nd to censure the delays, of
their sovereign.

If Julian had flattered himself, that his personal connection with the
capital of the East would be productive of mutual satisfaction to the
prince and people, he made a very false estimate of his own character,
and of the manners of Antioch. The warmth of the climate disposed the
natives to the most intemperate enjoyment of tranquillity and opulence;
and the lively licentiousness of the Greeks was blended with the
hereditary softness of the Syrians. Fashion was the only law, pleasure
the only pursuit, and the splendor of dress and furniture was the only
distinction of the citizens of Antioch. The arts of luxury were honored;
the serious and manly virtues were the subject of ridicule; and the
contempt for female modesty and reverent age announced the universal
corruption of the capital of the East. The love of spectacles was the
taste, or rather passion, of the Syrians; the most skilful artists were
procured from the adjacent cities; a considerable share of the revenue
was devoted to the public amusements; and the magnificence of the games
of the theatre and circus was considered as the happiness and as the
glory of Antioch. The rustic manners of a prince who disdained such
glory, and was insensible of such happiness, soon disgusted the delicacy
of his subjects; and the effeminate Orientals could neither imitate,
nor admire, the severe simplicity which Julian always maintained, and
sometimes affected. The days of festivity, consecrated, by ancient
custom, to the honor of the gods, were the only occasions in which
Julian relaxed his philosophic severity; and those festivals were the
only days in which the Syrians of Antioch could reject the allurements
of pleasure. The majority of the people supported the glory of the
Christian name, which had been first invented by their ancestors: they
contended themselves with disobeying the moral precepts, but they were
scrupulously attached to the speculative doctrines of their religion.
The church of Antioch was distracted by heresy and schism; but the
Arians and the Athanasians, the followers of Meletius and those of
Paulinus, were actuated by the same pious hatred of their common
adversary.

The strongest prejudice was entertained against the character of an
apostate, the enemy and successor of a prince who had engaged the
affections of a very numerous sect; and the removal of St. Babylas
excited an implacable opposition to the per