Julian by Gore Vidal is a work of historical fiction written primarily in the first person dealing with the life of the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, , who reigned 360-363 CE. The story of the novel begins in March of A.D. 380, nearly 20 years after the death of Julian. It starts as the text of a series of letters between Libanius and Priscus of Epirus, two confidants of Julian. In their various letters they discuss their lives and in particular the recent events involving an imperial edict of Theodosius involving the Nicene Creed of Christianity. In his first letter to Priscus,... Libanius proposes to write a biography of Julian. Eventually Priscus agrees to send a manuscript written by Julian himself to Libanius along with his own comments written in the margins. The rest of the novel is then presented as the manuscript of Julian in its original form including instructions to the eventual editor and publisher. The marginal notes of Priscus are incorporated into Julian's narrative where he feels fit to comment on or expand certain parts of the narrative.
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| Author: | Gore Vidal |
| Genre: | Historical novel, Fiction |
| Year published: | 1964 |
| Number of editions: | 6 |