I remember having quite an interesting back-and-forth discussion with BG regarding the viability of the local city councills - boy, those were the times...
Regarding the most succesfull Julian can get:
Family life
- he changes his mind about marriage after falling in love with a handsome and smart woman from a pretigious and powerful family
- sires a single boy with her, which will be his heir, along with multiple daughters which he gets to marry off in order to solidify his position
- said boy is tall, strong, healthy and smart. He is educated well in philosophy, war and administration. He is made co-emperor after reaching maturity and is seen by all as a strong heir who will succeed his father without any problems. When it comes to leading and inspiring armies, juggling the demands and paperwork of administration, negotiating with powerfull individuals or giving rousing public speeches, the boy is a natural
War against Persia
- the expedition against Persia goes much better than expected, in that all the minor delays which could have been avoided are indeed avoided. Thus, after achieving victory outside Ctesiphon, Julian and his commanders feel confident about assaulting the city and then returning along the route they came, safely returning without confronting Shapur's army and bringing back all of their loot from sacking his capital and the other wealthy cities they took over in Mesopotamia
- a new expedition is launched in 364, this time into Armenia. Shapur's army is again out of position, this time having concentrated in the south. Julian returns back after a bunch of minor battles and sieges without any sort of decisive engagement having taken place, again carrying significant loot
- in 365, Julian again campaigns in the south, but Shapur is waiting for him from the start, and is unwilling to once again see his lands pillaged. The opening engagement sees Julians trade-mark pincer attacks defeat Shapur's flanks. This is then followed up by Shapur constantly harrassing Julian form afar. Suffering from a minor injury incurred as part of his reckless, leading-from-the-front style of command, Julian retreats back home. He is lucky, since Shapur felt compelled to confront him so close to the border, making the retreat much easier for the Roman force
- by January 366, news of the Allemani crossing the frozen Rhine has reached Julian, who concludes a peace treaty with Shapur: Arsaces II of Armenia is confirmed as a vassal of Rome, various border towns and forts in upper Mesopotamia, taken 3 years prior, remain Roman and no side pays any tribute to the other
War against the Barbaians
- Julians Gallic legions, who had been growing restless over the past two and a half years, are happy to finally return home, though not so happy to once again face the Allemani. They spend the following two years once again chasing the Allemani tribes out of Gaul and then launching punitive exeditions against them
- during some of the last punitive expeditions into southern Germany, Britain is attacked on all sides in what gets termed "The Great Conspiracy". Julian is forced to conclude peace with the Allemani and sends a force north, into Britain (which he also briefly leads until Londinium is re-taken). It will be two years until order is fully restored there
- tension also grows along the Danube, where Quadi and Gothic tribes clash with the local Roman garrisons. Julian is forced to campaign in the area for the next two years
- no sooner has Julian achieved some semblance of order along the Danube that Saxons tribes begin raiding northern Gaul. He hurries west, defeats the Saxons in battle and forces them to provide him with troops. Much to his dismay, he is again forced to return to the middle Danube for the rest of 372 to once again deal with the Quadi and others.
Diplomatic offensives
- frustrated at not having enough time to focus on his domestic agenda, Julian concludes peace with the tribes along the Danube in 373. He then travels to Rome, where he mediates a dispute that was brewing in North Africa between the local governor and the Moorish tribes.
- after 3 days of meeting with the Senate, Julian is once again forced to sail east, where the Persian King is preparing to invade Armenia. Mustering his forces in Antioch (a city for which he had no love whatsoever), Julians' emissaries reach an agreement with the Sassanids and war is averted
Administering the Empire
- for the next 3 years, Julians Empire is at peace and stable, allowing him to focus more on domestic concerns, with mixed result - despite his best efforts to administratively harrass it, Christianity continues to grow and thrive, though it is far less united then before. The army and an increasing proportion of central and regional administration though sees more and more pagans being appointed to positions of power
- Julians project for a pagan charity organisation finally takes off around this time, with full backing from state coffers
- With Julian micro-managing numerous disputes and problems, the administration continues its path towards increasing efficiency, although the improved collection rate of taxes doesn't seem to cheer up anyone
Gothic War
- by 376, the Goths have settled south of the Danube, driven by the advancing Huns. With famine, disease and Roman oppression, war erupted. Julian however decided against taking to the field in Thrace, instead opting to order local forces to adopt a defensive stance whilst he moved his armies east, where an Arab revolt, led by queen Mavia, had taken place in conjunction with a Persian invasion
- in 377 Julian concludes peace with Persia, agreeing to pay a 10-year tribute, whilst the Arabs are placated by being offered increased privileges
- heading a mixed Roman-Arabic force, Julian arrives in Thrace in early 378 and rendezvous with reinforcements advancing from the west; over the next five years, he will campaign against the Goths and their coalition, more or less destroying Thrace in the process. In the end, he will earn the cognomen Gothicus as a result of his victory. The remaining Goths stil left alive are either sent east or sold as slaves in small groups throughout the Empire
Succession
By now, Julian's son had been more or less in charge of state affairs for some years, occasionaly campaigning alongside his father, other times taking to the field by himself, where he enjoyed his fair share of military victories in what were no more than minor engagements. During the last year of his life, Julian had been racked by illness, which, while it did occasionaly subside, allowing him to appear in public from time to time, ultimately took its toll on him. This process thrust his son more and more into a leadership role, until he eventually assumed full power in 384, when Julian finally drew his last breath, aged 53.