IN the very midst of their consequent complaints and lamentations, they beheld him who was madly contending with his Creator fall down wounded:* he was unaided by the warlike Mars who had promised his support; unassisted by Apollo who had given so false and perplexing an oracle;* and even Jove the thunderer did not hurl one of his thunderbolts against him by whom he was slain. Thus were his threats overthrown, and shown to be vain.
No one knows even to this day, by whom this mortal blow, which he had so justly deserved, was inflicted. Some say that it was by one of the invisible order of beings,* others that it was by the hand of an individual belonging to one of the nomadic tribes generally called Ishmaelites;* others say that he was killed by a soldier reduced to despair by hunger, and by wandering in the desert. But whether the sword were that of an angel or of a man, certain it is that whoever committed the deed was but the instrument of the Divine will. It is said that, directly after he had received the wound, Julian took some of the blood in his hand, and threw it up towards heaven, saying, “Galilean! thou hast conquered!”
* This was on June 26th, 363, during the Battle of Samarra, which followed shortly after clashes at Maranga and the Persian capital, Ctesiphon. Julian died three days after receiving a wound to the abdomen at Samarra; the battle itself was indecisive. Ctesiphon lay about 22 miles southeast of what is now Baghdad in Iraq.
* Julian had consulted pagan oracles, at Delphi, Delos, Dodona and other places, to find out whether the gods would favour his Persian campaign. Apollo had supposedly relayed their answer: “We, the gods, are ready to bear the trophies of victory along the river which bears the name of a wild beast [the Tigris]. I, the fierce and warlike Mars, will lead the others.” Julian naïvely assumed the promised triumphal march would be his. Theodoret (admittedly neither an eyewitness nor unbiased) gave grisly details of how Julian took an augury from inspecting one poor woman’s liver.
See The Spear of St Mercurius. Elfric (?955-?1022), Abbot of Eynsham, followed popular tradition in crediting the deed to St Mercurius, a young Roman soldier martyred in 250 for refusing to worship the gods of the Roman State — the very gods for whom Julian had abandoned the faith of his uncle, Emperor Constantine the Great. At the time of Julian’s death, Mercurius had been dead for over a hundred years.
The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, a son of Abraham by his Egyptian maidservant Hagar. They grew into a formidable bedouin tribe in Arab lands: see Genesis 16:1–12. Mohammed (?570-632) later traced his own ancestry back to Ishmael; at this time they were pagans.
Theodoret wrote in Greek, but Julian’s cry is usually quoted in Latin: ‘Vicisti, Galilæe!’. “So great was his stupidity,” said Theodoret, “that thus, at one and the same instant, he acknowledged his defeat, and gave utterance to blasphemy.”
Précis
Theodoret noted that the divine aid promised to Julian by pagan prophets never came. Indeed, Julian suffered a mortal wound. Whether struck by a disgruntled soldier or by some higher power, it was (said Theodoret) an act of the God whom the Emperor officially denied, and in crying to Jesus Christ ‘Galilaean, thou hast conquered!’ Julian seemed to acknowledge it. (60 / 60 words)
Theodoret noted that the divine aid promised to Julian by pagan prophets never came. Indeed, Julian suffered a mortal wound. Whether struck by a disgruntled soldier or by some higher power, it was (said Theodoret) an act of the God whom the Emperor officially denied, and in crying to Jesus Christ ‘Galilaean, thou hast conquered!’ Julian seemed to acknowledge it.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, despite, if, not, ought, until, whether, who.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Inflict. Oppress. Province.
2 Certain. Return. Wound.
3 Addition. Creator. Tribe.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Even. 2. General. 3. Show. 4. Just. 5. Lead. 6. Pass. 7. Desert. 8. Country. 9. Order.
Homophones Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and also in meaning. Compose your own sentences to bring out the differences between them.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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