The beginning of the campaign, so bold and praised by many of his confederates, was as follows: having captured and devastated that part of Assyria which the Euphrates cuts and through which it flows past Persia until its junction with the Tigris, Julian ravaged some fortresses, in which almost no one hindered him, either because he had deceived the Persians by the rapidity of his attack, or because he himself had been deceived by the Persians and lured a little forward (both are said). Thus he went on, while the army was moving, and the river was carrying grain and shells on ships; and soon he encamped at Ctesiphon, the approach to which, because of his desire to take possession of that city, seemed to him already part of the victory. From that time on, his affairs went backwards, as if sand had been poured under his feet or a storm had met the ship. Ctesiphon is a solid fortress that is difficult to take; It is surrounded by a brick wall, a deep moat and a swampy river. It is made even more fortified by another fortress, called Kohe, which is surrounded by nature and art. Both fortresses are so connected that they appear to be one city and are separated only by a river. As it was impossible either to take them by storm, or to subdue them by siege, or to pass between them, especially in ships (there was danger that arrows would be hurled from above on both sides, and the way would be barred), Julian made the rounds of the fortresses, and proceeded in this manner: having diverted a considerable part of the Euphrates, the greatest of rivers, and into a certain ditch, of which the ancient trace is said to have been visible, having let so much water flow, as many ships were needed for sailing, above Ctesiphon connects it with the Tigris; and thanks to this, he saves ships safely transferred from one river to another, and avoids the danger threatening from the fortress.

While Julian is marching forward, the Persian army appears and is constantly increasing in number, but does not consider it necessary to stand face to face and be exposed to danger unless absolutely necessary, being able to overcome with little effort, on the contrary, from high places and from gorges, where the opportunity arises, strikes with spears and arrows, occupies convenient passages in advance, and thus blocks the way of Julian. Then he comes into great difficulty and, not knowing where to turn, finds the evil end of his plan. A certain Persian, not of low birth, imitating Zopyrus, who was with Cyrus at the siege of Babylon, under the guise that by an important offense he had incurred the great wrath of the Persian king and had become very disposed towards him, but he was in favor of the Romans, by his pretense he gained the confidence of Julian, and said to him: "What does this mean, sir? Why such easy measures in such a case? Why do you have this bread on the ships is an unnecessary burden, inspiring only cowardice. Nothing impels one to resist one's superiors and to persist so much as a well-fed belly and the thought that salvation is at hand. But if you listen to me; then you will abandon the ships and thus free your brave army from cowardice. Thou thyself shalt invade the enemy's land by another most convenient and safest route, by which I am thy guide (and I can say that scarcely any one else knows Persia better than I), and return with the desired success. Then you will do me a favor, when you know my favor and my advice in practice." As soon as he said this, Julian believed his words (for light-mindedness is credulous, especially with God's permission); suddenly all the disasters came. The ships took fire; the bread was gone; laughter followed; for it was almost a voluntary suicide; all hope was gone; The guide disappeared with his promises. Enemies are all around; the war flared up; there was no convenient passage; food was obtained with difficulty; the army became disheartened and indignant with the king; there was no good hope left. The only means of salvation in the present circumstances was to get rid of bad reign and military leadership.

This has been the case up to now, and what followed is not told in the same way; Those who have been, as well as those who have not been at war, agree, one to this, the other to another. Some say that Julian was shot by the Persians, when he rushed hither and thither in one of his indiscriminate attacks, and that something happened to him similar to the fate of Cyrus, the son of Parisates, who, with ten thousand troops, attacked his brother Artaxerxes, and, fighting bravely, lost the victory through his temper. Others tell the following about him: Julian ascended a high hill in order to survey the whole army from it, as from a tower, and to find out how many were left in the battle. When the army, beyond expectation, seemed to him very numerous, like a man envious of the salvation of his soldiers, he said: "How annoying it will be if we lead them all into the Roman land!" And some say that one of those foreign jesters who follow an army for fun and for fun at feasts ventured to do so. Others give this honor to one Saracen. Be that as it may, Julian receives a truly timely blow and a saving blow for the whole world; with one blow of the sword he is punished for cutting off many wombs, which he impiously believed. And I wonder how this vain man, who thought that he could know everything by means of his dissected wombs, did not foresee this one thing, that is, a blow to his own womb. It is unseemly to keep silent about his deed, which, among many other things, indisputably proves his frenzy. Julian was lying on the bank of the river and suffering from a wound. And since he knew that many of those who had been glorified before him, in order to be esteemed something higher than man, had by certain stratagems disappeared from among men, and for this reason were recognized as gods, then he, too, captivated by the desire for such glory, and being ashamed of the very nature of death, which ingloriously befalls him for his own folly, what is he plotting? What does it do? His wickedness does not cease with life! He attempts to throw himself into the river and for this he uses the help of people loyal to him and participants in his secrets. And if one of the royal eunuchs, who had guessed what was going on, and explained it to the others, out of disgust at the crime, had not hindered the intention, then perhaps a new god would have appeared from the distressed Julian for foolish people. But so he reigned, so he led the army, so ends his life!

