Honorius (9 September 384-15 August 423) was the Western Roman Emperor from 23 January 393 to 15 August 423, succeeding Theodosius I and preceding Valentinian III. His early reign was dominated by the half-Vandal general Stilicho, who served as aregent, and his reign was full of chaos.
Biography[]
Flavius Honorius Augustus was born in Constantinople in 384, the son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla. In 393, he became co-ruler of the Roman Empire under his father, and he and his brother Arcadius were each given halfs of the empire; Honorius inherited the Western Roman Empire. As he was ten when he inherited the throne, Honorius was governed by the regent Stilicho, a half-Vandal Roman general. During Honorius' reign, the Germanic tribes invaded Gaul, Italy, and Hispania, and a host of usurpers rose against his rule. A revolt in North Africa from 397 to 398 was crushed, followed by Stilicho's defeat of Alaric I's Visigoths at the Battle of Pollentia in 402, the defeat of Radagaisus' Gothic invasion of Italy in 406, the invasion of Gaul by the Ostrogoths, Alans, Vandals, and Quadi from 405 to 406, and the abandoning of Britannia in 410. In 408, he was persuaded to execute Stilicho by his minister Olympius, who claimed that Stilicho was conspiring with the barbarians to overthrow him. Honorius had Stilicho's allies and the families of his troops massacred, leading to Stilicho's troops defecting en masse to Alaric. In 410, Alaric sacked Rome itself, a major blow to Roman presige. In 413, Honorius defeated and executed the usurper Jovinus, but he failed to fully regain control of Gaul. He died of edema in 423 at the young age of 38.
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