Constantius and Julian
Constantius II
But with the death of Constantine the Sassanids,
who had finished their civil war, attacked the Roman Empire again. Constantius
needed somebody to lead the army in the East while he dealt with the
Germans. He first chose a cousin of his named Gallus, but Gallus turned
out to be both incompetent and cruel, and Constantius soon had him killed.
Then Constantius chose Gallus' younger brother Julian. This time Constantius
went to fight the Sassanids,
while he sent Julian to fight the Germans.
Julian
Julian unexpectedly did a good job fighting the Germans,
and his army in Paris
raised him to Emperor. Constantius rushed back to fight Julian, but
he died of a heart attack on the way. So in 361 AD, Julian became the
Roman Emperor.
The first thing Julian did was to announce that he had only been pretending to be a Christian. Actually, he hated Christians. He tried to bring back traditional Roman religion, but his ideas about religion were not the usual ones, and the whole thing made him unpopular. By 363 AD Julian was killed (maybe by one of his own men) while he was fighting the Sassanids in the East.
To find out more about Diocletian and Constantine and their successors, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
The Roman Empire, by Don Nardo (1994). For middle schoolers and high schoolers - from Augustus to the fall of Rome.
Diocletian and the Roman Recovery, by Stephen Williams (1985). Gives Diocletian more credit for the recovery than I would, but there aren't any other biographies of Diocletian in English.
Constantine, by Nancy Zinsser Walworth (1989). A biography for kids.
Constantine and the Conversion of Europe, by A. H. M. Jones (1948, reprinted 1979). Still the best account of how Constantine came to convert to Christianity, and of his relationship with the Church throughout his reign. It's not specifically for kids, but high schoolers could read it.
The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor, by D. G. Kousoulas (2nd edition 2003). A biography of Constantine.
Julian the Apostate, by G. W. Bowersock (1978). A great biography, and lively reading too!
Theodosius and his sons
Main Roman history page
