Editing Honorius

{{Short description|Western Roman emperor from 393 to 423}}
{{other uses|Honorius (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Honorius
| image        = Diptych of Honorius (head) (2).jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = Detail of Honorius as depicted on the [[consular&nbsp;diptych]] of [[Anicius Petronius Probus|Probus]], AD 406
| succession   = [[Roman emperor]] of the [[Western Roman Empire|West]]
| reign-type   = ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]''
| reign        = {{nowrap|23 January 393 – 15 August 423}} {{awrap|(senior from 17 January 395)}}
| predecessor  = [[Theodosius I]]
| successor    = [[Joannes]]
| regent       = {{ubl|[[Arcadius]] ([[Eastern Roman Empire|East]], 393–408)|[[Theodosius II]] (East, 402–423)|[[Priscus Attalus|Attalus]] (Rome, 409–410)|[[Constantine III (Western Roman emperor)|Constantine III]] (Gaul, 409–411)|[[Constans II (son of Constantine III)|Constans II]] (Gaul, 409–411)|[[Constantius III]] (West, 421)}}
| reg-type     = Co-rulers
| birth_date   = 9 September 384
| birth_place  = [[Constantinople]]
| death_date   = 15 August 423 (aged 38)
| death_place  = [[Ravenna]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]]
| burial_place = [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]]
| spouse       = {{ubl|[[Maria (empress)|Maria]] ({{married-in|398}}, {{died-in|407}})|[[Thermantia]] ({{married-in|408}}, divorced)}}
| full name    = 
| regnal name  = [[Imperator]] [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] [[Flavia gens#As an imperial title|Flavius]] Honorius [[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]
| dynasty      = [[Theodosian dynasty|Theodosian]]
| father       = [[Theodosius I]]
| mother       = [[Aelia Flaccilla]]
| religion     = [[Nicene Christianity]]
}}

'''Honorius''' ({{IPAc-en|h|oʊ|ˈ|n|ɔr|i|ə|s}};<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Honorius}}</ref> 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was [[Roman emperor]] from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor [[Theodosius I]] and his first wife [[Aelia Flaccilla]]. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of [[Stilicho]], ruled the western half of the empire while his brother [[Arcadius]] ruled the eastern half. His reign over the [[Western Roman Empire]] was notably precarious and chaotic. In 410, [[Sack of Rome (410)|Rome was sacked]] for the first time since the [[Battle of the Allia]] almost 800 years prior.<!--799 years from 390 BC to 410 AD (there is no year 0).-->

==Family==
Honorius was born to Emperor [[Theodosius I]] and Empress [[Aelia Flaccilla]] on 9 September 384 in [[Constantinople]].{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=137}} He was the brother of [[Arcadius]] and [[Pulcheria (daughter of Theodosius I)|Pulcheria]]. In 386, his mother died, and in 387, Theodosius married [[Galla (wife of Theodosius I)|Galla]] who had taken a temporary refuge in [[Thessaloniki]] with her family, including her brother [[Valentinian II]] and mother [[Justina (empress)|Justina]], away from usurper [[Magnus Maximus]]. Theodosius and Galla had a daughter, Honorius's half-sister [[Galla Placidia]]. Honorius, Arcadius, and Galla Placidia were the only children of Theodosius to survive into adulthood.

==Emperor==

[[File:Head of Honorius as a Child.jpg|thumb|alt=A Miniature portrait head of a young boy with a full face and short, straight hair. He wears a pearl-edged diadem, which identifies this head as portrait of an Emperor. The head greatly resembles depictions of the Theodosian princes. This marks the identification of the head to be either Honorius, Arcadius, or Valentinian II.|Marble head of Honorius, 393–394.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weitzmann |first=Kurt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efLuB7QPDm8C&pg=PA28 |title=Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Ar |date=1977 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |pages=27–28|isbn=9780870991790 }}</ref>]]

