Italy: Julian (331-363), 63rd Roman emperor, being crowned in Cluny, drawing by Felix Thorigny (1823-1870), 19th century

Julian (331-363), also known as Julian the Apostate, was a member of the Constantinian Dynasty and cousin to Emperor Constantius II. Emperor Constantius II made him Caesar of the western provinces in 355 CE while he was busy fighting the Sassanid Empire in the east, entrusting Julian against the Alamanni and Franks.

Julian was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in 360 CE, and Constantius II died in 361 CE while marching to face him. Constantius claimed Julian as his rightful successor on his deathbed however. Unlike his recent predecessors, Julian was not a Christian or did not possess any Christian sympathies, returning the traditional religious practices of Rome to the detriment of Christianity and Judaism, resulting in him being named Julian the Apostate.

Julian died in 363 CE during his ambitious campaign against the Sassanid Empire, after he was mortally wounded in battle. He became the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and the last of the Constantinian Dynasty.

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