<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> <P> Both were Christians and confiscated the temple lands that Julian had restored, but were generally tolerant of other beliefs . Valentinian in the West refused to intervene in religious controversy; in the East, Valens had to deal with Christians who did not conform to his ideas of orthodoxy, and persecution formed part of his response . The wealth of the church increased dramatically, immense resources both public and private being used for ecclesiastical construction and support of the religious life . Bishops in wealthy cities were thus able to offer vast patronage; Ammianus described some as "enriched from the offerings of matrons, ride seated in carriages, wearing clothing chosen with care, and serve banquets so lavish that their entertainments outdo the tables of kings". Edward Gibbon remarked that "the soldiers' pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity", though there are no figures for the monks and nuns nor for their maintenance costs . Pagan rituals and buildings had not been cheap either; the move to Christianity may not have had significant effects on the public finances . Some public disorder also followed competition for prestigious posts; Pope Damasus I was installed in 366 after an election whose casualties included a hundred and thirty - seven corpses in the basilica of Sicininus . </P>

What were the causes of the decline of the roman empire