| On becoming sole emperor of the Roman Empire in 361, Julian the Apostate made reforms to many institutions: legal, educational, economic, political, and religious. His religious reforms fall into two types: reforms to the daily lives of all pagan priests, and reforms to the hierarchical structure of the pagan priesthoods. Each type can be seen to originate from Julian's Neoplatonic outlook. Implemented by Julian as a , rci3r3u &d12;vm 3&d12;gist ov , both types of reform were designed to strengthen the pagan priesthood from different angles. The first provided rules and regulations for the daily life of the new full-time, holy local priests. The second type created a new provincial high-priest with supervisory powers. Paganism was given structure and cohesion, with the hopes that it would not only revive the interest in traditional cult, but also win converts to Iamblichan Neoplatonism, as well giving traditional paganism the ability to compete with Christianity as a viable, universal religion. |
