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choosing to die for the liberty of all and readily assisting citizens or kinsmen or friends. 6.2.2 Scarcely could anyone blame him for having become courageous for the sake of God and the religion which he had praised. But I do not know for certain, beyond what has been said, who it was that served in this slaughter. But as those who speak about it unanimously maintain, a true account has come to us that he was slain by divine wrath; and the proof of this is a divine vision, which I learned one of his intimate friends had seen. 6.2.3 For it is said that, as he was hastening to him while he was in Persia, he lodged in a certain place on the highway and, for lack of a dwelling, slept in the church there, and saw, whether waking or in a dream, how many of the apostles and prophets, having gathered together in the same place, were bewailing the insolence of the ruler against the churches 6.2.4 and were deliberating what must be done. And while they were for a long time discussing this and were, as it were, at a loss, two rose up from their midst, exhorted the others to be of good courage and, as if setting out for the overthrow of Julian's rule, 6.2.5 hastily left the assembly. But the man, who had been a spectator of these wonders, from then on cared little for his journey; but being terrified as to what the end of such a vision might be, while sleeping there again, he saw the same assembly and suddenly, as if having come in from a journey, those who on the previous night had gone on campaign against Julian, and they announced to the others that he had been slain. 6.2.6 And on that day Didymus, the ecclesiastical philosopher, who was living in Alexandria, being greatly distressed because the emperor had fallen away from religion, both for his own sake as having been deceived and for the contempt of the churches, was fasting and beseeching God about this. 6.2.7 And because of his anxiety, not even having taken food when night came on, sitting on a chair he was overcome by sleep, and being as it were in a trance, he seemed to see white horses coursing through the air, and those riding upon them proclaiming: "Tell Didymus that today at this hour Julian has been slain; and let him report this to Athanasius the bishop; 6.2.8 and let him arise and eat." And what both the intimate of Julian and the philosopher had seen, I learned had happened in this way. And neither of them was mistaken in what he had seen, as was reported later. But for whomever these things are not sufficient for proof that he was slain by God for harming His churches, let him also take into account the prophecy 6.2. which an ecclesiastic foretold. For when he was about to march against the Persians and was threatening to harm the churches after the war and was mocking that the carpenter's son would be able to do nothing to help them, he declared, saying thus: "But this carpenter's son is fashioning a wooden coffin for him for his death." 6.2.10 Moreover, he himself after the blow somehow understood from where he was harmed, and did not entirely miss the cause of the disaster. For it is said that, when he was wounded, he drew blood from the wound and hurled it into the air, as if looking towards Christ who appeared and blaming him for his own slaughter. 6.2.11 But others say that being indignant toward the Sun, because he had helped the Persians or had not saved him, being the guardian of his nativity according to some such astronomical theory, he showed the blood with his hand and hurled it into the air. 6.2.12 But whether, being about to die, as is wont to happen when the soul is already being separated from the body and is able to see things more divine than is humanly possible, he truly saw Christ, I cannot say; for this account is not from many; nor do I dare to reject it as false, since it is not unlikely that even more wonderful things than these have happened to show that the religion named after Christ was not established by human effort. 6.2.13 In any case, throughout the entire time of this reign God appeared to be indignant, and with all kinds of disasters in many nations He afflicted the Roman subject-territory. For the earth was continually [affected] by the most grievous