===Early reign===
After holding the [[Roman consul|consulate]] at the age of two in 386, Honorius was declared ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]'' by his father [[Theodosius I]], and thus co-ruler, on 23 January 393, after the death of [[Valentinian II]] and the usurpation of [[Eugenius]].<ref>Williams, Stephen and Gerard Friell. ''Theodosius: The Empire at Bay''. Yale University Press, 1994, p. 129</ref> When Theodosius died in January 395, Honorius and Arcadius divided the Empire. Honorius became Western Roman emperor at the age of ten.{{sfn|Blockley|2003|p=113}}

During the early part of his reign, Honorius depended on the military leadership of the general [[Stilicho]], who had been appointed by Theodosius{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=188}} and was of mixed [[Vandal]] and Roman ancestry.<ref>Frasetto, Michael (2003). ''Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation''. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|1576072630}}, p. 320. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yW-GfElbafQC&dq=stilicho+vandal+father&pg=PA320 Google Books].</ref> To strengthen his bonds with the young emperor and to make his grandchild an imperial heir, Stilicho married his daughter [[Maria, daughter of Stilicho|Maria]] to Honorius.{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=141}} The [[epithalamion]] written for the occasion by Stilicho's court poet [[Claudian]] survives.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=77}} Honorius was also influenced by the [[Pope]]s of [[Rome]]. So it was that [[Pope Innocent I]] and Western bishops may have been successful in persuading Honorius to write to his brother, arguing for convening a synod in Thessalonica.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=105}}
[[File:Valente_o_onorio,_364-76_o_395-423,_da_vaticano.JPG|border|thumb|Colossal marble head of a youthful emperor, possibly Honorius ([[Capitoline Museums|Musei Capitolini]])<ref>[http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/detail.php?record=LSA-598 http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-598 (J. Lenaghan)]</ref>]]
At first Honorius based his capital in [[Mediolanum|Milan]], but when the [[Visigoths]] under King [[Alaric I]] entered Italy in 401 he moved his capital to the coastal city of [[Ravenna]], which was protected by a ring of marshes and strong fortifications.<ref name="Bury, pg. 110">{{harvnb|Bury|1889|p=110}}</ref> While the new capital was easier to defend, it was poorly situated to allow Roman forces to protect [[Central Italy]] from the increasingly regular threat of barbarian incursions. It is significant that the Emperor's residence remained in Ravenna until the overthrow of [[Romulus Augustulus]] in 476. The greater ease with which Ravenna could be defended was probably the reason why Ravenna was chosen not only as the capital of the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] in Italy, but also for the seat of the [[Exarchate of Ravenna|Byzantine exarchs]] as well.<ref name="Bury, pg. 110"/>

===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}}

===Sack of Rome===
{{Main|Sack of Rome (410)}}

Rome had been under Visigothic siege since shortly after Stilicho's deposition and execution in the summer of 408.{{sfn|Bury|1889|pp=174–175}} In 410, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] sent six [[Roman legion|legions]] (6,000 men; due to changes in tactics, legions of this period were about 1,000 soldiers, down from the 6,000-soldier legions of the Republic era and Empire period up to late 4th century)<ref name="Nor2">J. Norwich, ''Byzantium: The Early Centuries'', 136{{Full citation needed|date=August 2022}}</ref> from Ravenna to aid Honorius, but Alaric ambushed the legions on the way, and only a handful of them reached Rome.<ref>[[Adrian Goldsworthy]], ''The Fall of the West: The Slow Death of the Roman Superpower,'' paperback edition published in 2010 by Phoenix, an imprint of Orion Books Ltd, London, p. 310</ref>  Lacking a strong general to control the by-now mostly Germanic [[Late Roman army|Roman army]], Honorius could do little to attack [[Alaric I|Alaric's]] forces directly, and apparently adopted the only strategy he could in the situation: wait passively for the Visigoths to grow weary and spend the time marshalling what forces he could.

