Julian was the son of Constantius Gallus and made Caesar by his own father’s murderer, Constantius II.

Constantius then assigned him an army and sent to suppress yet another German invasion. Upon the successful completion of this task, however, his own soldiers promoted him to the rank of Augustus.

Chafing still from his father’s fate he was well-prepared to meet Constantius in battle. But the battle was never meant to be because Constantius died of an illness en route and he was able to rule uncontested.

Reversing the growing momentum of Christianity within the empire, Julian attempted to bring back the old pagan gods and its rituals.

Again, it can be suspected that this was done as much out of personal conviction as to his efforts in countering the legacy of the Constantines who decimated his family.

Taking his army to deal with a new round of Persian invasions, however, left him little time to dwell on eradicating Christianity.

He died in 363 from a javelin wound fighting the Persians.