Stilicon

Stilicon ( Flavius Stiliccho in Latin), born before 360, is a general and politician of the ancient Rome of barbarian origin . He is vandal by his father, undoubtedly commander of squadron of cavalry under Valens and Roman by his mother, provincial of Pannonia.

Belonging to the sect of Arius, it initially serves in the Roman Armée as simple auxiliary but quickly climbs the levels to become Magister militum (Head of State major of the Roman army) as of 385, then wife a Roman of high birth, Serena, while acquiring the Roman Citoyenneté. In 398, Stilicon reinforces still a little more its influence on Honorius while making him marry his/her daughter Marie, then after the death of this one, its junior Thermantia. After the victory of Théodose at the time of the battle of River-Cold in 394, Stilicon takes the title of magister peditum praesentalis , the brightest military dignity of the Occident.

In 395, the dying emperor Théodose Ier entrusts the regency of the to him Roman Empire of Occident in the name of the young emperor Honorius. Stilicon tries to extend its regency to Arcadius and with the Roman Empire of the East by sending the officer goth Gaïnas to Constantinople. This one eliminates the Préfet from the court Rufin which directs the Byzantine Empire, but Gaïnas is essential near Arcadius for its own account (400).

Energetic general, Stilicon effectively protects the Italy against the cruel invasions but at the price from transfers of troops which discover the border of the the Rhine.

In 401, of the Vandals and the Alains invade the provinces of Rhétie and Norique. After having beaten them, Stilicon installs them in Italy of North, incorporating them in its army;

In 402, it saves Honorius, threatened with Milan by the Visigoths of the king Alaric and drives back them in Illyrie. To ensure a better protection of the emperor, it transfer the imperial court of Milan to Ravenne and negotiates with Alaric to fix it in Illyrie;

In 406, it exterminates the invasion of Radagaise close to Florence. But it cannot prevent the great invasion of the winter 406/407 which devastates the Gaulle and starts to attract each other the animosity of the Roman troops, causing a mutiny against the officers of Germanic origin , increasingly many and influential.

Persuaded by its entourage that Stilicon plots against him, Honorius mixed liability company in 408 its assassination. Stilicon , continued by the devoted henchmen of the emperor, finds refuge in a church with Ravenne; being made promise that it would have the life saves if it left, it is struck with died by Héraclien after having crossed the threshold of the door, the August 22nd 408.

His/her children

Of its marriage with Serena, Stilicon had three children:

Marie (384 - 407), the elder one, was promised in marriage to Honorius the alive one of Théodose, Roman Emperor and father of promised sound. She married it in 398 with Constantinople, but his/her mother unceasingly delayed the consumption of her marriage, and Marie died still virgin in February 407, Rome
Thermantia (386 - 415), her sister, succeeded to him: she married Honorius at the beginning of 408. She was repudiated after the death of Stilicon in August of the same year, and returned to her mother.
Eucher, his/her son, was to marry Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius, but this one hating it made trail the things and avoided this marriage. After the fall of Stilicon , it was captured by the men of Héraclien in a church of Ravenne and put at died in 408.

See too

Internal bonds

late Antiquity

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