular biography for many years, so this book was overdue, and a pleasure to read. Read more
Published on 28 May 2006 by Dorothy King
Excellent - as far as it goes
Sutton have something of a reputation for quirky, incoherant and under-researched books on intriguing historical figures.
This is not one of them. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2006 by Jocko
Fascinating parallels with modern events in Iraq
I loved this - a great and human insight into a period of classical history that normally gets ignored. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2004
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