Julian II (the Apostate) and his policies

[geala]

I don't want to blame Julian for his believe, but he would never have been able to restore the classical state and the classical religion.

I'd like to know why you are so sure. Could you explain?

Vale,

Who can be sure about alternative history?

Especially on this level of abstraction. For every argument and conclusion you can find a contradiction. But ok, I will say something about my point of view. One of the many developments away from classical antiquity was the growing need for transcendency and personal religions. It started already in the 2nd c. BC and affected the scientific thinking and also the interest in the res publica/ polis on the longer run.

Christianity had just one of the best "products" to answer this hunger. No other religion of the time had such a complete and nice package to offer the desparate individual. Sol invictus f.e. was a relatively clinical figure compared to Christus. Imagine the incredible effect of the thought that God himself walked in history and saved the people (if you believe it it is more than anybody else had).
Additionally Christianity had a strong organisation, brilliant intellectual support and an aggressive behavior towards other believes. It had a fast growing base of devotees even before Constantines helping hands. After Nicaea the furious fights within Christendom ebbt a little bit, making the mainstream stronger than before. So my believe is that in the middle of the 4th c. AD Christianity was already too strong to be subdued. A tolerance on the other hand would have been a difficult task because no other religion was possible beneath Christianity, had it only achieved a critical mass and therefore a certain might.

Beneath religion the classical political ethos had nearly ceased at that time. It would have been a very difficult task to revive it in the structures of the Dominate. The future belongs to the absolute state in the form of the Christian Byzantine Empire and the near-feudal structures, where no longer the private interests seek completion in the state but the "state" becomes a private affair.

So there was no real mental base for the fight against Christianity. With military suppression alone a struggle for the minds and souls of the people was not to win.