Stilicho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome Read online

  First published in Great Britain in 2010 by

  PEN & SWORD MILITARY

  an imprint of

  Pen & Sword Books Ltd

  47 Church Street

  Barnsley

  South Yorkshire

  S70 2AS

  Copyright © Ian Hughes, 2010

  ISBN 978 1 84415 969 7

  eISBN 9781848849105

  The right of Ian Hughes to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

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  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  List of Illustrations

  List of Maps

  Foreword

  Introduction

  Abbreviations

  1. The Roman Empire and its Neighbours

  2. Stilicho, Serena and Theodosius

  3. Command in the West

  4. The Roman Army

  5. The Barbarian Armies

  6. The Campaign in Illyricum, 395

  7. The Rhine and the Greek Campaign, 396–7

  8. Gildo’s Revolt and the African Campaign, 398

  9. Consolidation, 398–400

  10. Alaric and the Invasion of Italy, 401–402

  11. The West and the Invasion of Radagaisus, 402–406

  12. Stilicho and the Invasion of Illyricum, 406–407

  13. The British Revolt and the Invasion of Gaul, 406–407

  14. Stilicho Responds to the Invasions, 407–408

  15. The Fall of Stilicho

  16. Stilicho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome?

  Notes

  Appendix I: Glossary

  Appendix II: Outline Chronology

  Appendix III: Select Personalities

  Select Bibliography

  For Joanna and Owen

  For their patience and understanding

  Acknowledgements

  My first thanks must go once again to Philip Sidnell for his confidence in giving a second contract to an unknown author. I hope that this book repays that confidence.

  I would like to thank Adrian Goldsworthy for again agreeing to read through early drafts of the entire book, a task which demanded a vast amount of patience and humour – mainly at my expense. For reading excerpted chapters I would like to thank Philip Matyszak, Robert Jones and Robert Vermaat for their time, encouragement and suggestions.

  For helping me to secure otherwise impossible-to-acquire books, I would like to thank the staff at Thurnscoe Branch Library, Barnsley, and especially Andrea World of the Inter-Library Loans Department of Barnsley Libraries.

  I would very much like to thank the following people for kindly allowing me to use their photographs in the plates: Beast Coins (www.beastcoins.com), Giovanni Dall’Orto of Wikimedia, Mario Ierardi (www.geocities.com), PHG of Wikipedia, and Majed Salem of Saudi Arabia.

  From the website ‘Flickr’ I would like to thank: J C Cuesta, Dobersch, Tilemahos Efthimiadis, Erindipity, Fanaticissima, Sarah Gould, Keiron Hart, James MacDonald, MarkusMark, and Paul Murray.

  I would like to express my gratitude to Assistant Professor Bret Mulligan of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, for his willingness to converse on the inscription to Claudian (Plate 3).

  The book would not have been the same without the contribution of the members of both www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/ and www.unrv.com.forum. They have been exceptionally patient, especially with regards to questions about the availability of photographs.

  I would also like to thank Patrik of Sweden (www.unrv.com) for his special efforts to secure high-quality pictures, and finally, Adrian Wink of Armamentaria (www.armamentaria.com) for once again allowing me to reproduce photographs of his excellent reproductions.

  To all of these individuals, once again my heart-felt thanks.

  However, most of all I would like to thank Joanna for her endurance in reading through yet another book about ‘some bloke from ancient Rome’. For her patience and understanding I will for ever be in her debt.

  And finally to my son Owen, I would like to apologize for all of the times when he has wanted to play and has been told, ‘Sorry, Daddy is working’. Your patience will now bear fruit, as the work is finally finished …

  List of Illustrations

  Line drawings

  1. A selection of spear and dart heads (after Bishop and Coulston/ Stephenson)

  2. Late Roman sword from Köln (after Bishop and Coulston)

  3. Detail from sculpture at Gamzigrad

  4. Front and rear views of a ridge helmet (after Stephenson)

  5. A more complex ridge helmet from Conçesti (after Stephenson)

  6. The Intercisa 4 ridge helmet and the Leiden spangenhelm

  7. Details from the Arch of Galerius

  8. A tenth-century illustration showing the overarm use of a spear and a drawing from the Stuttgart psalter showing a ridge helmet and a shield with a ‘spiked’ boss (after Boss)

  9. Franciscas

  10. A selection of the grave goods from a single grave at Krefeld-Gellep (after Sautter)

  11. A small selection of Germanic shields, showing some of the shapes used other than round or oval (after Czarnecka: not to scale).

