But though deeply influenced by Mithraism, Julian was attempting to revive the pagan gods, and if he could not, in the fourth century, restore the ancient faith in the gods of Homer he nevertheless could not omit from his creed the numerous deities whose temples and altars he had rebuilt. Here he took advantage of the identification of Greek, Roman, and Oriental deities which had been going on for centuries. The old names, endeared by the associations of literature, could be retained without endangering the supremacy of Helios. Julian identifies Zeus, Helios, Hades, Oceanus and the Egyptian Serapis. But the omnipotent Zeus of Greek mythology is now a creative force which works with Helios and has no separate existence. Tradition had made Athene the child of Zeus, but Julian regards her as the manifestation of the intelligent forethought of Helios. Dionysus is the vehicle of his fairest thoughts, and Aphrodite a principle that emanates from him. He contrives that all the more important gods of Greece, Egypt and Persia shall play their parts as manifestations of Helios. The lesser gods are mediating demons as well as forces. His aim was to provide the Hellenic counterpart of the positive revealed religion of Christianity. Hence his insistence on the inspiration of Homer, Hesiod, and Plato, and his statement(612) that the allegorical interpretations of the mysteries are not mere hypotheses, whereas the doctrines of the astronomers deserve no higher title. The Oration is dedicated to his friend and comrade in arms Sallust who is probably identical with the Neo‐Platonic philosopher, of the school of Iamblichus, who wrote about 360 the treatise _On the Gods and the World_. Cumont calls this “the official catechism of the Pagan empire,” and Wilamowitz regards it as the positive complement of Julian’s pamphlet _Against the Christians_. Julian’s Eighth Oration is a discourse of consolation, παραμυθητικὸς, for the departure of Sallust when Constantius recalled him from Gaul in 358. ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ (Julian, Caesar) ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΑ ΗΛΙΟΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΣΑΛΟΥΣΤΙΟΝ (Hymn To King Helios. Dedicated To Sallust) [B] Προσήκειν ὑπολαμβάνω τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε μάλιστα μὲν ἅπασιν, (What I am now about to say I consider to be of the greatest importance for all things) ὅσσα τε γαῖαν ἔπι πνείει τε καὶ ἕρπει,(613) (“That breathe and move upon the earth,”)