Stilicho: The Vandal Who Saved Rome

by Ian Hughes

  His influence quickly began to take effect. After a few false starts, Symmachus finally managed to secure Stilicho’s patronage. Evidence for this can be found in the careers of two individuals who had been promoted to positions of power by Eugenius and Arbogast. Although few of those who had supported the usurpers had been executed by Theodosius, the survivors were ordered to repay the money they had earned whilst in office. Amongst them was Marcianus, who had been made proconsul of Africa under Eugenius. Likewise, Nicomachus Flavianus, who was praefectus urbis Romae (prefect of Rome) under Eugenius, was also ordered by Theodosius to repay his salary. In an attempt to secure support for his new regime and following the guidance of Symmachus, Stilicho acceded to the request for the cessation of the repayments.33

  Symmachus’ letters to Stilicho also demonstrate the novelty and main weakness of Stilicho’s position. Since Stilicho was in effective control of the West, Symmachus always maintained a deferential tone in his letters: he did not want to alienate the man at the top. Yet at the same time the manner and style of his address would not have been appropriate for an emperor.34 Stilicho could not demand the loyalty or claim the deferential treatment accorded to a ruling emperor. In all his dealings he would need to remember that the people he was dealing with would recognize his power but see themselves as potential rivals rather than loyal subjects.

  The Senate

  Yet the power and influence of senators such as Symmachus should not be surprising, although in many cases their patronage and influence may not have transferred to political influence at the highest levels.35 As we have already seen, the military situation in the West was extremely precarious. Stilicho needed the support of the Senate, as they were the individuals whose goodwill would supply the tax revenue and provide the recruits and logistical support for the army.36 After all, the Senate had a major social and political influence in Rome, central and southern Italy, Sicily and North Africa – especially Proconsularis (the area around Carthage) and Numidia (Map 1).37 Their wealth and influence mattered to a court stationed in north Italy. The Senate, however, had different priorities: ‘Symmachus was speaking as a member of a class which, with quite unconscious selfishness, would preserve its economic interests and prejudices through the impoverishment and collapse of the Western imperial government’.38 The net result was that Stilicho, who understood the needs of the army concerning conscription and pay, would have to perform a dangerous balancing act. He was opposed by the Senate’s more traditional concept of success, the defeat of barbarians in battle and their elimination from the ranks of the army, whilst at the same time they resisted the conscription needed to make the employment of barbarians unnecessary and resented the need to pay the taxes.39 Unfortunately, this was not in line with the policy of Theodosius, the befriending and using of barbarians, that he was attempting to maintain.40 Throughout his time as commander in the West this issue would remain a potential danger for Stilicho.

  In order to expand his links with the Western Senate, Stilicho was extremely careful in appointing men from the West as well as the East into positions of power, whenever possible maintaining Theodosius’ policies of installing loyal supporters in positions of power in the West. For example, his first praefectus praetorio Italiae was Nummius Aemilianus Dexter, who had served under Theodosius as proconsul Asiae (proconsul of Asia) before becoming comes rei privatae (secretary to the emperor).41 In the same manner, the first praefectus urbis Romae was Basilius, who like Theodosius, was probably originally from Spain and who was also loyal to the House of Theodosius. However, for unknown reasons Basilius was quickly removed and replaced by Andromachus on the recommendation of Symmachus, and Andromachus was later (401) made praefectus praetorio Galliarum.42 Yet Basilius retained influence as he was later (408) chosen as part of an embassy to Alaric.43 During the brief rule of Eugenius, Aemilius Florus Paternus, the proconsul Africae (proconsul of Africa), had remained loyal to Theodosius. He was rewarded with the post of comes sacrarum largitionem (count of the sacred largesse: chamberlain) in 396, as a result of which he was constantly petitioned by Symmachus.44 The vicarius per Hispania from 395 to 397 was Petronius, brother of Patroninus, again probably on the recommendation of Symmachus. Patroninus himself was given the post of comes sacrarum largitionem in 401, also on the recommendation of Symmachus. In 396 Stilicho appointed Hilarius, another who had served under Gratian (in 383) as praefectus praetorio Galliarum. Aemilius Florus Paternus, who as proconsul Africae had held loyal to Theodosius in the civil war, was rewarded with the post of comes sacrarum largitionem.

  Stilicho’s most important appointment was to be made in 397 when Flavius Manlius Theodorus was selected as praefectus praetorio Italiae, whilst his son, also called Theodorus, was made praefectus praetorio Gallias. Theodorus remained in the post until 399, when he was elected consul – Claudian himself taking the time to write a panegyric for the occasion.45 As a further honour for the family, Theodorus’ brother Lampadius was to become praefectus urbis Romae in 398. The circumstances surrounding his appointment will be dealt with below.

  These examples demonstrate that Stilicho was continuing to employ Theodosius’ supporters who he assumed to be loyal to the Theodosian house and its policies. As he was continuing to use Theodosius’ policies, he could assume their continued loyalty to himself as long as he maintained their goodwill.46

  The above appointments all involved members of the Western aristocracy. Alongside these Stilicho made the Easterner Flavius Iunius Quartus Palladius the tribunus et notarius, and Hadrianus, appointed comes sacrarium largitionem in 395 and magister officiorum in 397 was, like Claudian, from Alexandria.

