Meanwhile, Stilicho's reputation was waning and his relationship with Honorius deteriorating, leading to Honorius ordering his execution in Ravenna in 408, together with Eucherius and Serena, who were in Rome with Placidia. According to Zosimus, the "nobilissima puella" Galla Placidia approved the Roman Senate's decision to execute Serena. All this happened against a background of Visigothic advances, laying siege to Rome in both 408 and 409, and finally sacking Rome in 410. In either 409 or 410, the teenage Galla Placidia was captured by the Visigoths and was taken through southern Italy, where Alaric died and was succeeded by Athaulf. Placidia, who was effectively a hostage, then became a bargaining item in the negotiations between the Visigoths and the Romans over a three-year period. Placidia and her captors eventually returned to southern Gaul in the spring of 412.