XII Summary

With continued military success, Julian begins to see Constantius as a weak, selfish ruler and begins to stand up for himself. He is outraged when Constantius claims the victory at Gaul was of his own doing. Years earlier, in Athens, Julian had been accused of being a coward with regard to the military. He says that he was relieved to find out that it wasn't true. He actually seems to seek out the fighting and joins his men, rather than commanding from afar. Julian fights to keep taxes lower while the people of the region of Gaul recovered from the battle with the Germans - one of his efforts to exert his own power. Helena miscarries, and Julian describes it as the "only sad matter that winter." This is virtually Julian's only comment on his feelings at the loss of his two children...