Honorius

### Reign

Consul (386-393), Augustus (January 23, 393), Roman Emperor in the West (January 17, 395)

### Co-Ruler(s)

Arcadius (East, 395-408), Theodosius II (East,408-423), Constantine III (Gaul, 409-411), Constantius III (West, 421)

## Early Life

Honorius was born the son of Roman emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla in Constantinople in 384. For some time before the reign of his father Rome had been unofficially divided into two regions, with a Western emperor ruling from Italy and an Eastern emperor ruling from Constantinople. Theodosius, however, had managed to bring both parts of the empire and under his control (the last to do so) and was keen to keep his family in power on both thrones. To that end he had already declared Honorius' older brother Arcadius as the Augustus in the east and declared Honorius Augustus in the west. Honorius' mother died in 386 and his father subsequently married Galla, the sister of the temporarily  exiled western Roman emperor Valentinian II and their mother Justina in 387.

## Early Reign

Honorius was declared Augustus by his father on 23 January 393 after the mysterious death of his uncle-in-law Valentinian II and was raised to emperor when Theodosius died in early 395. While Theodosius had maintained control of both sides of the empire it was divided again upon his death; Honorius took the office of western Roman emperor, while his older brother Arcadius took over as the eastern Roman emperor. Both were young and inexperienced and immediately fell under the influence of the famous general Stilicho, who was of mixed gothic ancestry. In order to cement his powerful position Stilicho arranged for Honorius to marry his daughter Maria in 398, hoping that they would have children in line for the throne. In the early days of his reign Honorius based his court in Milan, but he moved it to Ravenna in 401 when Alaric I and the Visigoths started to make moves into the Italian peninsula. Ravenna had the advantage of being a coastal city surrounded by marshes, making it a good place for defense, but the same characteristics made it difficult for Honorius' army to defend central Italy, which was a big problem at a time when the Visigoths were coming into power.

## Stilicho and Invasions

Honorius' reign was characterized by challenges to his throne and authority. The first challenge came from the comes of Africa, Gildo. This rebellion lasted for two years from 398-400 and was put down by Stilicho with the cooperation with Gildo's own brother Mascezel.

The next main challenge came from Alaric I in 402 while Stilicho was away on the continent. He managed to come back and rescue a besieged Milan with the help of the legions of Gaul and Britain (the Roman army was running low on soldiers at the time after heavy losses during the reign of Theodosius). Stilicho followed Alaric to Verona but the battle was more inconclusive and the Visigoths made a momentary retreat while Stilicho returned to Honorius' court.

The gothic king Radagaisus crossed the Danube in 405 and wreaked havoc in central Italy until Stilicho managed to put them down in 406 and recruit the majority of them into the army. Various gothic tribes continued to move into Roman territory in Gaul through the years of 405-407.

Britain was another big problem during Honorius' reign. Located at the northern borders of the Roman empire the area was difficult to manage and was left without oversight much of the time. Consequently there were three major rebellions: Marcus (406-407), Gratian (407), and Constantine III (407). In 407 Constantine III moved to take part of Gaul while his son Constans stayed behind to rule Britain. It is possible but not proven that Rome gave up rule of Britain in 410, likely because it was much too difficult to maintain.

Maria died in 407 and Stilicho tried again to mingle their family lines by marrying Honorius to his second daughter Thermantia in 408. This move could be a sign that Stilicho realized that his power in court was slipping. At this time the empire was under stress from invasions in Italy, Gaul, and Hispania, which led Stilicho to pressure the court to pay a ransom of 4,000 pounds of gold to Alaric to prevent another invasion. This move was an unpopular decision at court with many of the officials feeling that it was beneath them to bow to an invading force; they did not understand as he did that the power of the empire was waning.

Honorius' brother Arcadius died in 408, and he planned to travel to Constantinople to ease the transition of power to his nephew Theodosius II, but Stilicho advised against it and went in his stead. While he was gone Olympius, one of the officials who had believed that Stilicho's capitulation earlier that year was a sign of gothic allegiance. He managed to convince the ever-gullible Honorius that Stilicho was planning to defect to join the goths and when the general returned from Constantinople later that year he was quickly arrested and executed. This turnover of power in court also came with a purge of goths who had gained office during Stilicho's time, divorcing Thermantia, executing his son Eucherius, and massacring the non-Roman troops that Stilicho had gathered, prompting them to defect to Alaric. Olympius was influential in that he caused such a bloody turnover of power that lost a competent leader and a large portion of the army's forces, but he did not seem to have had much going for him other than his ability to rile a naïve emperor into a racist fervor. He did not stay in power for long.

