410-429 Britain Abandoned, Rhineland Puppet Emperor

In the year after Rome was sacked by Alaric (pictured) -- a Roman general and king of the federate Visigoth nation -- in revenge for broken promises., he was succeeded by Athaulf as King of the Visigoths in 410.

Theodius II was emperor in the east and Honorius emperior in the west and despite what was happening in Rome they were arguing about their positions.

Honorius was prepared to recognize Constantine as co-emperor, but quickly changed his mind when a Spanish commander, Gerontius, declared another man, Maximus, as emperor in 411 and started attacking Constantine. At this point, Honorius dispatched to Gaul a commander named Constantius who defeated both Constantine and Gerontius.

Constantine returned to Italy to discover that the Burgundians and Alans had raised a puppet emperor Jovinus on the Rhine.

Athaulf took Galla Placida, Honorius's half sister as hostage, went to join forces with Jovinus the puppet emperor but was rebuffed and then fought against him.

In 413 Jovinus was crushed, but Burgundians were formed in their possession of Upper Germany as federates securing the first step in the alienation of Gaul from imperial control.

About the same time, Britain petitioned for help against invasions from the Picts in the norths, the Irish (or scotti) in the west, by the Jutes from Denmark, the Frisians from the low countries (Belgium and Holland) and by the Angles and Saxons from north-west Germany in the east and south -- but Honorius abandoned them.

As part of his agreement to crush Jovinus, Athaulf was to be provided with grain by the imperial government but a revolt in Africa prevented this and he revolted by seizing southern Gaul and in 414 married Galla knowing that Constantine loved her. In retaliation, Constantine cut off supplies to southern Gaul, forcing Athaulf to cross the Pyrenees into north western Spain.

Athaulf was assassinated in 415 and was succeeded by Wallia whose fleet was destroyed in an attempt to cross to Africa in 416 and was forced to make peace with Rome by returning Galla and subduing the Vandals, Suebi and Alans in Spain - in return for which Galla was given a kingdom for the Visigoths in south western Gaul.

In 416 Constantine and Galla married, having a daughter and a son, Valentinian, in 419. In 421 Honorius appointed Constantine as co-emperor but he was not recognized in the East. When Constantine died that same year, a rift developed between Galla and Honorius and she fled with her children to her nephew Theodosius II in the east in 423.

In the same year Honorius died and a mid-level administrator, John, was appointed as the new emperor. Theodosius II responded by sending an attack force, had John executed and proclaimed Valentinian (Galla's son) as emperor.

The first 12 years of Valentinian III's 30-year reign were dominated by his mother who ruled through two ambitious generals, Boniface and Aetius.

Aetius had been a supporter of John -- for this he had been forgiven but was not trusted -- and worked hard to earn respect by maintaining order in Gaul and Italy. In Gaul he raised the siege at Arles in 427 against King Theoderic (successor of Wallia in 418) and in the lower Rhine in 428 he subdued a revolt of the Salian Franks who had settled in the area during Julian's time.

Aetius' main source of power, however, was his friendship with King Rugila of the Huns -- nomadic Mongol tribes from the steppes of Central Asia, including subordinate tribes of Germans and Turks, who were an important power in southern Russia and north of the Danube.

Boniface had been appointed military commander in Africa, and when he refused a summons to return to Italy an army was sent against him which was defeated in 427. In 428 another army was sent under Goth leadership and did better, capturing Carthage and Hippo Regius.

Fearing defeat, Boniface sought help from King Gaiseric of the Vandals in southern Spain, promising to split Africa with him if he brought his troops across the Straits of Gibraltar - which he did in 429, plundering Mauretania (Algeria).

Like many other Germanic tribes, the Vandals had converted to the Arian form of Christianity under Constantius II, but unlike the other Germanic tribes the Vandals were hostile to local inhabitants and cultures, expelling landowners and persecuting Catholics.

390-409 Goth King Alaric Sacks Rome!

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Theodosius (pictured) died in 395 and was  succeeded in the east by his son Arcadius and in the west by by his son Honorius.

In 390, Theodosius was subordinated even further by Bishop Ambrose when he was excommunicated following a military command giving the Goth troops in Thessalonica the right to take revenge on the local population for murdering their officers.

