Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

Chapter 3: The Valentiniani
Jovian: 363-364
There is very little evidence on which to assess the degree of intolerance or
otherwise that may have occurred during the eight month reign of Jovian. His short
reign prevented Jovian from establishing himself in a capital and from formulating any
religious policy. There are however three documents which Jovian wrote or in which
his words and sentiments are recorded, as well as a fourth document apparently
written at his request by Athanasius on the faith. These three documents should help
us to make a tentative assessment of his attitude towards Christianity and through we
should be able to discern, on the limited evidence, whether Jovian was inclined to be
intolerant of other faiths . There is also evidence from Ammianus Marcellinus and
from the Ecclesiastical historians which shed light on the extent or otherwise of his
Christianity.
The first document is a collection of four petitions made by the Arian patriarch
of Alexandria Lucius and a certain Bernician (otherwise unknown) against the Nicene
Athanasius in which they attempt to have the Bishop exiled and replaced by an Arian. 1
All of the petitions appear to have been made verbally to Jovian when the emperor
was in Antioch in October 363. 2 The first two and also the fourth appear to have been
made fleetingly, whilst the emperor was on his way to another destination. The first
appears to have been made in the evening since the emperor is recorded as leaving the
city “for camp, at the Roman gate.” At this encounter Lucius and Bernician asked
Jovian to hear them and the emperor consented; they asked Jovian to give them a
bishop, Jovian replied that he had already done so; they complained that Athanasius
1 The petitions were collected and recorded by Athanasius in his Ep. Ad Jov . PG 26.820-824; they are
also referred to by Sozomen 6.5 The translation is from Coleman-Norton (1966) 294-298
2 Barnes (1993) 160 and Lenski (2002) 237-238 summarise the encounters.
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