oused
the enmity of those who had the emperor's confidence. However, after a
vain protest, he yielded; but the troops took matters into their own
hands, mutinied and hailed Julian as Augustus. His ambitions, which had
been awakened by the taste of power, and the precariousness of his present
situation led him to accept the title (360 A. D.). He then sought to
obtain from Constantius recognition of his position and the cession of the
western provinces. The latter rejected his demand, although he did not
deem it advisable to leave the East unprotected at that moment and attempt
to reassert his authority. Julian then took the offensive to enforce his
claims, and, upon the retirement of the Persian army, Constantius hastened
to meet him. But on the march he fell ill and died in Cilicia, having
designated Julian as his successor.

*The pagan reaction.* The importance of Julian's reign lies in his attempt
to make paganism once more the dominant religion of the empire. His own
early saturation with the fascinating literature of Hellenism and the
mystical strain in his character made Julian an easy convert to
Neo-platonism. He had become a pagan in secret before he had been called
to the Caesarship, and after the death of Constantius openly proclaimed
his apostacy. While he adhered in general to the principle of religious
toleration and did not institute any systematic persecution of the
Christians, he prohibited them from interpreting classical literature in
the schools, forced them to surrender many pagan shrines which they had
occupied, deprived the clergy of their immunities, endeavored to sow
dissension in their ranks by supporting unorthodox bishops, and stimulated
a literary warfare against them in which he himself took a prominent part.
Following the example of Maximinus Daia, Julian attempted to combat
Christianity with its own weapons, and tried to establish a universal
pagan church with a clergy and liturgy on the Christian model. He also
sought to infuse paganism with the morality and missionary zeal of
Christianity. But his efforts were in vain; the pagan cults had lost their
appeal for the masses, and the only converts were those who sought to win
the imperial favor by abandoning the Christian faith.

*Persian war and death, 363 A. D.* In his administration of the empire
Julian pursued the same policy as in Gaul. He checked the greed of
government officials, abolished oppressive offices, and in every way tried
to