 Julian certainly had a clear idea of what he wanted Roman society to be, both in political as well as religious terms.The terrible and violent dislocation of the 3rd century meant that the Eastern Mediterranean had become the economic locus of the Empire.If the cities were treated as relatively autonomous local administrative areas, it would simplify the problems of imperial administration, which as far as Julian was concerned, should be focused on the administration of the law and defense of the empire's vast frontiers.