Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/635

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JXTLIE


559


JULIE


into the territory of the Alamanni on the Upper Rhine, occupying and garrisoning Cologne, which a year before had been talten and saclced by the Franks. The following year, although not supported by the troops of Constantius, he completely routed over 30,000 Alamanni near Strasburg. He then returned by way of Mainz, Cologne, and Jiilich to Reims and Lutetia (Paris). In a later expedition he opened the Rhine again for the passage of sliips: in 3.59 he even made his way into the heart of the territory of the Alamanni (the present Wurtemberg). Julian also displayed an unwearied activity in promoting just taxation and administration of the laws. In the meantime war had again broken out with Persia, King Shapur demanding the cession of Mesopotamia and Armenia. Long jealous of Julian, the emperor now ordered the latter to send a part of his most experi- enced German auxiliaries, although these troops had been enlisted for the Gallic war only. Against the advice of Julian the imperial com- missioner Decen- tius in the winter of 360 started with the picked troops liy way of Paris, and stopped here to rest: a mutiny now broke out, the troops appeared before Julian's residence, and en- thusiastically pro- claimed him Au- gustus. To avoid a civil war, Julian sought to come to an agreement with Constantiuswhom he was ready to „.,.,. „ acknowledge as

Cap.tohne Museum, Rome supreme emperor.

Constantius. however, demanded the unconditional surrender of the title of Caesar and of his position as governor of Gaul. Neither the army nor the people would consent to this, and Julian advanced in the spring to Illyricum, taking possession of the capital, Sirmiimi. Shapur having disbanded his great Persian army, Constantius now planned to turn his entire fighting strength against his rebellious cousin Julian. While on the march, however, Constantius died, 3 November, 361.

Julian advanced in triumph to Constantinople. Hitherto outwardly a Christian, he now let himself be portrayed as under the protection of Zeus, who in his opinion possessed with Helius the same undivided creative power. He commanded all towns to reopen the temples for pagan worship, restored animal sacri- fices, and assumed the duties of a Poutifex Maximus. The Christians were united in fighting their enemy. Julian issued a decree that all titles to lands, rights, and immunities bestowed siuce the reign of Con- stantine upon the Galileans, as he contemptuously called the Christians, were abrogated, and that the moneys granted to the Church from the revenues of the State must be repaid. He forlsade the appoint- ment of Christians as teachers of rhetoric and gram- mar. Still, he copied the organization of the Christian Church; he created, for example, a form of hierarchy, the head of which was the imperial Pontifex Maximus, and urged pagans to imitate such Christian virtues as charity and mercy. Yet Julian's changes failed to bring him any appreciable success. His atlmipt to defy the Gospel and rebuild the temple at .Jerusalem was brought to nothing by fire and earthquake.


In May, 362, Julian left Constantinople for Asia and made active preparations at Antioch for a great war with Persia. While at .\ntioch in the winter of 362-63, he wrote his books against the Christians. In March, 363, he advanced from Antioch into Mesopotamia, successfully crossed the Tigris, and fought a successful battle with the Persians. Burning his supply fleet, he now marched into the interior of Persia, but soon found himself obliged by lack of provisions to begin a retreat, during which he was beset by the Persian cav- alry. On 26 June, 363, he was wounded in the side by an arrow in a small cavalry skirmish, and died during the night. Various reports concerning the circum- stances of his death have come down to us. Both Christians and pagans believed the rumour that he cried out when dying: Nevi/ojKas raXiXaic (Thou hast conquered, O Galilean). With Julian the dynasty of Constantine came to an end. He was rather a philo- sophical litterateur of a somewhat visionary character, than a great ruler whose actions were the dictates of strong will and principles. The good beginnings of a just government which he showed in Gaul were not maintained when he was sole ruler. Although his personal life was unostentatious, he was passionate, arbitrary, vain, and prejudiced, blindly submissive to the rhetoricians and magicians. Some of Julian's many controversial writings, orations, and letters have been preserved, showing his discordant, subjective character.

Talbot, (Euvrea de Julien (Paris, 1863); Hertlein", Juliani imperatoris qum supersunt prceter reliquias apud CyriUum omnia (Leipzig, 1875); Neumann, Juliani imperatoris librorum contra Chnstianos quce supersunt (1880): Idem, Kaiser Julians Biicher gegen die Christen (1880): Idem, Kaiser Julians Abfall vom Christentum (1884); Wiegand, Die Alamannenschlacht bei Strassburg S57; Koch, Kaiser Julian in Jahrb. fur klassische Pkilologie, suppl. vol. XXV (1899); Allard, Julien VApostat (3 vols.. Pang, 1900-2); Mau, Ueber die Religionsphilosophie Kaiser Julians in seinen Reden auf Konig Helios und die Gotter- mutter (Leipzig and Berlin, 1908); AsMUS, Kaiser Julians phi- losophische Werke (Leipzig, 1908).

Karl Hoeber.

Julie Billiart, Blessed, foundress and first su- perior-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, b. 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly, a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of Beauvais and the Department of Oise, France; d. 8 April, 1816, at the mother-house of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was the sixth of the seven children of Jean-Frangois Billiart and his wife Marie-Louise-Antoinette De- braine. The childhood of Julie was remarkable; at the age of seven she knew the catechism by heart, and used to gather her little companions around her to hear them recite it and to explain it to them. Her education was confined to the rudiments obtained at the village school, which was kept by her uncle, Thi- bault Guilbert. In spiritual things her progress was so rapid that the parish priest, M. Dangicourt, allowed her to make her First Communion and to be confirmed at the age of nine years. At this time she made a vow of chastity. Misfortunes overtook the Billiart family when Julie was sixteen, and she gave herself gener- ously to the aid of her parents, working in the fields with the reapers. She was held in such high esteem for her virtue and piety as to be commonly called " the saint of Cuvilly ". When twenty-two years old, a ner- vous shock, occasioned by a pistol-shot fired at her father by some unknown enemy, brought on a paral- ysis of the lower limbs, which in a few years confined her to her bed a helpless cripple, and thus she re- mained for twenty-two years. During this time, when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie exercised an uncommon gift of jjrayer, spending four or five hours a day in contemplation. The rest of her time was occupied in making linens and laces for the altar and in catechizing the village children whom she gath- ered around her bed, giving special attention to those who were preparing for their First Communioii,