In this historical fiction novel, Vidal depicts the life of the Byzantine emperor, Julian. Although, most of the story is told through Julian’s own memoirs, Vidal includes two other points of view.
The novel begins with a correspondence between Priscus, an Athenian intellectual and Libanius, an intellectual at Daphne. What is revealed in this correspondence is a mutual desire to revive the mission Julian tried to accomplish throughout the Roman Empire: bring down Christianity and revive Hellenism. Priscus is in possession of both Julian’s memoirs and his journal and Libanius plans to revive Hellenism by making these public.
Julian’s memoir describes different events in his life, beginning with watching his father being taken for execution while Julian and his brother are sent away for schooling where the present emperor, Constantine (their cousin), can keep a watchful eye on them ensuring they don’t threaten his position on the throne. Julian’s appetite for knowledge and quest for truth was evident at a young age; he always questioned Christianity and eventually found truth in the Greek Gods. Of course he mentions his different relationships with friends, academics and lovers. The relationship that I found to be most interesting was the one he had with his brother, Gallus. The two were complete opposites; Julian admired his brother’s strength (but also shocked and disgusted by how he used it) while Gallus constantly put Julian down. Such a juxtaposition leads to some intense scenes.
The construction of the narrative weaves in the voices of Libanius and Priscus, particularly the latter, throughout Julian’s memoirs. Either through their correspondence or notes scribbled in the margins of Julian’s manuscript, their version of the story is also presented. Vidal also keeps their voices consistent and different from each other’s. At points it felt like reading actual historical documents rather than an historical novel. Furthermore, the different points of view provide a structure to the novel that motivates the reader to continue, even if he is well informed about the history of Julian.
Hypocrisy plays a heavy role in many different aspects, the most obvious one being the role the Orthodox Church played in Byzantine society which is what led to Julian’s rejection of it at a young age. The following quote shows him taking action towards this corrupt bunch as emperor,
But even Julian, whose hypocrisies were not as blatant and reckless, made certain unethical decisions to further his own cause, such as letting his soldiers capture and rape women to keep their morale up or allowing the execution of an innocent man to maintain good relations with the senators (I think). There were even points where he compared his decision making to his hated cousin, Constantius, the emperor before him.
Priscus and Libanius also reveal some hypocrisies of their own. In their correspondence Libanius keeps a cheerful tone, even praising him at times, while he notes in the margin of Julian’s memoir “I hate Priscus”. Furthermore, Priscus presents himself as an honest person, he is even forward about his own hypocrisies. However, he scams Libanius for the documents of Julian! This makes the characters all very real and addresses the issue of everyone’s individual hypocrisies, yet, as an institution the hypocrisies become much more harmful and sickening. Despite some of Julian’s decisions he truly did try to eradicate the hypocrisies of both the palace and the church.
The novel begins with a correspondence between Priscus, an Athenian intellectual and Libanius, an intellectual at Daphne. What is revealed in this correspondence is a mutual desire to revive the mission Julian tried to accomplish throughout the Roman Empire: bring down Christianity and revive Hellenism. Priscus is in possession of both Julian’s memoirs and his journal and Libanius plans to revive Hellenism by making these public.
Julian’s memoir describes different events in his life, beginning with watching his father being taken for execution while Julian and his brother are sent away for schooling where the present emperor, Constantine (their cousin), can keep a watchful eye on them ensuring they don’t threaten his position on the throne. Julian’s appetite for knowledge and quest for truth was evident at a young age; he always questioned Christianity and eventually found truth in the Greek Gods. Of course he mentions his different relationships with friends, academics and lovers. The relationship that I found to be most interesting was the one he had with his brother, Gallus. The two were complete opposites; Julian admired his brother’s strength (but also shocked and disgusted by how he used it) while Gallus constantly put Julian down. Such a juxtaposition leads to some intense scenes.
The construction of the narrative weaves in the voices of Libanius and Priscus, particularly the latter, throughout Julian’s memoirs. Either through their correspondence or notes scribbled in the margins of Julian’s manuscript, their version of the story is also presented. Vidal also keeps their voices consistent and different from each other’s. At points it felt like reading actual historical documents rather than an historical novel. Furthermore, the different points of view provide a structure to the novel that motivates the reader to continue, even if he is well informed about the history of Julian.
Hypocrisy plays a heavy role in many different aspects, the most obvious one being the role the Orthodox Church played in Byzantine society which is what led to Julian’s rejection of it at a young age. The following quote shows him taking action towards this corrupt bunch as emperor,
“Yet your religion preaches that you should not resist injury or go to law or even hold property, much less steal it! You have been taught to consider nothing your own, except your place in the other and better world. Yet you wear jewels, rich robes, build huge basilicas, all in this world, not the next. You were taught to despise money, yet you amass it,” (pg 336).
But even Julian, whose hypocrisies were not as blatant and reckless, made certain unethical decisions to further his own cause, such as letting his soldiers capture and rape women to keep their morale up or allowing the execution of an innocent man to maintain good relations with the senators (I think). There were even points where he compared his decision making to his hated cousin, Constantius, the emperor before him.
Priscus and Libanius also reveal some hypocrisies of their own. In their correspondence Libanius keeps a cheerful tone, even praising him at times, while he notes in the margin of Julian’s memoir “I hate Priscus”. Furthermore, Priscus presents himself as an honest person, he is even forward about his own hypocrisies. However, he scams Libanius for the documents of Julian! This makes the characters all very real and addresses the issue of everyone’s individual hypocrisies, yet, as an institution the hypocrisies become much more harmful and sickening. Despite some of Julian’s decisions he truly did try to eradicate the hypocrisies of both the palace and the church.
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