Roman emperor
Julian the Apostate
Active
361–363 CE
He tried to reverse the empire's Christianization and in 362 undertook to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple; he died before completing it.
What the sources say
Each block is a sourced statement. Click the number to see the cited page.
3 statements
Julian, the emperor whom Christian sources nicknamed 'the Apostate', launched the rebuilding of the Temple in 362 CE. The project belonged to his attempt to turn the empire back from Christianization, and it may also have been meant to bring Jews to his side in the war with Persia.
Contested interpretation
Julian died before finishing the project: assassinated by a Christian or killed in battle, depending on which sources one follows.
Christianity began as the faith of a small minority in the Roman Empire. It was in 313 that Constantine became a Christian emperor, and Christianity in time became the official religion. The process was not straight: Julian, the last pagan emperor, who ruled briefly in the early 360s, tried and failed to turn back the empire's Christianization.