  Plate section

  1. Plaque of Serena in the Basilica of San Nazaro, Milan. (Courtesy, Giovanni Dall’Orto)

  2. Monument in the forum in Rome dedicated to Stilicho. (Courtesy of G. Dobersch)

  3. Statue base dedicated to Claudian, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. (Courtesy, Berliner Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften)

  4. Mosaic from Faenza, Italy, showing a ‘heroic’, ‘nude’ Honorius seated on his throne along with Stilicho, who is standing on the left. (Courtesy, Nic Fields)

  5. The Bas Relief of the Obelisk of Theodosius, from the Hippodrome in Constantinople. (Courtesy, Erindipity, Flickr)

  6. The Colossus of Barletta. (Courtesy, Fanaticissima, Flickr)

  7. Gurlitt’s reconstruction of the Column of Arcadius (1912)

  8. The Colonne di San Lorenzo, Milan. (Courtesy, Paul Murray, Flickr)

  9. A Cheiroballista from Trajan’s Column.

  10. Detail from the Arch of Galerius. (Courtesy, Tilemahos Efthimiadis, Flickr)

  11. Another section of the Arch of Galerius, showing troops wearing ring mail. (Courtesy, © Lorraine Kerr, caeciliametellaphotography.info)

  12. Coin from the reign of Constantine I, showing the emperor in a ‘pilleus pannonicus’ (Pannonian hat). (Courtesy, Beast Coins)

  13. Coin from the reign of Constantine I, showing the emperor in what may be a ridge helmet. (Courtesy, Beast Coins)

  14. Coin from the reign of Honorius. (Courtesy, Beast Coins)

  15. Gold Aureus issued by Constantine III. (Courtesy, Beast Coins)

  16. Gold Aureus issued b
y Honorius. (Courtesy, Beast Coins)

  17. The Intercisa 4 helmet.

  18. A reconstruction of the helmet found near Koblenz. (Courtesy www.armamentaria.com)

  19. A reconstruction of the ‘Intercisa 1’ helmet. (Courtesy, www.armamentaria.com)

  20. A reconstruction of ‘Intercisa 2’. (Courtesy, www.armamentaria.com)

  21. A reconstruction of a plumbata. (Courtesy, www.armamentaria.com)

  22. A reconstruction of a Roman spatha. (Courtesy, www.armamentaria.com)

  23. ‘The Burial of Alaric in the Bed of the Busentinus’, by Leutemann.

  24. Consular diptych of Probus Anicius, consul in 406, depicting Emperor Honorius. (Photograph from Ludwig von Sybel, Christliche Antike, vol. 2, Marburg, 1909)

  25. The Symmachi-Nicomachi Diptych.

  26. The Stilicho Diptych. (Courtesy, © Majed Salem, Saudi Arabia)

  27. A beautiful Gothic Eagle, dating to c.500.

  28. A Christian pendant owned by Stilicho’s daughter Maria, wife of the Emperor Honorius. (Musée de Louvre, Courtesy, PHG, Wikipedia)

  29. The Insignia of the Magister Peditum from the Notitia Dignitatum (Oc. 5.1).

  30. Insignia of the Magister Officiorum from the Notitia Dignitatum (Oc.9.1).

  31. The Basilica di Sant’ Ambrogio, Milan, location of ‘Stilicho’s Sarcophagus’. (Courtesy, Keiron Hart, Flickr)

  32. Detail of the central panel of the Sarcophagus. (Courtesy, Giovanni Dall’Orto)

  33. The sarcophagus itself is heavily decorated and ornamented. (Courtesy, Giovanni Dall’Orto)

  34. Remains of the Neonian (Orthodox) Baptistery, Ravenna.

  35. Santa Agata Maggiore, Ravenna. (Courtesy, J C Cuesta, Flickr)

  36. The Basilica di San Nazaro, Milan. (Courtesy, MarkusMark, Flickr)

  List of Maps

  1. The Roman Empire on the death of Theodosius

  2. The enemies of the Roman Empire, AD 395

  3. The tetrarchy and the prefectures of the Roman Empire

  4. The division of the Empire under Valentinian II, Gratian and Valens

  5. The Battles of Argentoratum and Adrianople

  6. Magnus Maximus and the Civil War

  7. The Civil Wars in the Balkans

  8. Route of Theodosius and possible location of Arbogast

  9. Barbarian attacks on the East

  10. The enemies of the Western Roman Empire, AD 395

  11. Stilicho’s first campaign in Illyricum, AD 395

  12. The return of the Diocese of Illyricum (previously Pannonia)

  13. Stilicho’s campaign in Illyricum, AD 397

  14. Mascezel’s route to Africa

  15. Alaric as magister militum per Illyricum with associated fabricae

  16. Alaric’s invasion of Italy

  17. Stilicho and the West

  18. Radagaisus’ invasion of Italy

  19. The invasion of Illyricum

  20. The barbarian invasions of Gaul

  21. Stilicho’s response to the invasions

  22. The fall of Stilicho

  Foreword

  It is a great pleasure to write this brief foreword to Ian Hughes’ second book, following on from his earlier study of Belisarius as a general. Stilicho is in many ways the most fascinating of the succession of military strongmen who dominated the Western Roman Empire in the last few generations of its existence. He stands out in a period when few personalities register, and even fewer command any respect or admiration. Much of this has to do with the manner of his death, accepting arrest – and in fact execution – rather than leading his still-loyal troops in a war against the emperor. This single act, coming at the end of a long career, powerfully shapes our mental image of the man, and yet even this is surrounded in mystery. He may have acted through courage and a sense of duty to the state, feeling that it was better to accept the arbitrary judgement of an ungrateful and incompetent emperor rather than to start yet another internal conflict. Or perhaps he was just too tired to care, already mentally defeated, and rightly or wrongly believed that he could not hope to beat the Emperor Honorius. We simply do not know.

