Last defender of the Western Empire
A diptych in Monza cathedral is thought to show Stilicho (right), with Serena and Eucherius |
Stilicho had successfully defended the empire against several Barbarian invasions and gained his power through acting as regent when the death of Theodosius I in 395 left the Western Empire in the hands of Honorius, his 10-year-old son.
But as a soldier of partly Vandal descent, Stilicho had always aroused suspicion within the Roman court and his failure to deal with the advance across northern Europe of the rebellious Constantine III, leader of the Romans in Britain, combined with rumours that he planned to install his own son, Eucherius, as emperor of the Eastern Empire following the death of Arcadius, sparked a mutiny of the Roman army at Ticinum - modern Pavia - on August 13, 408.
Stilicho retreated to Ravenna, then capital of the Western Empire, where he was imprisoned on the orders of Honorius and executed, along with Eucherius, on August 22.
Born around 359, at a time of political turbulence and rivalries within a Roman Empire in decline, Stilicho is thought to have been the son of a soldier of Vandal origin in the Roman army and a Roman mother.
A bust of Theodosius I, in the Louvre in Paris |
His success in 383 in negotiating a territorial settlement with Shapur III, the King of Persia, on behalf of Theodosius saw him quickly promoted to be head of the emperor's corps of bodyguards.
Theodosius increasingly saw Stilicho as a valued ally and strengthened their bond by allowing Stilicho to marry his favourite niece, Serena.
In around 393, Theodosius made him commander-in-chief of the Roman army and entrusted him with the guardianship of Honorius ahead of his death in 395.
Stilicho’s successes on the battlefield strengthened his position still further.
The Battle of the Frigidus in 394 in what is now western Slovenia saw him fighting alongside Alaric, the King of the Visigoths, to defeat the usurper Eugenius, unifying the Empire under Theodosius, while between 395 and 398 he successfully contained the Gothic threat in the Balkans.
In 398 Stilicho defeated Gildo, the rebel governor of Africa, securing a vital grain supply for Rome.
In the early fifth century, he defeated the Ostrogoth king Radagaisus, preventing an invasion of the Italian peninsula, and twice defeated Alaric, his ally in Frigidus, in the Battles of Pollentia and Verona.
A bust depicting Emperor Honorius as an adolescent |
They clashed over a number of issues but matters came to a head during one of Stilicho’s battles against Alaric, sparked by the latter reneging on a peace treaty with Rome.
After purportedly trying to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Rufinus is said to have instructed Arcadius to order the Roman troops to withdraw just as they were about to attack Alaric's army. A group of the returning soldiers then murdered Rufinus, leading some historians to speculate that Stilicho ordered Rufinus to be killed because he suspected him of being in league with Alaric.
Stilicho’s power began to wane after the twin threat of Alaric and Radagaisus depleted the Roman forces defending the empire in the north.
In 407, Constantine, a Roman general who had been proclaimed by his soldiers as the Emperor in Britain, moved his troops across the English Channel, taking control of Gaul and Hispania.
Stilicho failed to stop his advance, which further drained his resources and highlighted the empire’s inability to defend its borders, leading to growing dissent among the Roman army.
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan has a monument called the Sarcophagus of Stilicho, although it is unlikely he is buried there |
For the future of the Western Empire, Stilicho’s execution proved to be a telling moment. In the disturbances that followed, murderous attacks by Romans on fellow citizens of Vandal and other Germanic descent caused an exodus of 30,000 men to the side of Alaric, demanding that he lead them against the Romans.
The Visigoth leader subsequently led his forces on a campaign that saw them reach the walls of Rome and lay siege to the city in September, 408.
Without a general in the mould of Stilicho, Honorius could do little to break the siege. Alaric tried and failed four times to negotiate a peace treaty until August 27, 410, when - with the people of Rome dying of hunger - his army smashed through the gates and sacked the city.
It was the first time in 800 years that an invading army had successfully breached the walls of the Eternal City and many historians regard the event as the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire.
The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna is famous for its Byzantine mosaics |
Ravenna, where Stilicho was executed, was the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 402, when Honorius moved his court from Mediolanum (modern Milan), until the collapse of the empire in 476, after which it became the capital of the Italy ruled by the barbarian Odoacer until he was defeated by the Ostrogoth king Theodoric. In 540 Belisarius conquered Ravenna for the Byzantine Empire, and the city became the capital of Byzantine Italy. The city, which is in the region of Emilia-Romagna, about 78km (48 miles) east of Bologna, is now renowned for its wealth of well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture and has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture is the Basilica of San Vitale, which is famous for its fine Byzantine mosaics. Ravenna was also the city where the 13th century poet Dante Alighieri lived in exile until his death in 1321. Dante's tomb is next to the Basilica of San Francesco.
The beautiful Ponte Coperto, which links the city of Pavia with the suburb of Borgo Ticino |
Ticinum, which occupied the site of the modern Pavia, was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, a division of Cisalpine Gaul. It was founded on the banks of the river of the same name - now the Ticino - near where it joins the Po, then called the Padus. Its importance in Roman times was due to the extension of the Via Aemilia from Ariminum (Rimini) to the Padus, which it crossed at Placentia (Piacenza) and there forked, one branch going to Mediolanum (Milan) and the other to Ticinum. Modern Pavia has little in the way of Roman remains. It is thought that the city’s Duomo might have been built over the remains of an ancient temple, but there is no evidence of this. Pavia’s picturesque covered bridge, the Ponte Coperto or Ponte Vecchio, which originated in the 16th century and was rebuilt after being bombed in the Second World War, linking Pavia with the Borgo Ticino suburb, was preceded by a Roman bridge, of which only one pillar exists under the remains of the central arch of the mediaeval bridge. Pavia is also known for its ancient university, which was founded in 1361, and its famous Certosa, a magnificent monastery complex north of the city that dates back to 1396.
Also on this day:
1599: The death of composer Luca Marenzio
1849: Venice hit by history’s first air raid
1913: The birth of nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo
1914: The death of bishop Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi
1970: The birth of TV chef Giada De Laurentiis
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