Arcadius died in Constantinople on 1 May 408 leaving his successor, the six-year-old Theodosius II under the guardianship of the praetorian prefect Anthemius. Honorius was planning to assume authority in Constantinople, but Stilicho prevented his travel. By hiring foreign troops, Stilicho had lost the native officers' confidence and he was murdered by plotters in Ravenna in August. Stilicho's foreign troops and their families were massacred and those who escaped sought Alaric's protection. A Hunnic leader Uldin raided Thrace and captured Castra Martis, but Anthemius forced him to abandon the campaign by paying off his deputies. Alaric invaded Italy and persuaded the Senatus to proclaim a pagan Roman aristocrat Priscus Attalus emperor in November 409. The usurper Constantine III could not prevent the Vandals, Alans and Suebi from crossing the Pyrenees into Hispania. His general Gerontius mutinied and acclaimed a certain Maximus emperor. After realizing that the central government could no more control Britain, Honorius "sent letters to the cities of Britain, urging them to fend for themselves".