<P> The numbers and effectiveness of the regular soldiers may have declined during the fourth century: payrolls were inflated so that pay could be diverted and exemptions from duty sold, their opportunities for personal extortion were multiplied by residence in cities, and their effectiveness was reduced by concentration on extortion instead of drill . However, extortion, gross corruption, and occasional ineffectiveness were not new to the Roman army; there is no consensus whether its effectiveness significantly declined before 376 . Ammianus Marcellinus, himself a professional soldier, repeats longstanding observations about the superiority of contemporary Roman armies being due to training and discipline, not to physical size or strength . Despite a possible decrease in its ability to assemble and supply large armies, Rome maintained an aggressive and potent stance against perceived threats almost to the end of the fourth century . </P> <P> Julian (r . 360--363) launched a drive against official corruption which allowed the tax demands in Gaul to be reduced to one - third of their previous amount, while all government requirements were still met . In civil legislation Julian was notable for his pro-pagan policies . All Christian sects were officially tolerated by Julian, persecution of heretics was forbidden, and non-Christian religions were encouraged . Some Christians continued to destroy temples, disrupt rituals, and break sacred images, seeking martyrdom and at times achieving it at the hands of non-Christian mobs or secular authorities; some pagans attacked the Christians who had previously been involved with the destruction of temples . </P> <P> Julian won victories against Germans who had invaded Gaul . He launched an expensive campaign against the Persians, which ended in defeat and his own death . He succeeded in marching to the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, but lacked adequate supplies for an assault . He burned his boats and supplies to show resolve in continuing operations, but the Sassanids began a war of attrition by burning crops . Finding himself cut off in enemy territory, he began a land retreat during which he was mortally wounded . His successor Jovian, acclaimed by a demoralized army, began his brief reign (363--364) trapped in Mesopotamia without supplies . To purchase safe passage home, he had to concede areas of northern Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, including the strategically important fortress of Nisibis, which had been Roman since before the Peace of Nisibis in 299 . </P> <P> The brothers Valens (r . 364--378) and Valentinian I (r . 364--375) energetically tackled the threats of barbarian attacks on all the Western frontiers and tried to alleviate the burdens of taxation, which had risen continuously over the previous forty years; Valens in the East reduced the tax demand by half in his fourth year . </P>

3 reasons for the fall of the western roman empire