Rome Killed the Man Who Was Saving It

About this episode

The episode explores the execution of Flavius Stilicho and its impact on the Western Roman Empire's collapse.

On August 22, 408 AD, the Western Roman Emperor Honorius signed an execution order. The man being executed was Flavius Stilicho — half Vandal, half Roman, the general who had defeated Alaric three times, held the Rhine frontier together for 13 years, and kept a collapsing political structure functioning through sheer competence. For more than a decade he had been the only thing standing between the Western Empire and total disintegration. The Senate hated him. The court whispered against him. They said he was conspiring with the Goths. They said he wanted to put his son on the throne. They said his barbarian blood made him untrustworthy. None of it was true. But systems like this eventually stop needing truth. They just need targets. Stilicho walked out of a church in Ravenna and accepted his fate. He could have resisted — 10,000 federate troops were personally loyal to him, and he could have seized power and likely won. He chose not to. He still believed in something larger than himself. The system that executed him no longer did. Within months, 10,000 federate soldiers marched directly to Alaric's camp. The Rhine frontier collapsed. The borders dissolved. The army Stilicho had…

People in this episode

Host: Jeremy Ryan Slate

Topics covered

• Roman Empire
• political intrigue
• historical analysis
• leadership
• military strategy

Keywords

• Flavius Stilicho
• Honorius
• Alaric
• Roman Empire
• political execution
• military leadership
• historical events

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Rome, Ravenna

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