Julian II (the Apostate) and his policies

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

Hum, wait a moment, what did Severus say?

The fact that he didn't had a high opinion of the Christians makes him already a great Emperor!!

What is there of so incredible and foolish? He did not say that a great emperor is so just if loves to kill or torture the Christians for a simple capriccio, nor that in his opinion a great emperor is so when he promotes religious persecutions due to faith/unfaith matter!

So?

Everyone of us can not have an high opinion of someone or many other in the everyday life, where is the crime? I did not know it was prohibited...

While I can easily see the Severus' words in a political way: seen that the Romans did not persecute anyone for religious reasons, being very tolerant towards any religion (Hebraism too) often integrating them, but of course persecuted any politically subversive act and the Christians acted so.

The public cult of the traditional roman religion and the concept of State were a single thing in the roman world, sacrificing to the Gods and respecting the rites meant to estabilish a covenant with the Divinity and Deities, in return for his protection. While any other religion could integrate that, the Christians refused to sacrifice to the traditional roman Deitites, putting themselves in antithesis towards the roman State/Imperium and so acting politically.

Roma could not permit that. That could not be accepted by the traditional Romans, because it undermined the very foundations of the concept itself of the roman State. In fact then Christians subverted the traditional roman State/Imperium creating something that they called "roman" but it was not really so.

Valete,