Information about Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (ca. 359 – August 22, 408) was a high-ranking general (magister militum) and Patrician of the Western Roman Empire, notably of semi-barbarian birth.

Early life

The date and place of Stilicho's birth are unknown. His mother was a Roman while his father was a Vandal. Jerome (St.), the contemporary Roman Catholic historian and Doctor of the Church, had referred to him as a semi-barbarus. Despite his father's origins there is little to suggest that Stilicho considered himself anything other than a Roman, although he was possibly an Arian rather than Catholic/Orthodox.

Career (to 400)

He joined the Roman army and rose through the ranks during the reign of Theodosius I, who ruled the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from Constantinople, and who was to become the last emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western halves of the Empire jointly. In 384, Theodosius sent him as an envoy to the court of the Persian king Shapur III to negotiate a peace settlement relating to the partition of Armenia. Upon his return to Constantinople at the successful conclusion of peace talks, Stilicho was promoted to general and was tasked with defending the empire against attacks from the Visigoths, a role that he undertook for some twenty years. The emperor recognized that Stilicho could be a valuable ally, and to form a blood tie with him, Theodosius married his adopted niece Serena to Stilicho. The marriage took place around the time of Stilicho's mission to Persia, and ultimately Serena gave birth to a son who was named Eucherius.

After the assassination of the Western Emperor Valentinian II in 392, Stilicho helped raise the army that Theodosius would lead to victory at the Battle of the Frigidus, and was one of the Eastern leaders in that battle. One of his comrades during the campaign was the Visigothic warlord Alaric, who commanded a substantial number of Gothic auxiliaries. Alaric would go on to become Stilicho's chief adversary during his later career as the head of the Western Roman armies. Stilicho distinguished himself at the Frigidus, and Theodosius, exhausted by the campaign, saw him as a man worthy of responsibility for the future safety of the Empire. The last emperor of a united Rome appointed Stilicho guardian of his son, Honorius shortly before his death in 395.

Following the death of Theodosius, Honorius became emperor of the Western Empire, and his brother Arcadius of the Eastern half. Neither proved to be effective emperors, and Stilicho came to be the de facto commander-in-chief of the Roman armies in the West. In this capacity, Stilicho proved his abilities energetically, although political manuverings by agents of the two imperial courts would hinder him throughout his career.

His first brush with such court politics came in 395. The Visigoths living near the Danube were under pressure from the Huns, and had recently elected Alaric as their king. Alaric broke his treaty with Rome and led his people on a raid into Thrace. The army that had been victorious at the Frigidus was still assembled, and Stilicho led it toward Alaric's forces. As this army, a combination of formations from both halves of the empire, marched into the Eastern Empire, Arcadius recalled the Eastern formations to Constantinople. Arcadius was acting on advice from his Praetorian Prefect, Rufinus, who was an old enemy of Stilicho. Stilicho loyally obeyed the order and sent off his Eastern troops, and returned west. Rufinus gained little from his political victory over Stilicho, as the returning troops (under Gainas) killed him upon their arrival in Constantinople (27 November 395).

Two years later, in 397, Alaric began to make trouble anew. Stilicho landed forces in Macedonia, and gained the tactical superiority over Alaric at Elis. This time Eutropius, who had succeeded Rufinus as Arcadius' advisor, persuaded the Eastern Roman emperor to order Stilicho to turn back. Firmly against civil war, Stilicho again obeyed.

Trouble was fermenting in North Africa. Gildo, who controlled Mauretania, the granary of the Western Roman Empire, rebelled against Rome after he had been egged on by Eutropius. Stilicho promptly dispatched an army of 5,000 troops under Mascezel. Gildo had 70,000 Africans, but his forces were undisciplined. They were defeated quickly with very little bloodshed taking place, and Gildo was captured. He either committed suicide or was executed (398).

Towards the end of the fourth century, Stilicho found time to mount a successful naval expedition against the wild Picts, who had caused trouble in Britain.

In 399 Stilicho, a Christian, destroyed the Sibylline Books, which were the old pagan prophesies of ancient Rome. For this action, he was severely criticized by the pagans.

After the downfalls of Rufinus and Eutropius, Flavius Anthemius became the new praetorian prefect of the Eastern Roman Empire. Superior in all respects to his immediate predecessors, Anthemius fostered good relations towards the Western Roman Empire. He wanted no trouble with Stilicho, and later the two capable leaders even shared joint consulships.