  It may also be at this time that Stilicho began to introduce a system to control the appointment of all offices in the West. To that end, he now arranged matters so that appointments to the offices of princeps (‘chief clerk’) and the commentariensis (‘registrar of public documents’) on the judicial side, along with the two numerarii on the financial side, were men drawn from the offices of the magistri praesentales.47 This resulted in Stilicho slowly bringing the reins of government into his own hands. It should be noted, however, that the dating of this reform is unknown, and rather than being a rapid change it may have been a slow process of transformation that took several years to complete. Whatever the date and longevity of the reform, slowly Stilicho began to personally dominate the legal and military processes in the West.

  Yet in one aspect, Stilicho may have become restricted as time passed. The whole of Western imperial politics appears to have been played out within a framework of regional alliances and personal favour, and there is little doubt that Stilicho’s policy of conciliation towards the Senate and the Western court, along with their proximity to each other, resulted in them drawing closer together in the early years of his control.48 Unfortunately, Stilicho, as an outsider, is likely to have found the process increasingly frustrating. He had come from the Eastern court, where Theodosius dominated. Stilicho, on the other hand, was unable to dominate politics in the West to the same degree as Theodosius had in the East. Furthermore, circumstances created a situation which was to become ever more restrictive as time passed. However, in 395 this may not have been seen by Stilicho as a potential problem. He still had the major field armies of both East and West under his control: for the present, fear is likely to have restrained any opposition in the West.

  Based in Milan, naturally the major influence on the emperor or his guardian was the continuous stream of petitioners arriving at Milan from Rome and southern Gaul. In fact, one of the first laws Stilicho issued was a restriction on the use of the public road system between Rome and Milan to those with proper authority, a clear sign of the large numbers of people using the system to petition the court.49 As these were some of the most powerful, influential and rich individuals within the Western Empire, it is unsurprising that they managed to influence policy over the next ten years. The net result was that the main focus of Stilicho’s policies was the defence of Italy and Southe
rn Gaul. Needless to say, Africa ranked alongside Italy, as without its supply of corn Italy – and especially Rome – would start to suffer the effects of famine. Northern Gaul, Spain and Britain became less of an issue at Milan. Although this was to have dire consequences for Stilicho in later years, in 395 he seemed to have settled into his rule in a satisfactory manner.

  Serena

  In the story of Stilicho the activities of Serena, his wife, are sometimes lost. One example of her activities comes from 397. In this year the body of Saint Nazarus was (allegedly) found and it was decided to house his remains in the Basilica Apostolorum (Basilica of the Apostles), which had been commissioned in 382 by Bishop Ambrose in Milan. In honour of this the church was renamed the Basilica San Nazaro (Basilica of Saint Nazarus) and a new apse created to house the tomb. When Stilicho departed for the campaign in Greece against Alaric, Serena made a vow for his safe return.50 When he arrived home safely, in accordance with her vow she not only donated the marbles for the sacellum housing the relics, but also gave money to have the rest of the church decorated, including the paving of the floor of the church.51 Throughout the life of Stilicho she would spend money in the traditional Roman manner, although now it was for the building, decoration and upkeep of Christian churches rather than pagan temples. There is no doubt that her activities behind the scenes helped secure the position of her husband, especially with respect to many Christian doubters, since her activities ensured that Christianity was seen as the religion followed by Serena and Stilicho, despite his continued employment of pagans and heretics.

  The political situation in the East

  Rufinus

  When Theodosius had left for the war in 394, he had left his son Arcadius in Constantinople in the care of the praefectus praetorio Orientis (praetorian prefect of the East), Rufinus. Rufinus was a Gaul, a fact that gives a clear indication that at this time there was no division in the Empire and that members from one half could easily cross and make a career in the other. Promoted during the reign of Theodosius, nothing is known of his career until he is noted as magister officiorum in 388. In 392 he was given the consulship, an event marking his rapid rise to power.52 In the same year he managed to secure the dismissal of both Tatian, the praefectus praetorio Orientis, and Tatian’s son, Proculus, the praefectus urbis Romae. Rufinus became the praefectus praetorio Orientis, and managed to engineer a trial for the two men, Proculus being executed and Tatian being condemned to death before being spared and exiled by Theodosius.53

  The most notable aspect of his early career was an unwillingness to allow military affairs to be successfully concluded by the army. The most likely reason for this is that any glory claimed by a victorious general would undoubtedly undermine his own position. Therefore, as was already seen, when Stilicho had defeated the forces under Alaric, Rufinus was the one who brokered the peace treaty and arranged for Alaric’s forces to serve in the army as foederati with Alaric himself being given the rank of tribune.54 Throughout his career Rufinus and his successors would attempt to use any means but deploying the army to keep barbarians out of the Empire. Although seen by ancient sources as ‘traitorous’, his example resulted in political affairs in the East remaining in civilian hands, so meaning that when a strong emperor emerged he was not dominated or overthrown by his leading general, as was to happen in the West.

