Civilis princeps e figlio di Helios: sul problema della "teocrazia" giulianea

This paper highlights the ambivalent characterization of Julian’s ideal of philosophical ruler; on the one side, given the emperor’s emphasis on the royal virtues of philanthropia and civilitas, he is credited with a democratic and reactionary view on kingship; on the other side, his self-presentation as a son of the sun-god and especially his attempt to establish a kind of state cult by means of a “pagan Church” have prompted the talk of an increasingly theocratic complexion to his political thinking. Recent studies on Neo-platonic political philosophy and Late Antique rhetoric of power have brought about a re-evaluation of some among Julian’s orations which directly concern the expression of a specific theory of kingship (such as the Letter to Themistius or the Hymn to king Helios); what emerges from these texts is the difficulty in defining in a theocratic or proto-byzantine sense a political programme (such is Julian’s one), which draws its inspiration from the philosophical and religious debates of his own day.