  Indeed there is so much that we do not know about Stilicho’s career and the broader history of these years. Details are often elusive, as is the broader context. From a military perspective, we not only lack full accounts of even the most important campaigns of this period, but also a wider sense of what the Roman army in Stilicho’s day was like and how it operated. There is very little hard evidence for the scale of operations, the size of the forces led in the field by Stilicho, or the numbers of warriors following the barbarian leaders. Far less is also certainly known about the workings of the Roman state in these years than is often assumed. Stilicho’s world is glimpsed only in scattered fragments of information. A few facts are known, other details are more or less plausibly guessed, while some remain elusive – no more than conjecture however confidently asserted.

  It is a frustrating and intriguing challenge to write the history of this period. Ian Hughes sets himself an even more difficult task in writing a biography of Stilicho, where the central thread is the career of just one man. It is well worthwhile, for it is always good to remind ourselves that men like Stilicho, Honorius and Alaric were just human beings. Historians rightly concern themselves with wider social trends, where the successes and failures of individuals are seen principally as illustrations of broader patterns. Yet this is not how people actually live their lives, and it is very dangerous to remove this human element from history.

  Biography has another advantage, in that it forces the historian to maintain a clear chronological narrative. In more general studies it is all too easy to pull fragments of information from diverse contexts to create an overall picture, which over time can often become so firmly entrenched that historians forget how it was first formed. In this book Hughes make sensible use of evidence from outside the period, but remains focused on the career of Stilicho himself. Simply looking at this in detail is highly valuable, as is considering such practical things as how quickly events could have occurred, and how fast information, individuals, armies or supplies could have travelled. Rapid summaries, and still more a thematic approach, all too often conceal serious flaws in the reconstruction of events.

  Any historian working on this period will inevitably ask more questions than he or she can possibly answer with confidence. Hughes is very good at asking questions, and has a welcome willingness to challenge established orthodoxy on this period. He also has the honesty to let the reader know that there are some things we simply do not understand. His own suggestions are made clear as suggestions based on the available evidence, not facts, and the reasons for his conclusions explained. The best history encourages readers to follow the line of reasoning and decide for themselves whether or not to accept the ideas. The evidence for so many things is poor – perhaps poorer than is often understood – and this means that Hughes’ discussion ranges widely. Apart from the study of Stilicho himself, there is much that is thought provoking about the wider history of this period and the nature of the army and empire. Agree or not, the reader cannot fail to be challenged.

  As well as the problems over detail, Stilicho’s career is significant for many broader questions. The Western Empire he served and for a while dominated would cease to exist by the end of the fifth century. Just two years after Stilicho’s death, Alaric sacked Rome, making the execution of the Roman general assume even greater importance than most other political struggles between Roman emperors and their senior ministers. Stilicho had dominated the western empire for thirteen highly eventful years. During that time he managed to contain Alaric, but did not inflict a decisive defeat on him. It is quite possible that he never actually attempted to achieve such a victory, and may have judged that with the resources at his disposal, it was neither practical nor necessarily desirable. Alaric was not the only threat, and at times was a valuable ally. He remains famous for plundering Rome, but achieved little else of lasting importance.r />
  It is hard to avoid hindsight, and prevent this overshadowing the debate, but Hughes manages this splendidly. All in all, this is a valuable and accessible addition to the histories of this dramatic period.

  Adrian Goldsworthy

  January 2010

  Introduction

  This book tells the story of one man, Flavius Stilicho. He is renowned as presiding over the Western Empire during the reign of Honorius, ‘a rare period in which the cumulative effect of changes … over a long period combined with a series of crises to create a genuine turning-point in Western history.’1 It was Stilicho that defended the West from the Goths under Alaric. It was Stilicho that was in control when the Vandals, Alans and Sueves crossed the Rhine in 406 and ‘devastated’ Gaul. It was Stilicho that had to defend Italy from the usurper Constantine III, who rebelled in Britain in 406 before crossing the English Channel and taking control of Gaul and Spain. Stilicho’s death in 408 left the Emperor Honorius vulnerable and the West divided.

  Stilicho was related by marriage to the Emperor Theodosius (379–395). When that emperor died he left Stilicho as guardian for Honorius, the young emperor in the West. Thanks to his semi-barbarian birth – his father was a Vandal, his mother a Roman – his motives and actions have often been questioned. Some historians have seen him as preferring to ally with Alaric and the Goths in an attempt to take control of the East rather than devoting his energies to the defence of the West. As a result, these historians have effectively laid the blame for the permanent division of the Empire and the collapse of the West firmly at Stilicho’s feet.

  At the opposite extreme, others have claimed that Stilicho the Vandal was the individual who saved Rome from the Goths, noting that shortly after his death Alaric led the Goths in the first sack of Rome since the fourth century BC – hence the title of this book. In this view, Stilicho valiantly fought to save Rome but in the end ran out of resources and was brought low by his political enemies.