Peace with Persia, and the Fall of Stilicho

Although the Persians had prepared to go to war, they were persuaded to make a truce with the Romans for a hundred years.

Stilicho, the general of the troops of Honorius, was suspected of plotting to have his son Eucherius proclaimed emperor of the East, and for this he was killed by the army at Ravenna. Earlier, while Arcadius was still alive, he had formed a bitter hatred of that emperor’s officers, and this drove him to set the two empires against each other. He arranged for Alaric, the leader of the Goths, to receive the office of a Roman general, and advised him to seize Illyria. He sent Jovian ahead as the appointed prefect, and agreed to join him shortly with Roman troops and bring its people under the rule of Honorius. Alaric left the barbarian country bordering on Dalmatia and Pannonia, where he had been living, and marched at the head of his soldiers into Epirus. After staying some time in that country, he withdrew to Italy without having accomplished anything. He had been about to move as agreed, but he was held back by letters from Honorius. After the death of Arcadius, Honorius planned a journey to Constantinople on behalf of his nephew, to appoint officers who would be loyal and would keep the boy and his empire safe. He regarded his nephew as his own son, and he feared that the boy might come to harm because of his youth, since he would be exposed to plots. But just as Honorius was about to set out on this journey, Stilicho talked him out of it, showing him that he was needed in Italy to put down the schemes of Constantine, who was trying to seize the supreme power at Arles. Stilicho then took the one of the standards that the Romans call the Labarum, obtained letters from the emperor, and set out with them at the head of four legions to make war in the East. But a report spread that he had plotted against the emperor and had made a plan with those in power to raise his son to the throne. The troops rose in mutiny and killed the praetorian prefect of Italy and of Gaul, the generals, and the chief officers of the court. Stilicho himself was killed by the soldiers at Ravenna. He had held almost absolute power, and practically everyone, Romans and barbarians alike, was under his control. So Stilicho perished on the suspicion of having plotted against the emperors. His son Eucherius was also killed. [a]