To counter Attalus, Honorius tried to negotiate with Alaric in addition to restricting grain shipments to Rome from North Africa. Attalus dispatched an army to conquer Africa and restore the [[grain supply to Rome]], but the governor, Heraclian, who was loyal to Honorius, wiped out this force as soon as it landed on the coast.<ref name="Gibbon, p. 1,118">Gibbon, p. 1118{{Full citation needed|date=August 2022}}</ref> As Rome was dependent on North African grain for sustenance, the populace was faced with the prospect of famine, and they blamed Attalus for the impending calamity. Growing desperate, Attalus searched for means of pacifying the people, but found himself, in consequence of conciliatory expenditures, incapable of satisfying his debt to Alaric, and thus alienated both Romans and Goths. In turn he came out to be exploited in political terms. Confronted with the increasing unpopularity and truculence of Attalus, Alaric dethroned him in 410 and proposed to renew negotiations with Honorius.<ref name="Gibbon, p. 1,118"/> Honorius, overconfident at Attalus's fall and the victory of his general Heraclian over Attalus's African expeditionary force, refused negotiation, and declared Alaric the eternal enemy of the Republic.<ref>Gibbon, p. 1119</ref>

Stricken by starvation, somebody opened Rome's defenses to Alaric and the Visigoths poured in. The city had not been under the control of a foreign force since an invasion of Gauls some eight centuries before. The sack itself was notably mild as sacks go. For example, churches and religious statuary went unharmed.{{sfn|Bury|1889|pp=183–184}} The psychological blow to the contemporary Roman world was considerably more painful. The shock of this event reverberated from Britain to Jerusalem, and inspired [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] to write his [[magnum opus]], ''[[The City of God]]''.

===Constantius and the beginning of erosion of the Western Empire===
{{One source section|find=This section entirely relies on J.B. Bury from the 19th century|date=January 2025}}

[[Image:ChristianPendantMaria398-407.JPG|thumb|180px|Christian pendant of Empress [[Maria (empress)|Maria]], daughter of [[Stilicho]], and wife of Honorius. The pendant reads, around a central cross (clockwise):<br/>
HONORI<br/>
[[Maria (empress)|MARIA]]<br/>
[[Serena (wife of Stilicho)|SERHNA]]<br/>
VIVATIS<br/>
[[Stilicho|STELICHO]].<br/>
Latin and Greek characters were intermingled in this one. The letters form a [[Christogram]].<br/> [[Louvre]], Paris.]]
The revolt of [[Constantine III (Western Roman emperor)|Constantine III]] in the west continued through this period. In 409, [[Gerontius (magister militum)|Gerontius]], Constantine III's general in Hispania, rebelled against him, proclaimed [[Maximus of Hispania|Maximus]] Emperor, and besieged Constantine at Arles.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=142}} Honorius now found himself an able commander, [[Constantius III|Constantius]], who defeated Maximus and [[Gerontius (magister militum)|Gerontius]], and then Constantine, in 411.

Gaul was again a source of troubles for Honorius: just after Constantius's troops had returned to Italy, [[Jovinus]] revolted in northern Gaul, with the support of Alans, Burgundians, and the nobility of Gallic descent.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=145}} Jovinus tried to negotiate with the invading [[Goths]] of [[Ataulf]] (412), but his proclamation of his brother [[Sebastianus]] as [[Augustus (title)|Augustus]] made Ataulf seek alliance with Honorius. Honorius had Ataulf defeat and execute Jovinus in 413.<ref name="Bury, pg. 146">{{harvnb|Bury|1889|p=146}}</ref> At the same time, [[Heraclianus]] raised the standard of revolt in North Africa, but failed during an invasion of Italy. Defeated, he fled back to [[Carthage]] and was killed.<ref name="Bury, pg. 146"/>

In 414, Constantius attacked Ataulf, who proclaimed Priscus Attalus emperor again. Constantius drove Ataulf into Hispania, and Attalus, having again lost Visigoth support, was captured and deposed once again. In the eleventh consulship of Honorius and the second of Constantius, the Emperor entered Rome in triumph, with Attalus at the wheels of his chariot. Honorius punished Attalus by cutting off his right finger and thumb, inflicting the same fate with which Attalus had threatened Honorius. Remembering how Attalus had suggested that Honorius should retire to some small island, he returned the favor by banishing Attalus to the island of [[Lipara]].<ref name="Bury, pg. 150">{{harvnb|Bury|1889|p=150}}</ref>

