Against the Galileans (where "Galileans" meant the followers of the man from Galilee, or Christians) was written by the last pagan Emperor of Rome, Flavius Claudius Julianus, who lived from 331-363 AD, as part of his attempts to reverse the Empire's conversion to Christianity started by Emperor Constantine in 313 AD. This work was acknowledged by one of Julian's greatest critics, Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, as one of the most powerful books of its sort ever written. Even though Cyril was Patriarch nearly 90 years after Julian's death, he was motivated to write a refutation titled Contra Iulianum ("Against Julian"). For more than 200 years, Julian's book remained the standard criticism of Christianity. Finally, in an attempt to suppress the work, the Emperor Justinian I (527-565) ordered all copies of the book destroyed. As a result, the only record of Julian's book remained in the parts quoted from in it in Cyril's criticism. It was only more than 1,200 years later that the English classical scholar Thomas Taylor (1758-1835) first translated Cyril's work into English-and from that, attempted a reconstruction of Julian's book based on Julian's quotes from Cyril's work. Taylor titled this manuscript "The Arguments of the Emperor Julian against the Christians, translated from the Greek fragments preserved from the Greek fragments preserved by Cyril Bishop of Alexandria, to which are added, Extracts from the other works of Julian relative to the Christians" and privately published his reconstruction in 1809 for a very limited circle of friends. Taylor's reconstruction was finally published for a larger audience by William Nevis in 1873. This new edition contains the full Taylor reconstruction, along with his original appendices. From 1913 to 1923, British-American classical philologist and Professor of Greek at Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, Wilmer Cave Wright, retranslated all of Julian's works. Wright included a new translation of the exact quotes only from Julian, as reproduced by Cyril, and some other remaining fragments. Wright's original manuscript is also included in this new edition, making it to be the most complete reconstruction of Julian's book ever printed.

This volume offers the first comprehensive analysis in English of all the writings of Julian (r. AD 361-363), the last pagan emperor of Rome, noted for his frontal and self-conscious challenge to Christianity. The book also contains treatments of Julian's laws, inscriptions, coinage, as well as his artistic programme. Across nineteen papers, international specialists in the field of Late Antique Studies offer original interpretations of an extraordinary figure: emperor and philosopher, soldier and accomplished writer. Julian, his life and writings, are here considered as parts of the tumult in politics, culture and religion during the Fourth Century AD. New light is shed on Julian's distinctive literary style and imperial agenda. The volume also includes an up-to-date, consolidated bibliography.

Flavius Claudius Julianus, better known to history by the name imposed by his Christian opponents, Julian "the Apostate," was a nephew of the first Christian emperor, Constantine I. Julian is one of the most fascinating figures of late antiquity. More information is available about him from both pagan and Christian sources than about any other emperor. His reign inspired both admiration and contempt.Julian''s ambitious program was to reinstate the religion of his ancestors and, in the process, to subdue the growth of the Christian church, which had achieved legitimacy under the reign of his uncle. Once in power, he immediately sought to revive the religion of classical Rome, to reform the pagan priesthood, revitalize training in classics and pagan philosophy and -- as an affront to Christian prophecy -- to rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.This is the first translation into modern English of the complete corpus of Julian''s Against the Galileans and related writings. It not only puts the work of the philosopher-emperor into historical perspective but offers important insights into the waning days of pagan philosophy and the growth of the Christian church against the background of intellectual and religious opposition. The translations are supported by a full historical introduction to the life of Julian and a detailed treatment of his religious philosophy, including the origins of his understanding of the Christian faith.The work is essential reading for anyone interested in the religions of late antiquity, the growth of the Christian church, and the final phase of the conflict between paganism and Christian teaching.

Flavius Claudius Julianus was the last pagan to sit on the Roman imperial throne (361-363). Born in Constantinople in 331 or 332, Julian was raised as a Christian, but apostatized, and during his short reign tried to revive paganism, which, after the conversion to Christianity of his uncle Constantine the Great early in the fourth century, began losing ground at an accelerating pace. Having become an orphan when he was still very young, Julian was taken care of by his cousin Constantius II, one of Constantine's sons, who permitted him to study rhetoric and philosophy and even made him co-emperor in 355. But the relations between Julian and Constantius were strained from the beginning, and it was only Constantius' sudden death in 361 which prevented an impending civil war. As sole emperor, Julian restored the worship of the traditional gods. He opened pagan temples again, reintroduced animal sacrifices, and propagated paganism through both the spoken and the written word. In his treatise Against the Galilaeans he sharply criticised the religion of the followers of Jesus whom he disparagingly called 'Galilaeans'. He put his words into action, and issued laws which were displeasing to Christians--the most notorious being his School Edict. This provoked the anger of the Christians, who reacted fiercely, and accused Julian of being a persecutor like his predecessors Nero, Decius, and Diocletian. Violent conflicts between pagans and Christians made themselves felt all over the empire. It is disputed whether or not Julian himself was behind such outbursts. Accusations against the Apostate continued to be uttered even after the emperor's early death. In this book, the feasibility of such charges is examined.

Against the Galileans (Ancient Greek: Κατὰ Γαλιλαίων; Latin: Contra Galilaeos), meaning Christians, was a Greek polemical essay written by the Roman emperor Julian, commonly known as Julian the Apostate, during his short reign (361–363). Despite having been originally written in Greek, it is better known under its Latin name, probably due to its extensive reference in the polemical response Contra Julianum by Cyril of Alexandria.

In Against Julian Augustine stresses in the first two books the traditional teachings of the Church found in the Fathers and contrasts their teaching with the rationalism of the Pelagians

In the generation after Constantine the Great elevated Christianity to a dominant position in the Roman Empire, his nephew, the Emperor Julian, sought to reinstate the old gods to their former place of prominence—in the face of intense opposition from the newly powerful Christian church. In early 363 c.e., while living in Syrian Antioch, Julian redoubled his efforts to hellenize the Roman Empire by turning to an unlikely source: the Jews. With a war against Persia on the horizon, Julian thought it crucial that all Romans propitiate the true gods and gain their favor through proper practice. To convince his people, he drew on Jews, whom he characterized as Judeans, using their scriptures, institutions, practices, and heroes sometimes as sources for his program and often as models to emulate. In The Specter of the Jews, Ari Finkelstein examines Julian’s writings and views on Jews as Judeans, a venerable group whose religious practices and values would help delegitimize Christianity and, surprisingly, shape a new imperial Hellenic pagan identity.