Soon after him, who assumed the royal dignity and was proclaimed king in the midst of the military camp, in the very heat of the dangers that necessarily required a leader, was a man famous for other merits, piety, and appearance, truly worthy of a ruler. And although he lacked neither courage nor zeal; however, he could neither fight the Persians nor advance, because the army was weakened in strength and hopes. Having become the heir not of the kingdom, but of defeat, he is anxious to return to his homeland and seeks the means to accomplish it safely. If the Persians, in their moderation in victory (for they had a law in happiness to observe moderation), or for fear of some rumors, had not turned to peace proposals, as unexpected as humane, there would have been no means, as they say, for the fire-bearer to remain in the army. Thus the Romans were pressed back by the Persians, who were fighting in their own land and encouraged by the events that had preceded them, for it is enough to gain any success to have hope for the future.

But the successor of Julian, as I said, was now concerned with one thing—to save the army, to preserve the strength of the Romans. For these soldiers really constituted the strength of the Romans, and if they acted unsuccessfully, it was more through the recklessness of the commander than from the lack of courage of their own. A treaty was concluded with the Persians (I will say briefly) shameful and unworthy of the Roman army. But if anyone, leaving Julian aside, began to blame his successor for him, then, in my opinion, he would be a bad judge of the events of that time. For the ear does not belong to the reaper, but to the sower; the fault of the fire is not the one who could not extinguish it, but the one who lit it. Here it is appropriate to cite what Herodotus said about the Samian tyrants: these shoes were sewn by Istias, and worn by Aristagoras, who continued what his predecessor had started.

After this, what was left to do but return the body of the wicked man to the Romans, although how did he end his life? But just as we have a departed who left his life before him, let us see what is the difference between the two kings here too (if this in any way serves to the happiness or misfortune of those who have departed). One is accompanied by public blessings, celebrations, processions and our sacred rites, all-night hymns, the lifting up of lamps, with which we Christians honor the pious repose; and the removal of his body becomes a joyful triumph, dissolved by sorrow. If we are to believe the rumor that has reached the ears of many, then when the body of Constantius was carried through the Taurus to his native city, which was of the same name and famous to him, on the top of the mountains some heard the voice of as if singing and attending, and I think that this was the voice of the Angelic Powers, a reward for his piety and funeral recompense. If he seems to have shaken the right doctrine; then the ignorance and unbelief of his nobles are to blame for this, who, catching a simple soul, unconfirmed in piety and not foreseeing the abyss, drew it where they wanted, and, under the guise of™ caring, aroused jealousy for evil. who passed from the father to him, duly honored the earthly tabernacle of him who lived worthy of a king, ended his life with the death of a righteous man and left us power.

For the whole army, although they submitted to the present power, nevertheless showed more respect to the dead; and (as we are wont to be more well-disposed when the loss is still fresh in the memory) grieving and pitying for the beloved king, the soldiers did not tolerate that he should be deprived of royal honors, but also persuaded the apostate to take part in them, even compelled him to meet the deceased in a decent manner, that is, having removed the diadem from his head and given due worship to the king, to go with those who carried him to the tomb — to the famous temple of the Apostles, who have received and preserve this sacred lineage, which has been honored with almost equal honor. Thus is our Emperor buried!

