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## **363-379 AD - THE PAGAN RESTORATION**
### **(Hybrid Roman Paganism Returns to Power)**

### **363 AD - Julian's Death & Immediate Reversal**

**June 26, 363 - Julian Dies in Persia:**
- **Spear wound** during chaotic retreat from failed Persian invasion
- **Roman army trapped** deep in enemy territory
- **No clear succession** - Julian had no children
- **Military crisis** requires immediate leadership decision
- **Pagan restoration** dies with Julian after only **18 months**

**June 27, 363 - Jovian Proclaimed Emperor:**
- **Christian general** chosen by panicked army
- **Pragmatic choice** - most senior available commander
- **Immediate goal:** **Get army home alive** from Persian territory
- **Religious policy:** **Secondary** to military survival

### **Summer 363 - Jovian's Emergency Measures**

**The Desperate Retreat:**
- **Negotiates humiliating peace** with Sassanid Persia
- **Surrenders Roman territories** in Mesopotamia
- **Pays massive tribute** to secure safe passage
- **Abandons Roman fortresses** along Persian frontier
- **Military disaster** becomes **political liability**

**Religious Policy - Damage Control:**
- **Immediately reverses** Julian's pagan restoration
- **NOT** because of religious conviction - **political necessity**
- **Christian officials** were the **established bureaucracy**
- **Pagan restoration** was **too new** to have created **stable alternative**
- **Easiest path:** **Return to Constantine's hybrid system**

### **364 AD - Jovian's Brief Reign**

**February 17, 364 - Jovian Dies Suddenly:**
- **Carbon monoxide poisoning** from brazier in sealed room
- **Reigned only 8 months** - barely enough time to reach Constantinople
- **Never had chance** to establish **stable religious policy**
- **Main achievement:** **Reversed Julian's experiment** and **got army home**

**🚨 What Jovian's Choice Revealed:**
- **"Christian restoration"** was **administrative convenience**, not spiritual revival
- **Hybrid Roman paganism** (with Christian names) was **easier to manage** than traditional Roman paganism
- **The system Constantine created** was **more stable** for imperial control
- **Religious conviction** had **nothing to do** with the choice

### **364 AD - The Brothers Valens & Valentinian**

**March 28, 364 - Valentinian I Proclaimed:**
- **Pannonian military commander** - practical, not theological
- **Divides empire** with brother **Valens** to manage **administrative crisis**
- **NOT** a religious decision - **military necessity** after Julian's disasters

**The Division:**
- **Valentinian I (West):** Gaul, Britain, Spain, Italy, Africa, Pannonia
- **Valens (East):** Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Thrace, Palestine
- **Different approaches** but **same underlying pagan system**

### **364-375 AD - Valentinian I's Western "Christianity"**

**The Tolerant Hybrid System:**

**Religious Policy:**
- **"Religious tolerance"** - allows **both** Arian and Nicene "Christians"
- **BUT:** Only **within the Roman imperial framework**
- **NO tolerance** for **Hebrew practices** (Torah, Sabbath, YHWH worship)
- **Absorbs local pagan practices** more openly than predecessors

**What This "Tolerance" Really Meant:**
- ✅ **Roman solar worship** (called "Christianity")
- ✅ **Greek philosophical theology** (Arian vs. Nicene debates)
- ✅ **Imperial authority** over religious matters
- ✅ **Pagan festivals** with Christian names
- ✅ **Traditional Roman administration**

**What Was Still Forbidden:**
- ❌ **Saturday Sabbath** observance
- ❌ **Torah** as religious authority
- ❌ **YHWH's name** in worship
- ❌ **Hebrew calendar** and biblical festivals
- ❌ **Jewish-Christian** practices

### **364-378 AD - Valens's Eastern "Christianity"**

**The Arian Imperial System:**

**Systematic Arian Enforcement:**
- **Enforces Arian theology** throughout eastern territories
- **Exiles Nicene bishops** (including **Pope Liberius** briefly)
- **Uses imperial force** to impose **Greek philosophical** doctrine
- **Creates Arian imperial hierarchy** parallel to **Nicene resistance**

**🚨 What Both "Christian" Factions Shared:**
- ✅ **Sunday solar worship** (not Saturday Sabbath)
- ✅ **Roman imperial structure** (emperor = religious head)
- ✅ **Greek philosophical theology** (different theories, same foundation)
- ✅ **Anti-Hebrew position** (rejected Torah authority)
- ✅ **Pagan festivals** (Christmas, Easter, etc.)
- ✅ **Imperial force** as theological method

### **365-367 AD - The Procopius Revolt**

**The Pagan Counter-Reaction:**

**Procopius's Rebellion (365-366):**
- **Julian's cousin** attempts **pagan restoration** in East
- **Claims to represent** "true Roman religion"
- **Gains support** from **military units** still loyal to Julian's memory
- **Brief success** in **Asia Minor** before being defeated by Valens

