Letter 82

Letter from Gallus Caesar to his brother Julian. Gallus Caesar to his brother Julian, greetings. My nearness to Ionia has brought me the greatest possible comfort. It relieved me when I was troubled and pained by the first reports that reached me — you will understand what I mean. I heard that you had abandoned the ancestral worship handed down to us, and that some kind of evil madness had driven you to this. You have turned to what prudent men call atheism [i.e., paganism — from the Christian perspective of Gallus, Julian's brother]. [This letter, written by Julian's half-brother Gallus (who was Caesar in the East before being executed by Constantius in 354), reproaches Julian for his turn toward paganism. It is one of the few letters in the collection not written by Julian himself, and provides a rare external perspective on the most controversial aspect of his life.]

Letter from Gallus Caesar to his brother Julian 1 Gallus Caesar to his brother Julian, Greeting. My nearness to the country, I mean to Ionia,2 has brought me the greatest possible gain. For it gave me comfort when I was troubled and pained at the first reports that came to me. You will understand what I mean. It came to my ears that you had abandoned your former mode of worship which was handed down by our ancestors, and goaded by some evil kind of madness that incited you to this, had betaken yourself to that vain superstition. What pain should I not have suffered? For just as whenever I learn by public rumour of any noble quality in you I regard it as a personal gain, so too if I hear of anything disturbing, which, however, I do not think I shall, in the same way I consider it even more my personal loss. Therefore when I was troubled about these matters, the presence of our father Aetius3 cheered me, for he reported the very contrary, which was what I prayed to hear. Moreover he said that you were zealous in attendance at the houses of prayer, and that you are not being drawn away from pious remembrance of the martyrs, and he affirmed that you entirely adhere to the religion of our family. So I would say to you in the words of Homer,1 "Shoot on in this wise," and rejoice those who love you by being spoken of in such terms, remembering that nothing is higher than religion. For supreme virtue teaches us to hate a lie as treachery and to cling to the truth, which truth is most clearly made manifest in the worship of the Divine Being. For a crowd2 is wholly contentious and unstable; but the Deity, ministering alone with but one other,3 rules the universe, not by division or lot, like the sons of Cronos,4 but existing from the beginning and having power over all things, not having received it from another by violence, but existing before all. This is verily God, whom we must adore with the reverence that we owe to him. Farewell! 1 Nearly all the critics reject this letter as a Christian forgery, but it is defended by Seeck, Geschichte d. Untergangs d. Antiken Welt, IV. 124, 440, 6. Philostorgius 3. 27. 53, Bidez, says that Gallus, Julian's half-brother, who was a Christian, frequently sent Aetius to instruct Julian in Christian doctrine in order to counteract the influences that inclined him to paganism. If genuine it must be dated between 351, when Gallus was made Caesar, and 354, as Gallus was put to death by Constantius in the latter year. 2 Gallus Caesar resided at Antioch till 354 when he went to Constantinople. Julian, meanwhile, was studying at Pergamon and Ephesus. For his relations with Gallus, see Vol. 2, To the Athenians 273 A. 3 For Aetius see Introduction and Letter 15. 1 Iliad 8. 282; Agamemnon to Teucer the archer. 2 i. e. of the gods. 3 i.e. God the Word; but see critical note. 4 i. e. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, whose separate realms are defined in Iliad 15. 187 foll.