Editing Honorius (section)

===Stilicho and the defense of Italy===
Honorius's reign experienced continued barbarian incursions into [[Gaul]], Italy and [[Hispania]]. At the same time, a host of usurpers rose up. [[File:Diptych of Honorius (body).jpg|thumb|alt=Illustration of Honorius|Honorius on the [[consular diptych]] of [[Anicius Petronius Probus]] (406)]]
First [[Gildo]], the ''[[comes]] [[Africa Province|of Africa]]'' and ''magister utriusque militiae per Africam'' in Northern Africa, led a [[Gildonic revolt|revolt]] which lasted for two years (397–398).{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=76}} Stilicho eventually subdued it through the local command of [[Mascezel]], Gildo's brother.{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=157}}

The next crisis was the Visigothic invasion of Italy in 402 under the command of their king, [[Alaric I]]. [[Stilicho]] was absent in [[Raetia]] in the latter months of 401, when Alaric, who was also the Eastern Empire's [[magister militum]] in [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]], suddenly marched with a large army through the [[Julian Alps]] and entered Italy.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=108}}

Stilicho hurried back to protect Honorius and the legions of Gaul and Britain were summoned to defend Italy. Honorius, at Milan, was besieged by Alaric, who marched into [[Liguria]]. Stilicho narrowly defeated Alaric at [[Pollentia]], on the river Tanarus on Easter Day (6 April 402). Alaric retreated to [[Verona]], where Stilicho attacked him again yet the battle was not entirely conclusive. The Visigoths were allowed to retreat back to Illyricum.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=109}} In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube by [[Radagaisus]]. They brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces.<ref name="Bury, pg. 110"/> Then, in 405 or 406, a number of tribes, according to some sources allegedly including [[Vandals]], [[Alans]], and [[Suebi]], [[Crossing of the Rhine|crossed the Rhine]] and invaded [[Gaul]].

The situation in [[Roman Britain|Britain]] was even more difficult. The British provinces were isolated, lacking support from the Empire, and the soldiers supported the revolts of [[Marcus (usurper)|Marcus]] (406–407), [[Gratian (usurper)|Gratian]] (407), and [[Constantine III (usurper)|Constantine III]]. Constantine invaded Gaul in 407, occupying [[Arles]], and while Constantine was in Gaul, his son [[Constans II (usurper)|Constans]] ruled over Britain.<ref name="Bury, pg. 111">{{harvnb|Bury|1889|p=111}}</ref> [[End of Roman rule in Britain|By 410, Britain may have been told to look after its own affairs and expect no aid from Rome]], although it has been argued that the order was sent to the people of [[Bruttium]] in Italy, not Britain.{{sfn|Birley|2005|pp=461–463}}

The western empire was effectively overstretched due to the massive invasion of [[Alans]], [[Suebi]] and [[Vandals]] who, although they had been repulsed from Italy in 406, moved into Gaul on 31 December 406,<ref name="Bury, pg. 111"/> and arrived in [[Hispania]] in 409. In early 408, Stilicho attempted to strengthen his position at court by marrying his second daughter, [[Thermantia]], to Honorius after the death of the Empress Maria in 407.<ref name="Jones, pg. 442">Jones, p. 442</ref> Another invasion by Alaric was prevented in 408 by Stilicho when he forced the Roman Senate to pay 4,000 pounds of gold to persuade the [[Goths]] to leave Italy.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Joan M. Hussey|last=Hussey|first=Joan M.|title=The Cambridge Medieval History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1957|page=268}}</ref>
[[File:Honorius and Maria Cameo.png|thumb|[[cameo (carving)|Cameo]] of Honorius and his wife [[Maria (empress)|Maria]], probably recarved from an old cameo of [[Claudius]] and [[Agrippina the Younger|Agrippina]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Fleischer, Jens; Hannestad, Niels; Lund, John; Nielsen, Marjatta |title=Late Antiquity: Art in Context|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |year=2001|pages=146–150|isbn=9788772896397|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1uc0DHSHUSYC&pg=PA148}}</ref>]]
Honorius, in the meantime, was at [[Bologna|Bononia]], on his way from Ravenna to [[Ticinum]], when the news reached him of his brother's death in May 408. He at first was planning to go to Constantinople to help set up the court during the transition from [[Arcadius]] to [[Theodosius II]].{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=112}} Summoned from Ravenna for advice, Stilicho advised Honorius not to go, and proceeded to go himself. In Stilicho's absence, a minister named [[Olympius]] gained the confidence of Honorius. He convinced the emperor that his father-in-law was conspiring with the barbarians to overthrow him.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=113}}

On his return to Ravenna, Honorius ordered the arrest and execution of Stilicho. With Stilicho's fall, Honorius moved against all of his former father-in-law's allies, killing and torturing key individuals and ordering the confiscation of the property of anyone who had borne any office while Stilicho was in command. Honorius's wife [[Thermantia]] was taken from the imperial throne and given over to her mother; Eucherius, the son of Stilicho, was put to death.{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=184}} The purge also massacred the families of Stilicho's [[Foederati|foederati troops]], and they defected en masse to Alaric.{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=184}}

In October 408, Alaric returned to Italy to claim more gold and land to settle in, as feudatory vassals of the Empire, which Stilicho had promised him.{{sfn|Elton|2018|p=178}} The city bought him off with 5,000 lbs of gold and 30,000 lbs of silver after a short siege with Rome on the verge of famine.{{sfn|Elton|2018|p=178}}

A palace revolution in Honorius's court led meanwhile to a change of ministers, and those hostile to the Goths were replaced by officers favorable to Alaric, who began peace negotiations. While the embassy was absent, a new change occurred at Ravenna, and Honorius disclaimed the peace which was on the verge of being concluded.{{sfn|Elton|2018|p=179}} The enraged Alaric returned to Rome in late 409 and forced the Senate to elect [[Priscus Attalus]] as emperor, who ratified Alaric's former treaty with Stilicho.{{sfn|Elton|2018|p=179}}