Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho (c. 359 - August 22, 408) was a high-ranking general (magister militum) and Patrician of the Western Roman Empire.

Contents

1 Defender of the Empire 2 Downfall 3 Sources 4 Notes

Defender of the Empire

He was born in what is today Germany, a member of the Vandals. He joined the Roman army and rose to the rank of general during the reign of Theodosius I. Stilicho was tasked with defending the West against attacks from the Visigoths, a role he endured for some twenty years. To cement a blood tie with him, Theodosius married his niece, Serena to Stilicho, and appointed him guardian over his son, Honorius.

Following the death of Theodosius, Honorius became emperor of the Western Empire, and Arcadius of the Eastern half. Neither proved to be effective emperors, and Stilicho came to be de facto commander-in-chief of the Roman armies. In this capacity, Stilicho proved his abilities energetically. He defeated the forces of the Visigoth warlord Alaric in Greece and Macedonia during 397, although Alaric himself escaped into the surrounding mountains. The same year saw him successfully quell a revolt in Africa. Subsequently he was deployed to Rhaetia in 401, where he led an extensive campaign against his former kinsmen, the Vandals, and other barbarian marauders, which also saw him fight and win two more major battles against Alaric, at Pollentia in 402 and Verona in 403. In 405, he ordered the destruction of the Sibylline Books.

Downfall

Despite his successes, his non-Roman background and Arian religion tainted him in the eyes of the imperial courtiers, who in 408 plotted his death. The courtiers spread rumors that he planned the assassination of Rufinus, of intreguing with his old adversary Alaric, of inviting the barbarians into Gaul in 406, and of planning to place his son on the imperial throne. The Roman army at Ticinum mutinied on August 13, killing at least seven senior imperial officers (Zosimus 5.32), followed by events which John Matthews observed "have every appearance of a thoroughly co-ordinated coup d'etat organized by Stilicho's political opponents." ¹ Stilicho retired to Ravenna, where he was taken into captivity. Although it was within his ability to contest the charges, Stilicho did not resist, either because of guilt or for fear of the consequences to the already-precarious state of the Western Empire.

Some historians have claimed that unlike many of his Germanic contemporaries, Stilicho served the Empire's interest faithfully, and sought to preserve what was left of the Roman legacy.

Sources

Besides the relevant legal records in the Codex Theodosianus, the major primary source for the events of Stilicho's reign are the panegyrics addressed to him by the poet Claudian.

Notes

1. John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364 - 425 (Oxford: University Press, 1990), p.281.