  When Theodosius led the campaign against Arbogast and Eugenius in 394 Rufinus was left in charge of the East. His policies and activities during the previous six years had alienated the army and created many enemies. Realising that he was in danger without the protection of Theodosius, Rufinus at some point managed to convince the emperor to allow him to recruit a bodyguard of Huns to protect him.55 This may be the first example of a civilian gaining a military bodyguard that would later be called bucellarii, as a counter to the bodyguard of Stilicho, also formed of Huns, which appears to have been the first example of a general having a unit of bucellarii at his command.

  Rufinus was obviously a skilled and ruthless politician, capable of holding his own at court. However, when Theodosius died all was suddenly in a state of flux. Although Rufinus appears to have been regarded by many in the East as the legitimate warden of Arcadius, Stilicho’s claim to be parens principum of both of Theodosius’ sons was a situation that Rufinus could not allow; given the hostility between himself and Stilicho, his life would be in danger.56 Fortunately for him, Arcadius was weak-willed and easily influenced. He persuaded the young emperor to reject Stilicho’s claim, possibly using the image of Arcadius being totally overshadowed by his older relative. It is also suggested that he planned to marry Arcadius to his daughter, in effect giving him a status comparable to Stilicho in the West of parens principum.

  However, having managed to arrange for the rejection of Stilicho’s claims, Rufinus still had political problems in Constantinople. Earlier in his career, as magister officiorum, he had quarrelled with the generals Timasius and Promotus. Promotus was shortly afterwards transferred to Thrace and then killed in an ambush, which some saw as being arranged by Rufinus.57 Although the reference is late, it presumably had its source in rumours spread around court at the time.

  Timasius had served in the campaign against Arbogast and Eugenius, but had been sent back to the East by Theodosius, probably to oversee military operations in Pamphylia in 396. Fortunately for Rufinus, the result was that at this moment of crisis Timasius was away from the capital and could be safely ignored.

  Eutropius

  The allegations concerning Promotus’ death would also help the cause of Rufinus’ major political rival at court, the eunuch Eutropius. A freed slave, Eutropius had entered service in the imperial palace and quickly risen to become a trusted supporter of Theodosius with the post of praepositus sacri cubiculi (imperial chamberlain).58 A major rival of Rufinus, Eutropius quickly arranged to cooperate with Promotus’ sons.

  One of these had in his care a girl called Eudoxia, a woman of outstanding beauty.59 She was apparently the daughter of a Frankish general named Bauto and after Bauto’s death Prom7otus’ son took care of her. As opponents of Rufinus, Promotus’ sons were probably only too eager to help when Eutropius approached them with a plan to diminish the power of Rufinus.

  Learning that Rufinus intended to marry his daughter to Arcadius, Eutropius took action: without the knowledge of Rufinus, Eutropius managed to arrange the marriage of Eudoxia to Arcadius, a marriage which took place on 27 April 395.60 It is, unfortunately, unlikely that Zosimus’ detailed story, although fascinating, is true. According to Zosimus, Rufinus was unaware of Arcadius’ change of heart. Only when the wedding carriage collected Eudoxia did Rufinus realize that his plan had failed.61

  The marriage blocked Rufinus’ plans to become parens principum and also helped elevate Eutropius’ standing at court, making him a serious rival to Rufinus. What measures Rufinus would have taken to block the rise of Eutropius will never be known, as in the same year events in Illyricum changed the balance of power in both West and East for ever.

  Chapter Four

  The Roman Army

  Having discussed the military titles adopted by Stilicho it would now seem logical to analyse the military might of the Roman Empire. From the time of Diocletian onwards the size of units within the army appears to change. Modern research tends to limit unit strengths as follows:1 guard units (scholae etc.) 500 men; auxilia palatinae 800 men; legions (comitatenses) 1,000 men; legions (limitanei) 3,000 men; limitanei/riparienses 300 men; cavalry (limitanei) 350 men. However, it should be remembered that these are modern estimates and therefore of uncertain reliability. Furthermore, long service on campaign or in battle would quickly reduce numbers to below these figures.2

  Moreover, the army appears to have expanded to around 400,000 men from an original base of around 300,000 men.3 To supply recruits for the new enlarged army, legislation was passed that the sons of soldiers were themselves legally obliged to follow their fathers into the army.4 Furthermore, conscription was to remain
a necessary evil for the remainder of the Empire, becoming annual at sometime around 365, at which time tough measures were announced for deserters and an attempt was made to enlist men currently avoiding service.5 Maintaining the strength of the enlarged army was to be a problem for the emperors up to the battle of Adrianople in 378, after which it would become a major dilemma.

  The new army was completely different to the old. The troops on the frontiers were reclassified as either limitanei (border defence, land) or riparienses (border defence, river) troops.6 These troops had three main functions: to police the borders, to gather intelligence, and to stop small-scale raids.7 The preferred Roman strategy for engaging barbarians was to use ‘harassing warfare’.8 The majority of this was conducted by the troops stationed in the interior provinces, in or near to strategic cities and fortifications. These were now designated as comitatenses (companions). Above these, with the emperor himself, was a further tier known as the palatina (palace troops).9