Stilicho

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Stilicho. Late Roman general. In ad 395 Honorius became ruler of the western empire, but effective power lay with the outstanding military and political personality of his time, ‘enigmatic Stilicho, half-Roman and half-German’. Stilicho's career was marked by hostility towards the eastern empire and a reluctance to deal comprehensively with the Germanic tribes threatening the western empire, whose support he might need. His career impinged on Roman Britain: in 396–8 he ordered an expedition against the barbarians troubling Britain, restoring peace in 399; but in 401–2 he withdrew troops from Britain to defend Italy. Eventually he was accused of conspiring with the German Alaric to usurp imperial power, surrendered to Honorius, and was executed in 408.

Eleanor Scott

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