"Heliocentrism" of Julian the Apostate

Heliocentrism played an important role in the formation of ancient theoretical astronomy. However, as we know, the geocentric theory won the competition. Nonetheless, in the writings of Julian the Apostate we can see the reminiscences if not of the heliocentrism of Aristarchus of Samos then elements of the cosmology of Heraclides Ponticus. The paper points out to what extent these “reminiscences” have a rhetorical character, emphasizing the influence of the heliolatry of the Chaldean Oracles on Julian. It also interprets to what extent the emperor-philosopher himself accepted “unorthodox” models of the universe. Perhaps the intuition that the cosmology of Neoplatonism of the Syrian and Pergamon school deviated from the traditional one for their epoch can be seen in Dmitri Merezhkovsky’s novel The Death of the Gods (Julian the Apostate).