Northeastern Gaul became subject to even greater [[Franks|Frankish]] influence, while a treaty signed in 418 granted to the [[Visigoths]] southwestern Gaul, the former [[Gallia Aquitania]]. Under the influence of Constantius, Honorius issued the Edict of 418, which was designed to enable the Empire to retain a hold on the lands which were to be surrendered to the Goths.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=153}} This edict relaxed the administrative bonds that connected all the [[Septem Provinciae|Seven Provinces]] (The Maritime Alps, [[Narbonensis Prima]], [[Narbonensis Secunda]], [[Novempopulania]], [[Aquitania Prima]], [[Aquitania Secunda]] and [[Viennensis]]) with the central government. It removed the imperial governors and allowed the inhabitants, as a dependent federation, to conduct their own affairs, for which purpose representatives of all the towns were to meet every year in [[Arles]].{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=154}}

In 417, Constantius married Honorius's sister, [[Galla Placidia]], much against her will.<ref name="Bury, pg. 150"/> In 421, Honorius recognized him as co-emperor Constantius III;{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=151}} however, when the announcement of his elevation was sent to Constantinople, Theodosius refused to recognise him. Constantius, enraged, began preparations for a military conflict with the eastern empire but before he could commence it, he died in September 421.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=155}}

In 420–422, another Maximus (or perhaps the same) gained and lost power in Hispania. By the time of Honorius's death in 423, Britain, Spain and Gaul had been ravaged by barbarians.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=211}} In his final years, Honorius fell out with his sister after his soldiers clashed with hers. Galla Placidia and her children, the future emperor [[Valentinian III]] and his sister, [[Honoria]], were forced to flee to Constantinople.{{sfn|Bury|1889|p=156}}

===Death===
Honorius died of [[edema]] on 15 August 423, leaving no heir.<ref name="Jones, pg. 442"/> In the subsequent interregnum [[Joannes]] was nominated Emperor. The following year, however, the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern]] Emperor [[Theodosius II]] installed his cousin [[Valentinian III]], son of [[Galla Placidia]] and [[Constantius III]], as Emperor.
[[File:Vatican - basilique - Vue d’ensemble de l'antique basilique vaticane basilica.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Reconstruction of [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome. The Mausoleum of Honorius is the domed structure at the extreme top left, behind the rotunda Sant'Andrea and the [[Vatican obelisk]].]]
The [[Mausoleum of Honorius]] was located on the [[Vatican Hill]], accessed from the transept of the [[Old Saint Peter's Basilica]]. It was first used for Maria. Probably Thermantia and Honorius's sister Galla Placidia, and perhaps other imperial family members, were later buried there. In the 8th century it was transformed into a church, the [[Saint Petronilla#The Chapel of St. Petronilla|Chapel of St Petronilla]], which held the relics of [[Saint Petronilla|the saint]] and was demolished when the [[St. Peter's Basilica|New St Peter's]] was erected.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521513715&ss=toc| title = The Roman Imperial Mausoleum in Late Antiquity}}</ref><ref name=Pearce>{{cite web |title=Old St Peters, the Circus of Caligula and the Phrygianum |author=Roger Pearse |work=Roger Pearse's blog |date=16 May 2014 |url=http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2014/05/16/old-st-peters-the-circus-of-caligula-and-the-phrygianum |access-date=1 December 2015}}</ref>

The year 410 also saw Honorius reply to a [[Romano-British|British]] plea for assistance against local barbarian incursions, called the ''Rescript of Honorius''. Preoccupied with the [[Visigoths]], Honorius lacked any military capability to assist the distant province. According to the sixth century [[Byzantine]] scholar [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], "Honorius wrote letters to the cities in Britain, bidding them to guard themselves."<ref>Zosimus, vi.10.2</ref> This sentence is located randomly in the middle of a discussion of [[southern Italy]]; no further mention of Britain is made, which has led some modern academics to suggest that the rescript does not apply to Britain, but to [[Bruttium]] in [[Roman Italy|Italy]].{{sfn|Birley|2005|pp=461–463}}<ref>Halsall, Guy ''Barbarian migrations and the Roman West, 376–568'' Cambridge University Press; illustrated edition (2007) {{ISBN|978-0-521-43491-1}} pp. 217–218</ref><ref>Discussion in [[Martin Millett]], ''The Romanization of Britain'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) and in Philip Bartholomew 'Fifth-Century Facts' ''Britannia'' vol. 13, 1982 p. 260</ref>