To add to the chaos Alaric returned to Italy and besieged Rome, causing a famine that led the senate to paying another ransom. At around this time Olympius was overturned and executed, prompting a return of gothic and gothic friendly officials who realized better than the emperor that they would have to make concessions. They started peace negotiations with Alaric, but they were derailed by Honorius' stubborn refusal to cooperate. At this point Alaric gave up on ever making peace with Honorius and returned to Rome to elect his own rival emperor, the senator Priscus Attalus, who reaffirmed the previous treaty with Stilicho.

## Sack of Rome

Rome had been under siege by the Visigoths led by Alaric since before Stilicho's execution, and now Honorius was without a strong general to advise and fight for him. In 410 the Eastern Roman Empire sent 6 legions (~6,000 men), but Alaric ambushed them as they travelled and only a small portion of them reached Rome. Those who did were mostly Germanic in origin. Because of a lack of leadership Honorius decided to bide his time and gather reinforcements in the hopes that the goths would give up the siege. This very well may have been the best strategy at the time but, given his past of inaction and indecisiveness, Honorius was heavily criticized.

Meanwhile Attalus, the senator that Alaric had appointed emperor, was having issues of his own. Making it very clear that he was simply a figurehead, Honorius attempted to negotiate directly with Alaric. At the same time Honorius began to cut back on the grain supplies coming in from North Africa, an essential source of food to the citizens of Rome, showing how much he really cared for his people. Attalus attempted to send a force to North Africa to get grain, but was stopped by the Honorius-loyal governor. Facing the prospect of famine, the Roman people blamed Attalus. Seeing that Attalus was turning out to be less useful than he thought, Alaric deposed him and attempted to restart negotiations with Honorius. With his confidence bolstered by his victory in North Africa, Honorius refused and officially declared Alaric to be an enemy of Rome.

Finally someone in the city opened the gates and the goths came in to sack the city. It was not very destructive as sacks go as Alaric, a Christian himself, ordered for the wealth filled churches and religious sanctuaries to be left alone. The main problem was the psychological impact that it had on nearly the entire known world at the time. Rome was seen as an eternal source of power, but the siege and sack proved once and for all that Rome was not what it once had been.

## Further Challenges

Alaric was not the only one causing issues for the empire during this time. The former Roman general Constantine III had used the neglect of the British isles as an excuse to declare himself emperor and spread out onto the continent. He was not infallible either though, and one of his generals rebelled against him and declared Maximus emperor. The forces of Maximus and Constantine met at Arles in 411, but while they had been fighting Honorius had found a competent general, Constantius who defeated them all.

The peace didn't last for long, and almost as soon as Constantius' troops left Gaul and returned to Italy the Gallo-Roman emperor Jovinus declared himself emperor in Northern Gaul with the support of surrounding tribes in 412. He tried to negotiate with Ataulf, now king of the Visigoths, but the situation soured when Jovinus insisted on declaring his brother Sebastianus to be augustus and Ataulf turned to Honorius. The emperor used Ataulf and his forces to put down Jovinus' rebellion. While this was happening to the north, to the south Heraclianus, the governor of North Africa, decided to declare himself to be emperor as well. He attempted and failed to invade Italy; he returned to Carthage where he was killed.

In 414, Constantius attacked Ataulf, prompting the Visigoths to once again turn from Honorius to Attalus, who he reinstated as emperor. This seems to have been a largely empty gesture designed to get back at Honorius and the goths under Ataulf abandoned him as as Constantius drove them into Hispania. In 416 Honorius chose to enter Rome with in triumph with Attalus at the wheels. Attalus was then punished in the way that he had once declared he would punish a deposed Honorius: he cut off his right finger and thumb and exiled him to the island of Lipara. Which is a lesson in not talking shit.

By 418 the Franks were becoming increasingly influential in Northern Gaul and the Visigoths were able to secure a treaty that gave them dominion over Aquitaine. In a perhaps misguided attempt to keep control of thee region Constantius and Honorius released the Edict of 418, which dissolved the Roman governor offices, allowing the regions to elect their own officials and essentially become their own entity within the empire. This was a big concession that once again showed how far Rome had fallen.

In 417 the Honorius' sister Galla Placidia, now returned to Italy and the care of her brother after her capture and marriage to Ataulf, was once again forced into a political marriage, this time with Constantius. Like many of the other advisors to the emperors in both parts of the empire, Constantius' goal was to be emperor himself. He almost succeeded in 421 when Honorius declared him to be co-emperor, but in Constantinople Theodosius II refused to recognize him. Constantius initially prepared an invasion of Constantinople, but died before he could. After the death of her second husband Honorius started to show signs of being attracted to her himself, despite them being siblings, and she and her sons fled to the eastern court.

## Final Years and Death

Honorius was never able to get on top of the invasions across the empire and Rome's power steadily eroded. In August of 423 he died of edema at 38.