**What This Revealed:**
- **Significant pagan sentiment** still existed in **Roman military**
- **Julian's experiment** had **NOT** been universally rejected
- **"Christian" victory** required **military force**, not **spiritual conviction**
- **Both sides** were **competing Roman pagan systems**, not **biblical truth** vs. **error**

### **367-375 AD - Competing Paganisms Stabilize**

**Western Hybrid System (Valentinian I):**
- **Absorbs traditional practices** more openly
- **Maintains Roman Senate** with **mixed pagan-Christian membership**
- **Allows traditional festivals** alongside **Christian** celebrations
- **Creates flexible system** where **local pagan customs** get **Christian explanations**

**Eastern Arian System (Valens):**
- **More systematic** in **enforcing imperial Christian doctrine**
- **But doctrine is Greek philosophy**, not **Hebrew Scripture**
- **Maintains solar worship** (Sunday), **pagan calendar** (Christmas/Easter)
- **Continues imperial ceremonies** with **Christian vocabulary**

### **375-378 AD - The Gothic Crisis**

**Barbarian Pressure Exposes System Weakness:**

**Gothic Migration (376 AD):**
- **Massive Gothic population** crosses **Danube** fleeing Hunnic pressure
- **Valens allows entry** in exchange for **military service**
- **Goths are Arian Christians** - but **their Arianism** includes **significant Germanic pagan elements**
- **Roman authorities** struggle with **"Christians"** who practice **different paganism**

**Battle of Adrianople (378 AD):**
- **Valens killed** leading **Roman army** against **Gothic rebellion**
- **Catastrophic defeat** - **worst Roman military disaster** since **Cannae**
- **"Christian" emperor killed** by **"Christian" barbarians**
- **Both sides** claimed **divine mandate** for **mutual slaughter**

**🚨 What Adrianople Proved:**
- **"Christian" identity** meant **nothing** when **imperial interests** conflicted
- **Religious labels** were **political tools**, not **spiritual realities**
- **Gothic Arianism** + **Roman Arianism** = **Same hybrid paganism** with **ethnic differences**
- **Greek philosophical theology** provided **no unity** when **tribal loyalties** mattered

### **378-379 AD - The Interregnum**

**Gratian Rules Both East and West:**
- **Valentinian I's son** inherits **western empire** (375)
- **Valens's death** leaves **eastern empire** without ruler (378)
- **Gratian temporarily** rules **entire empire** while seeking **eastern partner**

**Religious Policy During Crisis:**
- **Maintains hybrid system** while **focusing on military crisis**
- **Gothic problem** requires **practical solutions**, not **theological purity**
- **Seeks alliance** with **any available forces** regardless of **religious labels**

### **🚨 WHAT 363-379 REALLY REVEALED:**

**1. "Christian Restoration" = Return to Hybrid Paganism:**
- **NOT** return to **biblical faith**
- **Return** to **Constantine's syncretic system**
- **Roman imperial paganism** with **Christian vocabulary**
- **Same solar worship**, **same goddess worship**, **same emperor worship**

**2. Religious Labels Were Political Tools:**
- **"Arian"** vs **"Nicene"** = **Political factions**, not **spiritual movements**
- **Both sides** maintained **same pagan practices** with **different explanations**
- **Emperor worship** continued under **both systems**
- **Hebrew faith** remained **extinct** under **both systems**

**3. Imperial Force Was Core Method:**
- **Military power** determined **religious policy**
- **Theological debates** settled by **imperial armies**
- **"Divine mandate"** claimed by **whoever won battles**
- **Spiritual authority** derived from **political victory**

**4. Paganism Never Left:**
- **Traditional Roman elements** remained **throughout** the period
- **Local pagan practices** continued with **Christian overlays**
- **Solar worship** (Sunday) and **pagan festivals** (Christmas/Easter) **standard**
- **Greek philosophy** remained **foundation** of **all theology**

### **🎯 THE BOTTOM LINE (363-379 AD):**

**This wasn't "Christianity" defeating "paganism."**

**This was:**
- **Hybrid Roman paganism** (with Christian names) **vs.**
- **Traditional Roman paganism** (with classical names)

**Both systems:**
- ✅ **Worshiped on Sunday** (solar worship day)
- ✅ **Used Greek philosophy** as theological foundation
- ✅ **Maintained Roman imperial structure**
- ✅ **Practiced emperor worship** (different titles)
- ✅ **Celebrated pagan festivals** (different names)
- ✅ **Rejected Hebrew authority** (Torah, YHWH, Sabbath)

**The Hebrew Way of Yeshua?** **Still dead and buried** under **both systems**.

**By 379 AD, the choice was between:**
- **Traditional Roman Beast** wearing **classical mask**
- **Hybrid Roman Beast** wearing **Christian mask**

**Same beast. Different costume.**

**Theodosius would make the choice permanent.**

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This analysis shows that 363-379 was simply the period when Roman imperial paganism switched back from traditional names to Christian names, with no actual restoration of biblical faith occurring.