The Death of Julian in Persia

Julian’s death showed his folly even more clearly. He crossed the river that separates the Roman Empire from the Persian, brought his army over, and then at once burned his boats, so that his men would fight not out of willing obedience but because they were forced to. The best generals make a habit of filling their troops with enthusiasm, and when they see them losing heart, they cheer them and raise their hopes. But Julian, by burning the bridge of retreat, cut off all good hope. A further proof of his incompetence was that he failed in the duty of foraging in every direction and providing his troops with supplies. He had neither ordered supplies to be brought from Rome, nor did he make any generous provision by plundering the enemy’s country. He left the inhabited world behind him and kept on marching through the wilderness. His soldiers did not have enough to eat or drink; they had no guides; they were wandering lost in a desert land. So they saw the folly of their most wise emperor. In the midst of their murmuring and grumbling, they suddenly found that the man who had fought in mad rage against his Maker was mortally wounded. Ares, “who raises the din of war,” had never come to help him as he had promised. Loxias had given a lying prophecy. “He who delights in thunderbolts” had hurled no bolt at the man who struck the fatal blow. The boasting of his threats was dashed to the ground. No one knows to this day the name of the man who struck that righteous blow. Some say Julian was wounded by an invisible being, others by one of the nomads called Ishmaelites, others by a cavalryman who could not bear the pangs of hunger in the wilderness. But whether it was man or angel who wielded the steel, the one who did the deed was without doubt the servant of the will of God. It is said that when Julian received the wound, he filled his hand with blood, flung it into the air, and cried, “You have won, Galilean!” So in one breath he uttered both a confession of the victory and a blasphemy. That is how deluded he was. [a]