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Why did the people of Antioch ridicule Julian?

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Julian Julian the Apostate, detail of a marble statue; in the Louvre, Paris.

The people of Antioch ridiculed Emperor Julian primarily due to his personal conduct, his religious policies, and his affectation of being a philosopher.1

While Julian was preparing for a military campaign against the Persians in Antioch, his actions—such as closing the city's great basilica and removing the relics of the martyr Babylas from the sacred grove of Daphne—deeply offended the Christian population. Furthermore, his priggish austerity and his insistence on maintaining a philosopher's beard as a symbol of his wisdom made him a target of mockery among the Antiochenes.1

In response to this derision, Julian authored a pamphlet titled Misopogon (meaning "Beard Hater"), in which he sharply criticized the citizens of Antioch for their ridicule of his lifestyle, his religious devotion, and his claims to philosophical status.1