The Emperor Julian (d. 363 ce) is popular today for his role as a historical counter-weight to Constantine and as a standard-bearer for Hellenism. As a Roman emperor, he is unusual for the amount of written material illuminating his reign, and unique in that so much of it came from his own hand. The extent to which that latter factor illuminates or obscures events is subject to debate, but beyond the scope of this book review.
A renowned philologist, N. contributed an excellent historical chapter on Julian to C. Schäfer's edited collection Kaiser Julian ‘Apostata’ und die philosophische Reaktion gegen das Christentum (2008), and is well known for numerous editions and studies of Classical authors. Now, the appearance of a new edition of a Classical author is only cause for celebration when it offers something that is needed, and in the case of Julian we are not exactly short of editions, with some fine entries over the last century. What N. offers is neither the in-depth commentary of the various Italian volumes over the last three decades nor the near completeness of the four volumes of the Les Belles Lettres series (1924–64). Rather, in one convenient volume, he brings us closer to the Imperial Julian, with an accurate text supported by several key features. Scholars and students alike will appreciate the very full apparatus, the current bibliography and N.’s useful list of a number of places where Julian deviates from Attic style, deviations that earlier editors had ‘corrected’, although N. points out that Julian's style remained both powerful and effective (pp. xxiv–xxvii).
The introduction concisely treats the dating and transmission of manuscripts, as well as previous editions of Julian's works. However, while N. does include W.C.F. Wright's Loeb text in his bibliography, his history of editions relegates her edition to a footnote, despite her many textual differences from the base texts of F.K. Hertlein and E. Spanheim. This volume contains the Letter to Themistius, To the Cynic Heracleios, On the Mother of the Gods, Against the Uneducated Cynics, Symposium (frequently called Caesars), Hymn to King Helios and the Misopogon, in that order. This means that the early orations to Constantius and Eusebia are excluded, as is the Consolation on the Departure of Sallust and the fascinating but fragmentary Against the Galilaeans. Including only the major complete works from Julian's reign as emperor demands the making of some judgement calls. For example, the Letter to Themistius is frequently dated early in Julian's reign as Caesar, most recently by S. Swain, Themistius, Julian, and Greek Political Theory under Rome: Texts, Translations, and Studies of Four Key Works (2013), but N. dates it to the beginning of Julian's reign as Augustus (p. ix). Although it would be included in the collection in either case, it is worth noting that N. supports Bidez's late dating scheme of 362 for the Symposium.
De Gruyter, as always, does not disappoint when it comes to quality. The acid-free paper is excellent, the sewn binding allows the book to lay open flat, and the cased hardcover is tastefully executed.