Theodosius atoned for his "sin" for months as a miserable penitent before Bishop Ambrose allowed him the sacraments again, but the sight of an emperor debasing himself in such a manner gave a bad impression to both Christians and Pagans.

During 391-2 there was a ban on pagan worship and sacrifice

In 391 Theodosius returned to Constantinople, leaving the young Valentinian II under the care of the Germanic general Arbogast, and by 392 the young emperor of the west was found hanged and Arbogast appointed Eugenius, an easily manipulated middle-ranking civilian, to replace him.

Fearing reprisal from Theodosius, Eugenius and Arbogast gained support from the Roman Pagans, furious at Theodosius's anti-Pagan laws.

Ambrose excommunicated Eugenius - and Theodosius now had the pretext for a holy war which he waged in 394 and won with a large contingent of Goth soldiers. He then cracked down harder on the Pagans, but died in 395, succeeded by his two young and inexperienced sons, permanently dividing the Roman empire between east and west in 395.

Both sons (Arcadias aged 13 in the East and Honorius aged 18 in the West) were controlled by generals.

Stilicho, who was married to the niece of Theodosius, maintained he was the guardian of both boys, but in effect had no control over Arcadias who was out of reach in the east. He strengthened his control over Honorius by marrying the boy to his daughter.

A major problem facing Stilicho was a revolt in 395 among the Goth soldiers with whom Theodosius had won the battle against Eugenius in 394 and remained stationed in Italy. They had suffered enormous losses to defend the Roman Empire at the expense of the federate Visigoth nation under King Alaric. Those Goth troops that had returned to the Balkans also started a revolt in Greece in 396, and finally as a peace offering King Alaric was given a position as a Roman general in 397.

In 398, the Roman east was invaded by the Huns from the Caucasus and Arcadius gave the eunuch Eutropius a consulship in 399 following his successful campaign against the Huns.

In 397, King Alaric, now a Roman General, used his position to equip his Goths with weaponry and seek territory in the west. In 401 he invaded Northern Italy at a time when Stilicho was busy repelling the Vandals. Alaric put Honorius under siege in Milan, and Stilicho was able to negotiate with the Vandals to provide him with troops in order to fight Alaric.

In 402 Stilicho with the Vandals forced Alaric to lift the siege, forced the Goths back and captured Alaric's family. The Goths regrouped and came back in 403 and Stilicho negotiated with them to stay where they were.

In 405, hordes of Ostrogoths from the mid Danube region fell upon Italy and Stilicho was able to push them back by summoning Roman troops from the Rhineland and hiring Hun troops from across the Danube, but they were pushed into Gaul and he decided to abandon Gaul to the Ostrogoths in favor of taking advantage of what was happening in the eastern empire in order to gain control of the entire empire.

In 404 John Chrysotom, the Bishop of Constantinople, had been deposed and exiled following his tactless treatment of Arcadius's wife. When Stilicho's demands for the bishop's reinstatement were ignored, he cut off trade with the east and was preparing to fight Arcadius when events overtook him.

King Alaric of the Goths decided to invade Italy again in 408, demanding gold in compensation for the losses his nation suffered and Stilicho induced the Senate to agree.

In the meantime, Arcadius died and was succeeded by his 7 year old son Theodius II and fired with such an easy opportunity to gain control of the east, Stilicho gave King Alaric authority to restore order in Gaul and left for Constantinople - only to return when news reached him that his supporters had been murdered.

Honorius had Stilicho executed and when Alaric resumed his invasion of Italy, demanding more gold, land and an Imperial office Honorius refused, resulting in King Alaric of the Goths capturing Rome in 409, proclaiming the prefect of the city, Attalus, as emperor and himself the prefect.

Honorius held out with reinforcement from his nephew in the east, but Alaric sacked the city of Rome in rage. He died that year, his brother Athaulf became king and led the Visigoths to Gaul where a Roman general stationed in Britain - Constantine - having been declared Emperor by his men - crossed the channel, gained the support of the Roman troops he found there and engaged in attacks against the barbarians, taking over Spain.

In leaving Britain, Honorius ceded British civilians the right to defend themselves