On the contrary, Julian's campaign was inglorious (his peoples and cities were persecuted by cries of the mob and jesters, which is still remembered by many today); and his return was even more inglorious. What kind of disgrace is this? It was carried by buffoons, the procession was accompanied by indecent games; they drank, danced, reviled him for apostasy, for defeat and death. And what insult did he not suffer? Why did he not hear from impudent people who put their art in insulting others? Finally, the city of Tara receives him, I do not know how and for what he was condemned to such a disgrace. Here the place of burial was assigned to him dishonorably, and the tomb is unclean, contemptible, disgusting to the pious eye.

I have described only the most important and important faults of Julian; but I also know that two or three court caressers, equal to him in impiety (of the others I am willing to keep silent), were given such a reward for their impiety that they would in a short time have ravaged all the possessions of the Romans by land and sea without hindrance, had not these affairs soon come to a favorable end. So much did they surpass the ancient hundred-armed giants in robbery and greed! The administration of the regions was entrusted to people who were not the most truthful, but the most inhuman. One was the right to receive superiority – apostasy; and they only received gifts from Julian, who plotted the greatest evil against themselves and others. What shall we say of the changes and alterations in the rulings of the courts, which in one night changed and turned here and there, like the ebb and flow of the sea? For this indefatigable man wanted to judge himself, appropriating everything for himself out of ambition. Perhaps they will think that I blame too much for small crimes and reduce large ones with small ones. However, everyone will agree that such deeds are not worthy of the Elysian fields and not of the glory that Radomantus has there, and which people of the same brotherhood and rank honor Julian. One thing I am surprised at in Julian: he insistently invited many of his peers and acquaintances, especially from the Asian schools, to his place, as if intending to do wondrous deeds, and inspired them with hopes, recalling his promises. When they appeared, it turned out that this was only a cunning trick and a deception of the eyes. He led some with this, others with that. He even invited some of them to the table in a friendly way; instead of any other bait, he called his comrades, gave them a cup, joked with them, but let them go with nothing; so that they did not know whom to blame more, whether he was guilty of deceit, or themselves of credulity.

But who does not know that many of the villagers who came to him publicly for what is usually asked of kings, he beat with his fists and trampled under foot in front of everyone, and treated them so cruelly that they rejoiced if they were not subjected to something most grievous? In what part of the Word should we mention the blowing and blowing that this wondrous man, in mockery of our rites, made for the old women to show off, lighting a fire on the altar? How good it was to see the king of Rome with disfigured cheeks, arousing great laughter not only among strangers, but also among those whom he thought to please by it! Surely he had not heard that his goddess, Athena, had cursed the pipes when, looking into the water instead of a mirror, she saw that the pipe had disfigured her face.

There were two reasons for this journey: one of the most plausible was to survey Greece and its schools; the other, the most remote and not known to many, is to consult with the priests there; for impiety had not yet manifest impudence. And then I guessed this man quite well, although I am not one of those who are skilled in such a business. I was made a soothsayer by the inconstancy of his temper and immoderate enthusiasm; unless the best diviner is the one who knows how to guess well. To me, they did not bode well: the neck was unsteady, the shoulders were moving and straightening, the eyes were running, insolent and fierce, the legs were not standing firm, but bent, the nose expressing impudence and contempt, the features of the face were ridiculous and also expressing laughter loud and immoderate, the inclination and throwing back of the head without any reason, the speech was slow and interrupted, the questions were confused and incoherent, the answers were no better, mixed with one another, unfirm, not subject to rules.

But why describe it in detail? As I had seen him before, as I had known him in his deeds. If some of those who were with me then had been here and heard my words, they would have no difficulty in witnessing it. For at the same time that I saw it, I said to them: "What evil does the Roman Empire foster!" and having prophesied, I wished to be a false soothsayer. For it would be better for me to be a false prophet than to experience so many evils in the universe, and to be born to such a monster as has never been seen before; although they tell of many floods, of many fires, eruptions and sinkholes of the earth, of inhuman people, of monstrous and complex beasts, produced by nature in an unusual manner. And therefore he had an end worthy of his madness. Only here God did not show His usual long-suffering, because His love for mankind would have been disastrous for many. In virtuous people it would produce despondency, and in sinners it would produce arrogance and the thought that no one watches over our deeds, there is no control or retribution, but everything moves and is governed by chance, a thought that shows a cunning mind, very pernicious about the most important subjects!