==Assessments==
[[File:John Williams Waterhouse - The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius (1883).jpg|right|thumb|300x300px|''[[The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius]]'', by [[John William Waterhouse]], 1883]]
In his ''History of the Wars'', [[Procopius]] mentions a likely apocryphal story where, on hearing the news that Rome had "perished", Honorius was initially shocked, thinking the news was in reference to a favourite [[chicken]] he had named "Roma".
<blockquote>At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna received the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that Rome had perished. And he cried out and said, 'And yet it has just eaten from my hands!' For he had a very large cock, Rome by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city of Rome which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: 'But I thought that my fowl Rome had perished.' So great, they say, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed.<br/>
—Procopius, ''The Vandalic War'' ([https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/410alaric.asp III.2.25–26])</blockquote>While the tale is discounted as a rumour by more recent historians like [[Edward Gibbon]], it is useful in understanding Roman public opinion towards Honorius.<ref>Edward Gibbon, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' Volume 3 (Harrison and Sons, 1854), p. 460.</ref>

Honorius was negatively assessed by some 19th and 20th century historians, including [[J.B. Bury]].<ref name=BuryChicago>Summarising Procopius's account of Honorius's reign, wrote: "His name would be forgotten among the obscurest occupants of the Imperial throne were it not that his reign coincided with the fatal period in which it was decided that western Europe was to pass from the Roman to the Teuton." After listing the disasters of those 28 years, Bury concluded: "[Honorius] himself did nothing of note against the enemies who infested his realm, but personally he was extraordinarily fortunate in occupying the throne till he died a natural death and witnessing the destruction of the multitude of tyrants who rose up against him."[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/6*.html#5 John Bagnall Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', 1923] (New York: Dover, 1958), p. 213</ref>

Honorius issued a decree during his reign, prohibiting men from wearing [[trousers]] in Rome.<ref>Codex Theodosianus 14.10.2–3, tr. C. Pharr, "The Theodosian Code," p.&nbsp;415.</ref> The last known [[gladiator]]ial games took place during the reign of Honorius,<ref>[http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-emperors/honorius.htm "The Reign of Honorius – Telemachus and the End of the Gladiators"] by Linda Alchin, "Honorius", 5 March 2015, retrieved 12 October 2016</ref> who banned the practice in 399 and again in 404, reportedly due to the martyrdom of a Christian monk named [[Saint Telemachus|Telemachus]] while he was protesting a gladiator fight.

==See also==
[[File:Solidus Honorius (obverse).jpg|thumb|Solidus of Honorius]]
* Usurpers during Honorius reign:
** [[Priscus Attalus]] in Rome (two times);
** [[Maximus of Hispania|Maximus]] in Hispania;
** [[Marcus (usurper)|Marcus]], [[Gratian (usurper)|Gratian]], [[Constantine III (usurper)|Constantine "III"]] and [[Constans II (usurper)|Constans "II"]] in Gaul and Britain;
** [[Jovinus]] and [[Sebastianus]] (joint puppets of [[Gundahar]] and [[Goar]]).
* Co-emperors with Honorius:
** [[Constantius III]].
* Succession to Honorius:
** [[Joannes]] and [[Valentinian III]].
* [[Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire#Episode six: The Fall of Rome|''Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire'']]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
===Primary sources===
* [[Aurelius Victor]],'' "Epitome de Caesaribus"'', [http://www.roman-emperors.org/epitome.htm English version of Epitome de Caesaribus]
* [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], ''"Historia Nova"'', Books 4–6 [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zosimus05_book5.htm Historia Nova]

