The forum or market-place was surrounded by
colonnades, in which tradesmen and money-changers' had opened their
shops. One side--the shortest--of it was occupied by the prefecture,
in which the Aedile and Quaestor lived.
Unnoticed and unrecognised by the people, Julian went into the
prefecture. In the hall he saw Christian symbols--the cross, the
fish, the good shepherd, etc. Christianity was certainly the State
religion, but Julian's hatred against everything Christian was so
great that he could not look at these figures. Accordingly he went
out again, called the Prefect down, and bade him show the way to the
Imperial palace and the left side of the river. There he took up
his abode in a simple room resembling a monk's cell. As he had been
obliged to make many detours since he had left Byzantium, and the
punitive expedition against the Franks and Alemanni had consumed
much time, he found letters waiting his arrival. Among them was one
from the Emperor which seriously discomposed Julian.
The attitude of the Emperor towards his cousin had always been
somewhat dubious, almost hostile, and now, after the latter's
victories, envy and fear had taken possession of the mind of the
Byzantine despot. The letter contained a command for Julian to send
back the legions at once, as the war was at an end.
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