Honorius (/hoʊˈnɔːriəs/;[1] 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) wasRoman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperorTheodosius I and his first wifeAelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency ofStilicho, ruled the western half of the empire while his brotherArcadius ruled the eastern half. His reign over theWestern Roman Empire was notably precarious and chaotic. In 410,Rome was sacked for the first time since theBattle of the Allia almost 800 years prior.
Honorius was born to EmperorTheodosius I and EmpressAelia Flaccilla on 9 September 384 inConstantinople.[2] He was the brother ofArcadius andPulcheria. In 386, his mother died, and in 387, Theodosius marriedGalla who had taken a temporary refuge inThessaloniki with her family, including her brotherValentinian II and motherJustina, away from usurperMagnus Maximus. Theodosius and Galla had a daughter, Honorius's half-sisterGalla Placidia. Honorius, Arcadius, and Galla Placidia were the only children of Theodosius to survive into adulthood.
After holding theconsulate at the age of two in 386, Honorius was declaredaugustus by his fatherTheodosius I, and thus co-ruler, on 23 January 393, after the death ofValentinian II and the usurpation ofEugenius.[4] When Theodosius died in January 395, Honorius and Arcadius divided the Empire. Honorius became Western Roman emperor at the age of ten.[5]
During the early part of his reign, Honorius depended on the military leadership of the generalStilicho, who had been appointed by Theodosius[6] and was of mixedVandal and Roman ancestry.[7] To strengthen his bonds with the young emperor and to make his grandchild an imperial heir, Stilicho married his daughterMaria to Honorius.[8] Theepithalamion written for the occasion by Stilicho's court poetClaudian survives.[9] Honorius was also influenced by thePopes ofRome. So it was thatPope Innocent I and Western bishops may have been successful in persuading Honorius to write to his brother, arguing for convening a synod in Thessalonica.[10]
Colossal marble head of a youthful emperor, possibly Honorius (Musei Capitolini)[11]
At first Honorius based his capital inMilan, but when theVisigoths under KingAlaric I entered Italy in 401 he moved his capital to the coastal city ofRavenna, which was protected by a ring of marshes and strong fortifications.[12] While the new capital was easier to defend, it was poorly situated to allow Roman forces to protectCentral Italy from the increasingly regular threat of barbarian incursions. It is significant that the Emperor's residence remained in Ravenna until the overthrow ofRomulus 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 theOstrogothic Kingdom in Italy, but also for the seat of theByzantine exarchs as well.[12]
FirstGildo, thecomesof Africa andmagister utriusque militiae per Africam in Northern Africa, led arevolt which lasted for two years (397–398).[13] Stilicho eventually subdued it through the local command ofMascezel, Gildo's brother.[14]
The next crisis was the Visigothic invasion of Italy in 402 under the command of their king,Alaric I.Stilicho was absent inRaetia in the latter months of 401, when Alaric, who was also the Eastern Empire'smagister militum inIllyricum, suddenly marched with a large army through theJulian Alps and entered Italy.[15]
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 intoLiguria. Stilicho narrowly defeated Alaric atPollentia, on the river Tanarus on Easter Day (6 April 402). Alaric retreated toVerona, where Stilicho attacked him again yet the battle was not entirely conclusive. The Visigoths were allowed to retreat back to Illyricum.[16] In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube byRadagaisus. They brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces.[12] Then, in 405 or 406, a number of tribes, according to some sources allegedly includingVandals,Alans, andSuebi,crossed the Rhine and invadedGaul.
The western empire was effectively overstretched due to the massive invasion ofAlans,Suebi andVandals who, although they had been repulsed from Italy in 406, moved into Gaul on 31 December 406,[17] and arrived inHispania 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.[19] 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 theGoths to leave Italy.[20]
Honorius, in the meantime, was atBononia, on his way from Ravenna toTicinum, 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 fromArcadius toTheodosius II.[22] Summoned from Ravenna for advice, Stilicho advised Honorius not to go, and proceeded to go himself. In Stilicho's absence, a minister namedOlympius gained the confidence of Honorius. He convinced the emperor that his father-in-law was conspiring with the barbarians to overthrow him.[23]
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 wifeThermantia was taken from the imperial throne and given over to her mother; Eucherius, the son of Stilicho, was put to death.[24] The purge also massacred the families of Stilicho'sfoederati troops, and they defected en masse to Alaric.[24]
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.[25] 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.[25]
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.[26] The enraged Alaric returned to Rome in late 409 and forced the Senate to electPriscus Attalus as emperor, who ratified Alaric's former treaty with Stilicho.[26]
Rome had been under Visigothic siege since shortly after Stilicho's deposition and execution in the summer of 408.[27] In 410, theEastern Roman Empire sent sixlegions (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)[28] from Ravenna to aid Honorius, but Alaric ambushed the legions on the way, and only a handful of them reached Rome.[29] Lacking a strong general to control the by-now mostly GermanicRoman army, Honorius could do little to attackAlaric'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 thegrain supply to Rome, but the governor, Heraclian, who was loyal to Honorius, wiped out this force as soon as it landed on the coast.[30] 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.[30] 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.[31]
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.[32] The psychological blow to the contemporary Roman world was considerably more painful. The shock of this event reverberated from Britain to Jerusalem, and inspiredAugustine to write hismagnum opus,The City of God.