===Secondary sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last=Birley |first=Anthony Richard |title=The Roman Government of Britain |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425 |editor-first1=Peter |editor-last1=Garnsey |editor-first2=Averil |editor-last2=Cameron |chapter=The dynasty of Theodosius |first=R.C. |last=Blockley |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 }}
* Doyle, Chris. ''[https://www.routledge.com/Honorius-The-Fight-for-the-Roman-West-AD-395-423/Doyle/p/book/9781138190887 Honorius: The Fight for the Roman West AD 395-423]''. Roman Imperial Biographies. Routledge. (2018) 
*Doyle, Christopher. ''The Endgame of Treason'': ''Suppressing Rebellion and Usurpation in the Late Roman Empire AD 397‑411''. (2014) National University of Ireland Galway. Unpublished doctoral thesis. https://aran.library.nuigalway.ie/handle/10379/4631
*{{cite book |title=The Roman Empire in Late Antiquity: A Political and Military History |first=Hugh |last=Elton |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2018 }}
*Kovács, Tamás. “[https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/bitstream/handle/11222.digilib/143320/1_GraecoLatinaBrunensia_25-2020-2_12.pdf?sequence=1 410: Honorius, His Rooster, and the Eunuch (Procop. Vand. 1.2.25–26).]” ''Graeco-Latina Brunensia'' 25, no. 2 (2020): 131–48. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2020-2-10</nowiki>.
* {{cite book |last=Jones |year=1964 |first=A.H.M. |title=The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey [Paperback, vol. 1] |publisher=Basil Blackwell Ltd|isbn=0-8018-3353-1 |url= https://archive.org/details/laterromanempire0000jone}}
*[http://www.roman-emperors.org/honorius.htm Mathisen, Ralph, "Honorius (395–423 A.D.)", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis'']
*McEvoy, Meaghan A. (2010). [[doi:10.1017/S0068246200000854|'Rome and the transformation of the imperial office in the late fourth - mid-fifth centuries A.D.']], ''Papers of the British School at Rome'' 78: 151–192.
*{{cite book |last=McEvoy |first=Meaghan A. |year=2013 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/child-emperor-rule-in-the-late-roman-west-ad-367-455-9780199664818?cc=de&lang=en& |title=Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West, A.D. 367-455 |series=Oxford Classical Monographs |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-966481-8 }}
*McEvoy, Meaghan A. (2013). 'The mausoleum of Honorius: late Roman imperial Christianity and the city of Rome in the fifth century', in [[Rosamond McKitterick]], John Osbourne, Carol M. Richards, Joanna Story (eds.), ''[https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/european-history-450-1000/old-saint-peters-rome?format=PB Old St Peter's, Rome]'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 119–136.
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Jones|editor-first1=Arnold Hugh Martin|editor-link1=A. H. M. Jones|ref={{harvid|Jones et al|1980}}|editor-last2=Martindale|editor-first2=J. R.|editor-link2=John Robert Martindale|editor-last3=Morris|editor-first3=John|editor-link3=John Morris (historian)|chapter=Fl. Honorius 3|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prosopography-later-roman-empire/PLRE-I/page/442/mode/1up|title=[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]]|volume=I, AD 260–395|date=1971|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521072335}}
* {{cite book|author-link=J. B. Bury|last1=Bury|first1=John Bagnell|title=A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene (395 A.D. to 800 A.D.)|date=1889|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyZLAQAAMAAJ}}
* Gibbon. Edward ''Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1888){{Full citation needed|date=August 2022}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Honorius}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Flavius Augustus Honorius |volume= XII |last= |first= |author-link= | page=143 |short=1}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Honorius, Flavius |volume = 13 |last= |first= |author-link= |pages=661-662 |short=1}}
* This [https://web.archive.org/web/20081025063840/http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/imperial-laws-chart-364 list of Roman laws of the fourth century] shows laws passed by Honorius relating to Christianity.

{{S-start}}
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{{s-end}}

{{Roman emperors}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:384 births]]
[[Category:423 deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century Roman emperors]]
[[Category:5th-century Roman emperors]]
[[Category:4th-century Roman consuls]]
[[Category:5th-century Roman consuls]]
[[Category:Ancient child monarchs]]
[[Category:Deaths from edema]]
[[Category:Theodosian dynasty]]
[[Category:Sons of Roman emperors]]
[[Category:4th-century Western Roman emperors]]