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ὑπὲρ τῆς πάντων ἐλευθερίας ἑλομένους ἀποθανεῖν καὶ πολίταις ἢ συγγενέσιν ἢ φίλοις προθύ6.2.2 μως ἐπαμύναντας. σχολῇ γε ἄν τις καὶ αὐτῷ μέμψαιτο διὰ θεὸν καὶ θρησκείαν ἣν ἐπῄνεσεν ἀνδρείῳ γενομένῳ. ἐγὼ δέ, ὅστις μὲν τῇ σφαγῇ ταύτῃ διηκονήσατο, πλὴν τῶν εἰρημένων οὐδὲν ἀκριβῶ. ὡς δὲ συμφωνοῦντες οἱ λέγοντες ἰσχυρίζονται, ἀψευδὴς λόγος εἰς ἡμᾶς ἦλθε κατὰ θεομηνίαν αὐτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι· καὶ τούτου ἀπόδειξις θεία ὄψις, ἥν τινα τῶν ἐπιτηδείων αὐτῷ ἰδεῖν ἐπυθόμην. 6.2.3 Λέγεται γάρ, ἐπεὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν Πέρσαις ὄντα ἠπείγετο, ἔν τινι χωρίῳ καταλῦσαι τῆς λεωφόρου καὶ ἀπορίᾳ οἰκήματος ἐν τῇ ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίᾳ καθευδῆσαι, καὶ ὕπαρ ἢ ὄναρ ἰδεῖν, ὡς εἰς ταὐτὸν συνελθόντες πολλοὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν ἀπωδύροντο τὴν εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ κρατοῦντος 6.2.4 ὕβριν καὶ ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν ἐβουλεύοντο. ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ περὶ τούτου διαλογιζομένων καὶ ὥσπερ διαπορουμένων ἀναστάντες ἐκ μέσων δύο θαρρεῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις παρεκελεύσαντο καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς ᾿Ιουλιανοῦ ἀρχῆς ὁρμῶν6.2.5 τες σπουδῇ τὸν σύλλογον κατέλιπον. ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος, ὃς τῶν παραδόξων τούτων ἐγεγόνει θεατής, τῆς μὲν ὁδοιπορίας ὠλιγώρει λοιπόν· ὀρρωδῶν δὲ πῇ ἄρα τὸ τέλος ἐκβήσεται τῆς τοιαύτης ὄψεως, πάλιν ἐνθάδε καθεύδων τὸν αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν σύλλογον ἐξαπίνης τε ὡς ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ εἰσεληλυθότας, οἳ τῇ προτεραίᾳ νυκτὶ ἐπεστράτευσαν ᾿Ιουλιανῷ, καὶ ἀναγγεῖλαι τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνῃρῆσθαι τοῦτον. 6.2.6 Κατ' ἐκείνην δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ ∆ίδυμος ὁ ἐκκλησιαστικὸς φιλόσοφος ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ διατρίβων, οἷά γε τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν θρησκείαν διασφαλέντος περίλυπος ὢν διά τε αὐτὸν ὡς πεπλανημένον καὶ διὰ τὴν καταφρόνησιν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, ἐνήστευέ τε καὶ τὸν θεὸν περὶ τούτου ἱκέ6.2.7 τευεν. ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς μερίμνης οὐδὲ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπιγενομένης μεταλαβὼν τροφῆς, ἐπὶ θρόνου καθεζόμενος εἰς ὕπνον κατηνέχθη, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἐκστάσει γεγονὼς ἔδοξεν ὁρᾶν ἵππους λευκοὺς ἐν τῷ ἀέρι διατρέχοντας, τοὺς δὲ ἐπ' αὐτῶν ὀχουμένους κηρύττειν· «ἀγγείλατε ∆ιδύμῳ σήμερον περὶ τήνδε τὴν ὥραν ᾿Ιουλιανὸν ἀνῃρῆσθαι· καὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τοῦτο μηνυσάτω· 6.2.8 καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐσθιέτω.» καὶ ἃ μὲν τεθέαντο ὅ τε ᾿Ιουλιανοῦ οἰκεῖος καὶ ὁ φιλόσοφος, ὧδε γενέσθαι ἐπυθόμην. καὶ οὐδέτερος ἐν οἷς τεθέατο τῆς ἀληθείας διήμαρτεν, ὡς ἐμηνύθη ὕστερον. ῟Ωι δὲ οὐκ ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ θεόθεν αὐτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι ὡς ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις αὐτοῦ λυμαινόμενον, καὶ τὴν προφητείαν εἰς νοῦν λαμβάνοι 6.2. ἣν ἐκκλησιαστικὸς ἀνὴρ προηγόρευσε. μέλλοντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Πέρσας στρατεύειν καὶ μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον τὰς ἐκκλησίας κακῶς ποιήσειν ἀπειλοῦντος καὶ ἐπιτωθάζοντος ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἐπαμύνειν δυνήσεται ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός, ὡδὶ λέγων ἀπεφήνατο· «οὗτος δὲ ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸς θήκην αὐτῷ ξυλίνην πρὸς θάνατον κατασκευάζει.» 6.2.10 Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν ἁμωσγέπως συνῆκεν ὅθεν ἐβλάβη, καὶ τὸ αἴτιον τῆς συμφορᾶς οὐ παντελῶς ἠγνόησε. λέγεται γάρ, ὅτε ἐτρώθη, αἷμα ἐκ τῆς ὠτειλῆς ἀρυσάμενος εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα ἀκοντίσαι, οἷά γε πρὸς φαινόμενον τὸν Χριστὸν ἀφορῶν καὶ τῆς ἰδίας σφαγῆς αὐτὸν ἐπαιτιώ6.2.11 μενος. οἱ δέ φασιν ὡς πρὸς τὸν ῞Ηλιον ἀγανακτῶν, ὅτι Πέρσαις ἐπήμυνεν ἢ αὐτὸν οὐ διέσωσεν ἔφορος ὢν τῆς αὐτοῦ γενέσεως κατά τινα τοιαύτην ἀστρονομικὴν θεωρίαν, τῇ χειρὶ τὸ αἷμα ἐπιδείξας εἰς τὸν ἀέρα ἠκόντισεν. 6.2.12 εἰ δὲ ἀληθῶς μέλλων τελευτᾶν, οἷά περ εἴωθε συμβαίνειν τῆς ψυχῆς ἤδη χωριζομένης τοῦ σώματος καὶ θειότερα ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ὁρᾶν δυναμένης, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐθεάσατο, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν· οὐ γὰρ πολλῶν ὅδε ὁ λόγος· οὔτε δὲ ὡς ψεῦδος ἐκβαλεῖν θαρρῶ, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἀπεικὸς καὶ τῶνδε θαυμαστότερα συμβῆναι εἰς ἐπίδειξιν τοῦ μὴ ἀνθρωπείᾳ σπουδῇ συστῆναι τὴν ἐπώνυμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ θρησκείαν. 6.2.13 ᾿Αμέλει τοι παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ταυτησὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἀγανακτῶν ὁ θεὸς ἐφαίνετο, καὶ παντοδαπαῖς συμφοραῖς ἐν πολλοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐπέτριψε τὴν ῾Ρωμαίων ὑπήκοον. τῆς τε γὰρ γῆς συνεχῶς ὑπὸ χαλεπωτάτων