Italy: Julian the Apostate (331-363), 63rd Roman emperor, from the book Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis, 1583

Julian (331-363), also known as Julian the Apostate, was a member of the Constantinian Dynasty and cousin to Emperor Constantius II. Emperor Constantius II made him Caesar of the western provinces in 355 while he was busy fighting the Sassanid Empire in the east, entrusting Julian against the Alamanni and Franks.

Julian was proclaimed emperor by his soldiers in 360, and Constantius II died in 361 while marching to face him. Constantius claimed Julian as his rightful successor on his deathbed however. Unlike his recent predecessors, Julian was not a Christian and did not possess any Christian sympathies, returning to the traditional religious practices of Rome to the detriment of Christianity and Judaism, resulting in him being named 'Julian the Apostate'.

Julian died in 363 during his ambitious campaign against the Sassanid Empire, after he was mortally wounded in battle. He became the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and the last of the Constantinian Dynasty.

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