Constantius and the beginning of erosion of the Western Empire
Christian pendant of EmpressMaria, daughter ofStilicho, and wife of Honorius. The pendant reads, around a central cross (clockwise): HONORI MARIA SERHNA VIVATIS STELICHO. Latin and Greek characters were intermingled in this one. The letters form aChristogram. Louvre, Paris.
The revolt ofConstantine III in the west continued through this period. In 409,Gerontius, Constantine III's general in Hispania, rebelled against him, proclaimedMaximus Emperor, and besieged Constantine at Arles.[33] Honorius now found himself an able commander,Constantius, who defeated Maximus andGerontius, 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.[34] Jovinus tried to negotiate with the invadingGoths ofAtaulf (412), but his proclamation of his brotherSebastianus asAugustus made Ataulf seek alliance with Honorius. Honorius had Ataulf defeat and execute Jovinus in 413.[35] At the same time,Heraclianus raised the standard of revolt in North Africa, but failed during an invasion of Italy. Defeated, he fled back toCarthage and was killed.[35]
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 ofLipara.[36]
Northeastern Gaul became subject to even greaterFrankish influence, while a treaty signed in 418 granted to theVisigoths southwestern Gaul, the formerGallia 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.[37] This edict relaxed the administrative bonds that connected all theSeven Provinces (The Maritime Alps,Narbonensis Prima,Narbonensis Secunda,Novempopulania,Aquitania Prima,Aquitania Secunda andViennensis) 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 inArles.[38]
In 417, Constantius married Honorius's sister,Galla Placidia, much against her will.[36] In 421, Honorius recognized him as co-emperor Constantius III;[39] 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.[40]
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.[41] In his final years, Honorius fell out with his sister after his soldiers clashed with hers. Galla Placidia and her children, the future emperorValentinian III and his sister,Honoria, were forced to flee to Constantinople.[42]
The year 410 also saw Honorius reply to aBritish plea for assistance against local barbarian incursions, called theRescript of Honorius. Preoccupied with theVisigoths, Honorius lacked any military capability to assist the distant province. According to the sixth centuryByzantine scholarZosimus, "Honorius wrote letters to the cities in Britain, bidding them to guard themselves."[45] This sentence is located randomly in the middle of a discussion ofsouthern 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 toBruttium inItaly.[18][46][47]
Reconstruction ofOld 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 theVatican obelisk.
In hisHistory 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 favouritechicken he had named "Roma".
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. —Procopius,The Vandalic War (III.2.25–26)
While the tale is discounted as a rumour by more recent historians likeEdward Gibbon, it is useful in understanding Roman public opinion towards Honorius.[48]
Honorius was negatively assessed by some 19th and 20th century historians, includingJ.B. Bury.[49]
Honorius issued a decree during his reign, prohibiting men from wearingtrousers in Rome.[50] The last knowngladiatorial games took place during the reign of Honorius,[51] who banned the practice in 399 and again in 404, reportedly due to the martyrdom of a Christian monk namedTelemachus while he was protesting a gladiator fight.
^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
^Halsall, GuyBarbarian migrations and the Roman West, 376–568 Cambridge University Press; illustrated edition (2007)ISBN978-0-521-43491-1 pp. 217–218
^Discussion inMartin Millett,The Romanization of Britain, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) and in Philip Bartholomew 'Fifth-Century Facts'Britannia vol. 13, 1982 p. 260
^Edward Gibbon,The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 (Harrison and Sons, 1854), p. 460.
^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."John Bagnall Bury,History of the Later Roman Empire, 1923 (New York: Dover, 1958), p. 213
^Codex Theodosianus 14.10.2–3, tr. C. Pharr, "The Theodosian Code," p. 415.
Birley, Anthony Richard (2005).The Roman Government of Britain. Oxford University Press.
Blockley, R.C. (2003). "The dynasty of Theodosius". In Garnsey, Peter; Cameron, Averil (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425. Cambridge University Press.
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
Elton, Hugh (2018).The Roman Empire in Late Antiquity: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press.
McEvoy, Meaghan A. (2013). 'The mausoleum of Honorius: late Roman imperial Christianity and the city of Rome in the fifth century', inRosamond McKitterick, John Osbourne, Carol M. Richards, Joanna Story (eds.),Old St Peter's, Rome, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 119–136.
_(2).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