This is what we proclaim, the Galileans, contemptible people, worshippers of the Crucified, disciples of fishermen and, as we say, of the ignorant; we who sit and sing psalms together with the old women; we, who are exhausted by long fasts and half-dead, watch in vain and talk idly during the all-night vigils, and yet we depose you. Where is the one who weighed the tribute? (Isaiah 33:18). I borrow this song of victory from one of our unwise ones, as it seems to you. Where are the sacrifices, ceremonies, and sacraments? Where are the slaughters, open and secret? Where is the art of divination by dissected entrails? Where are the miracles of foresight and the signs of ventriloquists? Where is the glorious Babylon, about which so much talk has been made, and the whole universe, which you dreamed of conquering for yourself, shedding a little impure blood? Where are the Persians and Medes, whom he counted in his hands? Where are the gods who are accompanied by you, who guide and accompany you, your protectors, your companions? Where are the prophecies and threats against Christians, or the complete destruction of us and our name at a certain time? Everything disappeared, deceived, dissipated; all the grandiose praises of the wicked turned out to be a dream.

"See, O Lord," he says, "how this foreigner blasphemes Thee, the God of Israel; Thou hast seen, O Lord, that thou mayest not be silent (Psalm 34:22)." And the king's prayer did not remain in vain, for he who rebelled against God knew in practice his folly and departed without fulfilling his threats: suddenly struck by some invisible force, he lost the greater part of his army and was driven away by unpleasant news, which put an end to the siege and his hopes beyond hope. This was done by Hezekiah, surrounded by a large army, king of the great Jerusalem, who, perhaps, would have repulsed the hostile hordes by himself. And we, for whom there remained only one weapon, one wall, one defense, the hope of God (for we were utterly deprived of all human help from every quarter), from whom else could we expect to hear our prayers and repel threats, if not from God, who with an oath rejected the arrogance of Jacob? Oh, what incredible stories! What audacious hopes! We were promised sacrifices to the demons; we, the great inheritance of God, the holy people, the royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9), were destined as a reward for the fulfillment of one hope, for the victory in one battle. Such is the gift from you to Christians, because you have been saved by them to the common harm! Thus hast thou repaid the Lord thy God! Hitherto God had still restrained and postponed His wrath for us, had not yet kindled all His zeal, but had only lifted His hand high against the wicked, and though He had drawn and prepared the bow, yet He had held it by force, and waited for all the wickedness of Julian to come out, like some malignant and festering abscess; for such is the law of God's judgment: either to save by repentance, or to punish justly. And then, with difficulty enduring the present and lamenting the future (because the very goodness of God to His own, hidden from us, was intolerable to us), we lifted up our voice to God; now calling upon Him as the Lord, now imploring Him as a good Father, now as if complaining and entering into judgment with Him, which is characteristic of people who lament, they cried out: "Why, O God, hast Thou rejected us forever, Thy wrath has been kindled against the sheep of Thy pasture? Remember Thy assembly, which Thou hast acquired of old (Psalm 73:1.2), which Thou hast acquired through the sufferings of Thy Only-begotten Word, which Thou hast vouchsafed Thy great covenant, which Thou hast drawn to heaven by a new mystery and by the pledge of the Spirit, move Thy feet to the ruins of the ages! Thou didst endure, and the enemy destroyed all things in the sanctuary, and rejoiced at Thy feast (Psalm 73:3). We invoked the sword and the plagues of Egypt, we asked God to judge our strife; they begged at last to rise up against the wicked, saying: "How long shall the wicked, O Lord, as long as the wicked shall triumph" (Ps. 93.1.5)? How long shall Thy people be trampled underfoot, and Thy inheritance oppressed? We repeated these and similar lamentable words: "He has made us a reproach and a reproach to our neighbors, a proverb to the town, a reproach to all men (Ps. 79.7; 43:14,15). We remembered the vineyard that was brought from Egypt — from the darkness of godlessness, grew into the beauty and greatness of the Faith, and then lost its fence — God's providence that watches over us, became open to all passers-by, to evil rulers, and was devastated by this wild boar, this evil man, who had appropriated evil to himself, filled with the mire of evil.