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WHEN Julian found himself sole possessor of the empire, he
commanded that all the pagan temples should be reopened throughout the
East; that those which had been neglected should be repaired; that
those which had fallen into ruins should be rebuilt, and that the
altars should be restored. He assigned considerable money for this
purpose; he restored the customs of antiquity and the ancestral
ceremonies in the cities, and the practice of offering sacrifice.
He himself offered libations openly and publicly sacrificed; bestowed
honors on those who were zealous in the performance of these
ceremonies; restored the initiators and the priests, the hierophants
and the servants of the images, to their old privileges; and confirmed
the legislation of former emperors in their behalf; he conceded
exemption from duties and from other burdens as was their previous
right; he restored the provisions, which had been abolished, to the
temple guardians, and commanded them to be pure from meats, and to
abstain from whatever according to pagan saying was befitting him who
had announced his purpose of leading a pure life.
He also ordered that the nilometer and the symbols and the former
ancestral tablets should be cared for in the temple of Serapis,
instead of being deposited, according to the regulation, established
by Constantine, in the church. He wrote frequently to the
inhabitants of those cities in which he knew paganism was nourished,
and urged them to ask what gifts they might desire. Towards the
Christians, on the contrary, he openly manifested his aversion,
refusing to honor them with his presence, or to receive their deputies
who were delegated to report about grievances.
When the inhabitants of Nisibis sent to implore his aid against the
Persians, who were on the point of invading the Roman territories,
he refused to assist them because they were wholly Christianized, and
would neither reopen their temples nor resort to the sacred places; he
threatened that he would not help them, nor receive their embassy, nor
approach to enter their city before he should hear that they had
returned to paganism.
He likewise accused the inhabitants of Constantia in Palestine, of
attachment to Christianity, and rendered their city tributary to that
of Gaza. Constantia, as we stated before, was formerly called
Majuma, and was used as a harbor for the vessels of Gaza; but on
hearing that the majority of its inhabitants were Christians,
Constantine elevated it to the dignity of a city, and conferred upon
it the name of his own son, and a separate form of government; for he
considered that it ought not to be dependent on Gaza, a city addicted
to pagan rites. On the accession of Julian, the citizens of Gaza
went to law against those of Constantia. The emperor himself sat as
judge, and decided in favor of Gaza, and commanded that Constantia
should be an appendage to that city, although it was situated at a
distance of twenty stadia.
Its former name having been abolished by him, it has since been
denominated the maritime region of Gaza. They have now the same city
magistrates, military officers, and public regulations. With respect
to ecclesiastical concerns, however, they may still be regarded as two
cities. They have each their own bishop and their own clergy; they
celebrate festivals in honor of their respective martyrs, and in memory
of the priests who successively ruled them; and the boundaries of the
adjacent fields by which the altars belonging to the bishops are
divided, are still preserved.
It happened within our own remembrance that an attempt was made by the
bishop of Gaza, on the death of the president of the church at
Majuma, to unite the clergy of that town with those under his own
jurisdiction; and the plea he advanced was, that it was not lawful for
two bishops to preside over one city. The inhabitants of Majuma
opposed this scheme, and the council of the province took cognizance of
the dispute, and ordained another bishop. The council decided that it
was altogether right for those who had been deemed worthy of the honors
of a city on account of their piety, not to be deprived of the
privilege conferred upon the priesthood and rank of their churches,
through the decision of a pagan emperor, who had taken a different
ground of action.
But these events occurred at a later period than that now under
review.
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