Page "Julian the Apostate" Paragraph 17

At the end of 357 Julian, with the prestige of his victory over the Alamanni to give him confidence, prevented a tax increase by the Gallic praetorian prefect Florentius and personally took charge of the province of Belgica Secunda.

This was Julian's first experience with civil administration, where his views were influenced by his liberal education in Greece.

Properly it was a role that belonged to the praetorian prefect.

However, Florentius and Julian often clashed over the administration of Gaul.

Julian's first priority, as Caesar and nominal ranking commander in Gaul, was to drive out the barbarians who had breached the Rhine frontier.

However, he sought to win over the support of the civil population, which was necessary for his operations in Gaul and also to show his largely Germanic army the benefits of Imperial rule.

He therefore felt it was necessary to rebuild stable and peaceful conditions in the devastated cities and countryside.

For this reason, Julian clashed with Florentius over the latter's support of tax increases, as mentioned above, and Florentius's own corruption in the bureaucracy.