Stilicho to the Rescue (401-405)

In 401, two barbarian leaders planned the joint invasion of the Roman Empire - Alaric and the Ostrogoth, Radagaisus. Radagaisus, with Alans, Sueves, and Vandals, attacked first, and invaded Raetia (Rhaetia). Stilicho rushed his soldiers to the area, crossed the Danube River, and crushed Radagaisus. Wasting no time, Stilicho turned his attention towards Alaric and his Visigoths, who had invaded Italy. Bravely hastening on in advance of his main body of troops (30,000), he hurled his crack units in a surprise night attack against Alaric's position around Milan. Alaric had to raise the siege of the city. One of his chieftains implored him to retreat, but Alaric refused. On Easter Sunday at Pollentia (6 April 402), Stilicho defeated Alaric and captured his camp along with his wife. Alaric managed to escape with most of his men. This battle was the last victory celebrated in a triumphal march in Rome, which was saved for the time being.

The Visigoths tried again. In 403 at Verona, Stilicho again bested Alaric, who as Gibbon said only escaped by the speed of his horse. A truce was made and the Gothic leader went to Illyricum. Alaric would no longer dare to attack Rome while Stilicho was at the helm.

Radagaisus, though, raised new forces in Germany and perhaps Scandinavia; he boasted that he would take Rome. In 405, he led a huge force of Germanic invaders, estimated at 100,000-300,000, and invaded Italy. This was the largest force that ever invaded the old Roman Empire; it consisted of Ostrogoths, Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Burgundians. A horde of perhaps 100,000 besieged the city of Florence. Stilicho first attacked and drove off the Germans; then he followed them in pursuit. The barbarians were caught at Fiesole, surrounded, and starved. Then the Romans stormed the camp and obliterated all oppostion, and Radagaisus was captured.

Stilicho was a military genius who had again saved Rome. He continually defeated larger armies and inflicted great losses upon his opponents while conserving his own military manpower. Stilicho's glory was at its height.

Downfall (406-408)

Stilicho had never lost a battle. But the situation for the Roman Empire was unravelling. Barbarians had crossed the Rhine frontier into Gaul on 31 December 406, never to retreat. Then in 407, a usurper, Constantine, was declared emperor by his troops in Britain, and crossed over into Gaul. But his objectives were unclear. Despite Stilicho's successes, many criticized him for Alaric's historic escapes (especially Orosius). Olympius, a jealous Greek official, plotted Stilicho's death in 408. He turned Emperor Honorius against Stilicho, then spread rumors that he was intriguing with his old adversary Alaric, that he had invited the barbarians into Gaul, and that he planned to place his son on the imperial throne. The pagans were certainly against Stilicho, not only because he was a Christian, but because he had ordered the destruction of the Sibylline Books.

Instigated by Olympius, the Roman army at Ticinum mutinied on August 13, killing at least seven senior imperial officers (Zosimus 5.32). This was 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 do so. Stilicho ordered his men not to resist. Without benefit of a fair trial, he was executed by Heraclian on 22 August 408. His son Eucherius was murdered in Rome shortly afterwards. The emperor Honorius restored his wife Thermantia, Stilicho's daughter, to her mother Serena. (Honorius had earlier married Maria, Stilicho's older daughter. After Maria's death in early 408, the emperor married Stilicho's other daughter, Thermantia.)

Postmortem

In the disturbances which followed the downfall and execution of Stilicho, the wives and children of barbarian foederati throughout Italy were slain by the locals. The natural consequence was that these men (estimates describe their numbers as perhaps 30,000 strong) flocked to the protection of Alaric, and clamored to be led against their new enemies. The Visigothic king accordingly crossed the Julian Alps and began a campaign through the heart of Italy. By September 408, the barbarians stood before the walls of Rome.

Without a strong general like Stilicho to control the by-now mostly barbarian army, Honorius could do little to break the siege, and adopted a passive strategy trying to wait out Alaric, hoping to regather his forces to defeat the Visigoths in the meantime. Unfortunately, after three separate sieges of the Eternal City in two years (in hopes of being paid off), Alaric stormed into the city through the open Salarian Gate (August 410). For the first time in eight centuries a foreign invader had entered Rome. The Goths stayed three days, but Alaric did not enjoy his victory for long. He died suddenly just two months after taking Rome (October 410).

Olympius received his comeuppance. As he was useless against Alaric, he fell from power in 409. This evil man was destined to die by the lash.

Rome did recover for a time, and Constantius was an able general and even became co-emperor with Honorius for a short time. After Constantius, Aetius, the "last of the Romans", defeated Attila and the Huns in a decisive battle. But on 4 September 476 it was all over for the western half of the empire.

Controversy

A chief debate regarding Stilicho is whether his defense of the empire was more out of self-interest than loyalty to Rome or Theodosius. Many historians argue that his chief goal was elevating his son to emperor, perhaps while reuniting the whole empire, but Eucherius never had more than a minor role in the government. Furthermore, Stilicho was too loyal to instigate war with the Eastern Empire, no matter what the reason was. In fact, a later government inquiry into Stilicho's dealings did not find a shred of evidence of any disloyalty.

