<P> Within the late Roman military, many recruits and even officers had barbarian origins, and soldiers are recorded as using possibly - barbarian rituals such as elevating a claimant on shields . Some scholars have seen this as an indication of weakness; others disagree, seeing neither barbarian recruits nor new rituals as causing any problem with the effectiveness or loyalty of the army . </P> <P> In 313 Constantine I declared official toleration of Christianity, followed over the ensuing decades by establishment of Christian orthodoxy and by official and private action against pagans and non-orthodox Christians . His successors generally continued this process, and Christianity became the religion of any ambitious civil official . Under Constantine the cities lost their revenue from local taxes, and under Constantius II (r . 337--361) their endowments of property . This worsened the existing difficulty in keeping the city councils up to strength, and the services provided by the cities were scamped or abandoned . Public building projects became fewer, more often repairs than new construction, and now provided at state expense rather than by local grandees wishing to consolidate long - term local influence . A further financial abuse was Constantius's increased habit of granting to his immediate entourage the estates of persons condemned of treason and other capital charges; this reduced future though not immediate income, and those close to the emperor gained a strong incentive to stimulate his suspicion of plots . </P> <P> Constantine settled Franks on the lower left bank of the Rhine; their settlements required a line of fortifications to keep them in check, indicating that Rome had lost almost all local control . Under Constantius, bandits came to dominate areas such as Isauria well within the empire . The tribes of Germany also became more populous and more threatening . In Gaul, which did not really recover from the invasions of the third century, there was widespread insecurity and economic decline in the 300s, perhaps worst in Armorica . By 350, after decades of pirate attacks, virtually all villas in Armorica were deserted, and local use of money ceased about 360 . Repeated attempts to economize on military expenditure included billeting troops in cities, where they could less easily be kept under military discipline and could more easily extort from civilians . Except in the rare case of a determined and incorruptible general, these troops proved ineffective in action and dangerous to civilians . Frontier troops were often given land rather than pay; as they farmed for themselves, their direct costs diminished, but so did their effectiveness, and there was much less economic stimulus to the frontier economy . However, except for the provinces along the lower Rhine, the agricultural economy was generally doing well . The average nutritional state of the population in the West suffered a serious decline in the late second century; the population of North - Western Europe did not recover, though the Mediterranean regions did . </P> <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>

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