Tag: Religion

Sidequest 37 – Julian the Apostate’s Religious Legacy with Dr. David Litwa

It’s been a minute, but the podcast is back with an episode we recorded over the summer with Dr. David Litwa. I reached out to Dr. Litwa after reading (listening to) his book “Julian Against the Apostates“. He agreed to come on the podcast which gave us this episode. During our talk, Dr. Litwa covers Julian’s religious and philosophical origins including the dangers he faced for simply believing in non-Christian gods. He also discusses Julian’s traditional Hellenic religious beliefs including the importance of sacrifice and how Julian received an honorable burial. This shows that the state honored him as a military hero and that, despite subsequent criticism by religious enemies, Julian was a respected figure in the Empire.

One topic that we cover in detail is whether Julian missed his calling as a philosopher and religious theorist which is apparently something that Julian wanted to ultimately do. After listening to this episode, I think you’ll see that if history had unfolded a little differently, Julian may have been able to leave decades of Hellenic religious writings behind him. Maybe that wouldn’t have done much to alter the course of history that unfolded, but as Mal Reynolds once observed, “May have been on the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one.”

You can keep up with Dr. Litwa at his YouTube channel or his website linked to above.

Your reading assignments include Julian Augustus by friend of the pod Jeremy Swist.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Book Review- Julian Against the Apostates

I recently finished M. David Litwa’s Julian Against the Apostates: A Translation and Reconstruction of Julian’s Against the Galileans. I picked this up on Audible before pausing (and soon to be canceling) my subscription there. If you can find this on another audiobook platform or get a physical copy, it’s worth the time spent reading / listening. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t recommend it enough.

Before I get into the merits of the book, I will note that the version I had was narrated by AI. I didn’t like that at all. From a policy perspective, there’s no reason not to have actual voice actors do the narration. AI narration is just a way for a company to avoid having to pay people to work. Before buying audiobooks in the future, I’ll check to make sure the book is narrated by a live person. If it isn’t, I’ll purchase something else. Now, back to my thoughts on the book.

As you know from other episodes of the podcast, religious history and religious philosophy isn’t my favorite topic. I usually find it a little esoteric and boring. This book, however, was captivating from the start. You get a sense from it that Julian missed his calling as a philosopher and religious theorist. Litwa’s book provides a great insight into Julian’s mind, his thought process and his overall intellectual force as a philosopher. After reading (listening) to this book, I came away with a much better understanding as to why Julian has remained an important figure despite a relatively short reign as emperor. You get the sense that Julian’s writings lingered long after his death in pagan and non-Christian circles. Hence why so many texts have been written about Julian and why Christian theorists and philosophers continue to grapple with Julian’s arguments. One wonders what would have happened had Julian not become an emperor and instead became a purely religious leader.

One of the more interesting parts of the book, to me, involved Julian referring Christians as Double Apostates as they were apostates to traditional religions and to the Jewish faith from which Christianity developed. That Julian viewed the people who call him an apostate as apostates themselves was a nice historical nugget to come across.

Litwa’s book is written in a very accessible manner. You don’t need to have an in-depth knowledge to read and understand it. Rather, people with varying levels of knowledge and expertise could pick it up and walk away with a fuller and more complete understanding of Julian, his critics and the time period in which Julian lived. The book includes commentary and responses to Julian’s arguments which is sort of like reading the transcript from a debate. Again, get a copy and read it. You’ll enjoy it.

Those are my thoughts on the book. Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.