Was he based?

>>1480875
No.

He was honestly an unimpressive man. He was merely just another entitled military general who initiated a civil war solely because he believed - as all usurpers and warlords do - that he somehow had a more legitimate claim to the title of Augustus than others. In the end, he was a man who was exactly like his opponents such as Maxenius or Licinius, and even like the very people who caused the Crisis of the Third Century, remembered only because as history would have it, he emerged the victor of the civil war.

There are much better Emperors: Octavius, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Julian, Basil the Second...

>Abolised the college of emperors
>Built a new capital, allowing Byzantineboos to eventually exist
>So shit at fathering his sons ended up massacring almost every male in the family before turning on each other
>Ultimately everything he did was calculated in terms of benefitting himself, often at the expense of the empire in the long term
>Baptised as an Arian on his deathbed

No.

>>1480875
He ruined everything

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>>1480875
Yes.

>>1480875
>Julian
>better
I bet Shapur II is laughing in paradise right now.

>>1480875
his head is on a base, so figuratively yes.

>>1481005
>Julian
What the fuck did Julian do beside losing to Persia like a bitch and weakening the State?

Seriously, of all the Emperors, you picked the guy who ruled for 3 years over the guy who built the City that would outlast the old Capital by 1000 years?

>>1481517
To be fair, losing against Shapur the Great isn't exactly a low tier thing.

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>>1481523
But still, calling Julian greater than Constantine is absolute memeing, considering he barely did anything.

To put him among the ranks of any of the great Emperors is absolute nonsense.

>>1481517
>>1481533
I disagree with his assessment of Julian as better, but I think Julian had potential. His policies would have reduced the Empire's dependency on its capitals, and might have seen a revival of Roman philosophy.

>>1481559
>Roman
>philosophy

>>1481560
Oh right, I forgot how Epictetus and Plotinus contributed nothing while subjects of the empire.

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>>1481559
>potential
Sure, but potential means nothing when you get killed because you decided to go full retard and take Ctesiphon at a time when the Persians were actually lobbying for peace.

Baby boo wanted to be a big man, and spilled all of his potential in the hot sand for a useless effort.

Couldabeens have no place among Greats

>>1481575
Was that overdramatic bullshit really necessary? Do you feel smarter for it? I already said I disagreed with the guy's assessment.

>>1481580
Because Julian is just another failed footnote in history who gets memed up because of his religious position.

He's Constantine VI tier, another nobody who gets remember because of exceptional circumstance.

>>1481589
So? There's lots of people out there heralded as great that aren't that fucking great. Julian is the classic "what could have been" character.

Though I'd wager his popularity around here has to do with the mutual antagonism between Christians and non-Christians.

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>>1481517
>What the fuck did Julian do beside losing to Persia like a bitch and weakening the State?

Reform the Imperial Bureaucracy, devolve power back to the urban polities to get them off the Imperial Teat, encourage the opening of academies dedicated to philosophy and mathematics, rid the Imperial court of useless functionaries like eunuchs and courtiers to save tax monies, etc.

He was as masterful an administrator as Marcus Aurelius, and would have been his equal - perhaps even superior - had his reign not been cut short.

What the fuck did Constantine do in all the years he ruled? Besides, of course, kill his own son and wife and foster court intrigue while changing nothing for the better, gorging on his status as Emperor of a united Empire.