While it is true that Stilicho wanted The Eastern Empire to return Illyricum to the Western Roman Empire, he certainly did not want to risk civil war. Stilicho was far too faithful and Roman for that. Illyricum had been given to the East by Emperor Gratian in 379. The province was important as a source of recruitment, and after the devastating religious civil war (Revolt of Arbogast and Eugenius, 392-394) which culminated in the Battle of the Frigidus, it was hard to raise troops. Stilicho knew that he commanded the last field army of Rome.

Among the problems for Stilicho were praetorian prefects like the Gallic traitor Rufinus (who had plotted with Alaric before his revolt near Constantinople in 395), the scheming Armenian eunuch Eutropius, and finally Olympius. Olympius was a crafty Greek palace official who had turned the emperor Honorius against Stilicho. Previously Olympius had caused trouble in Constantinople in 399. In 408 Olympius falsely convinced the weak Honorius that Stilicho had planned to place his son Eucherius on the eastern throne following the death of Eastern Roman Emperor Acadius during that spring.

The reviews of the sources are mixed. Zosimus (New History), the eastern historian who lived after Stilicho's time, attacked the great leader. But Zosimus was biased against Christians, and was critical of the Christian rulers like Constantine, Theodosius, and Stilicho. His believed that the Christian emperors and leaders had caused the pagan gods to abandon their protection of Rome. Modern writer Ferrill (1986) savaged Stilicho for obviously different reasons (strategical). But Ferrill has to praise the incompetent Honorius to lower Stilicho's stature, a blunder. A contemporary of Stilicho - Claudian, the last great writer of imperial Rome - thoroughly praised his victories in the court of Honorius. Also Gibbon's hero was the undaunting Stilicho, who was always coming to the rescue. The definitive modern study is probably Santo Mazzarino (1942), but this Italian work is not translated into English (Stilicone: La Crisi Imperiale dopo Teodosio, Stilicho - the Imperial Crisis after Theodosius). Mazzarino did write a later book that was translated into English in 1966, La fine del mondo antico (The End of the Ancient World). Here he commented briefly about Stilicho, and referred to him as the very able commander of the West.

In short, Stilicho was a determined, energenic, and honorable man who was too busy fixing the empire's problems to have time to deal with court intrigue and scheming men like Olympius. When realization finally struck Stilicho in August 408, there was nothing left for him to do. The government was against him just two years following his greatest triumph.

Fictional treatments

Stilicho has appeared in a number of fictional works, both as a protagonist and as an antagonist.

• In the early novels of Jack Whyte's Arthurian series. In these books he had a notable connection to the Britannicus family, whom Whyte ties to the legends of Merlin, Arthur, and Camelot.
• In Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. He is depicted as one of the last noble and capable leaders of the Empire, and willingly accepts his unjust execution over starting another civil war.
• In the first of William Napier's Attila trilogy (2005). He is killed on the orders of Princess Galla Placida, who suspects him of plotting with young Attila, their royal hostage.
• In the historical novel The Fall of Rome by R. A. Lafferty (see Wikipedia entry), he is one of the main characters, along with Alaric.

Notes

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

Sources

Besides the relevant legal records in the Codex Theodosianus, the major primary source for the events of Stilicho's reign, or at least events prior to 404, are the panegyrics addressed to him by the poet Claudian. For events after 404, Zosimus is a main source, although as a pagan, he felt a strong distaste for a Christian like Stilicho.

Further reading

• Bury, J.B. History of the Later Roman Empire.
• Claudian. "De Bello Gildonico"
• Claudian. "De Consulatu Stilichonis"
• Claudian. "In Eutropium"
• Claudian. "In Rufinum"
• Ferrill, Arther. The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation.
• Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
• Zosimus. Historia Nova.
• Santo Mazzarino. Stilicone: La Crisi Imperiale dopo Teodosio. (Stilicho - the Imperial Crisis after Theodosius - English Translation not available) (1942) (Rizzoli ISBN 9788817336161)
• Santo Mazzarino. La fine del mondo antico. Le cause della caduta dell'impero romano (1959) (now: Rizzoli, 2002, ISBN 9788817100465)''
• (English translation by George Holmes as The end of the ancient world. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966, (West Hanover : Halliday Lithograph corp.)
• Santo Mazzarino. Serena e le due Eudossie. Roma, Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani, 1946 ISBN 9788873112211

External link

• Claudian at LacusCurtius (A collection of Claudian's works in both Latin and English, including his panegyrics for Stilicho.)