AH.com and a Map

My Araldyana Timeline is now on Alternate History. I changed some details in the story but it is overall the same.

and here a map for the new update:

Chapter XII: Theodosius

„Oh, dear cousin, you are dead and I am alive, but you don’t see me crying over that. We all have to depart this life one day or another. You went early and won’t come back. I never cry a tear; I will need my eyes in these days more than ever before.“ – Eucherius

418: the snow did not melt yet in Pannonia, Odo breaks through the passes, the Gepids fight the Huns and Himilvin and his men start the march to the south. As the news, of the attacking Pannonian Goths reaches Mediolanum, panic spreads. On the following day the Emperor is found dead – suicide. Flavia and her young children, Honoria and Theodosius, flee to the south-west.

In Pollentia, close to the advancing Western Goths, Flavia marries, only a few days after Honorius death, her mighty general Asterius. The army accepts Theodosius as rightful heir and emperor but the power lies in the hands of Flavia and Asterius. In the decades and centuries to come many will say the emperor’s suicide was a lie, the empress and the general were lovers for years. It will be the material of literature and theatre play but the truth is a mystery of history. 

Himilvin took Ravenna without fight, the city surrendered. The most of the peninsula east of the Apennine fell to his troops before summer. In the meantime Odo fought his way along the Padus. After Himilvin turned north again both rulers meet near Florentia. The Pannonian enjoyed the company of Alaric but now he is meeting his successor: Odo. The king is a rather short but sturdy man, around 40 years of age, less charismatic and diplomatic than his predecessor. Nevertheless is he able to talk Himilvin into an alliance not only against Rome but also against the Britannian troops in the north. Both agree on following: peace with Rome only in great favour for both kings; the Pannonians settle at the Rodanus and in Italia, whereas the Gallians expand into Hispania and to the north.

One thing Odo was ignoring in his plan: Eucherius - a man with many faces, imperial general, leader of the Aremoricans, commander of the Barbarians - gathered enough troops around him to actually thread the Goths. They fought on to many fronts, against Gerontius in the south, Asterius in the west and the Britannians in the north. Britannian is maybe not the right word to describe an army that consists mostly of Franks and Aremoricans. Eucherius is certainly one of the most interesting characters in this game for power. He has more charisma than all other commanders combined and is a born general. He is definitely his father’s child, a new Stilicho.

The Silingi had to leave the battle fields of Italia to defend what became in the last years their home. Eucherius took one city after the other. His army was growing and so was the fear of the Silingian king Filligund. Odo hated to see his ally heading north, he underestimated the Britannians strength and saw Filligund’s move as betrayal. The Silingian left to many people behind in Gallia, if his troops wouldn’t return it would mean betrayal on their families. Filligund tried his best but he failed. After facing Eucherius army and losing in the fight, he knew two things: 1^st Eucherius is too strong and 2^nd Odo won’t help him. Before getting smashed between the Britannians and the Burgundians in the west, Filligund decides to change sites. 

Arcadius panicked as he heard his brother is dead and so the first east Roman troops arrive in Italia around Christmas 418, after they marched through Dalmatia. More would follow later but the most soldiers would stay in the east, fighting the Persians. The emperor sent one of his best generals to Italia, Gaudentius, and with him his son Aetius arrives in the west. The Goths under Himilvin and Odo were unable to challenge Asterius in an open field battle and decided to siege and conquer Rome instead. The city fell as spring came but the Goths were not the rulers of the eternal city for a long time. Asterius avoided the Goths carefully and united his forces with Gaudentius army only a few weeks after the city fell. The battle for Rome began finally in April of 419 AD.

The Goths would have been eliminated, wouldn’t the most of the east Roman troops be at the Persian border fighting the Sassanid Empire. It was still a disastrous defeat. Rome was lost for the Goths, one of their kings died in the battle, namely Odo. Himilvin, the surviving king, was declared ruler of all Goths by his troops and became the first to rule over all them.

After the defeat at Rome the Goths withdrew o the north. The Romans split their army again, believing Himilvin would be vulnerable and easy to defeat again, but the imperials lost their second battle. Gaudentius himself died and the troops appointed his son Aetius as their new commander. The other half of the army, under Asterius’ command, stayed near Rome in the meantime. The northern army would suffer in several battles against the Goths and the game seemed to be on again, as in the late October the Theodosian Wonder happened: Eucherius’ army swept into the Rhone valley and the Gothic army under Himilvin was nearly encircled by the Romans.

Himilvin saw no way to win this war without losing the most of his men in the battle, Arcadius needed his Italian troops in the east, Eucherius wanted to secure his gains, Constantinus was more than surprised to hear how well his general did, the Romans were tired of war and Flavia wanted to save the throne for her son. And so the east, the west, the Britannians and the Goths met in Mediolanum and the Christmas of 419 would be a peaceful one. The Goths gained the Rhone valley, a part of Italia and Taragona, the Silingi were moved a bit to the east, Theodosius II and Constantinus III were both accepted as emperors, the latter as Junior Augustus and the other as Senior Augustus, the west would be split between them, the Britannians gained northern and western Gallia, the unconquered part of Hispania would be divided later, Eucherius gained the command over all non-Gothic forces in Gallia, Himilvin accepted the formal rule of the emperors but his people stay autonomous.

An unsatisfying solution.

 

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 419 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Outline=Goths

Purple=Eastern Empire; Striped=foederati 

Magenta=Britannian Empire; Light Magenta=Aremorica; Stripped=foederati
Brown=Vandals

Green=Hispanian Empire
Yellow=Gepids
Light Brown=Huns

Chapter XI: Edges of the World

„O God, why does the world end in my days?“ – Honorius

It is the year 416 AD and the Empire is falling. The Mare Nostrum, once nothing but a Roman lake but at the same time heart of the Empire, is now the territory of the barbarians. The west lost Africa and the East couldn’t reconquer it; Arcadius’ ships sunk against Geiseric’s fleet. It might be the Vandal King’s greatest victory, that he forced the Emperors to accept his African Realm. It weren’t the lost battles, which made the brothers so weak, that they accepted an independent kingdom, it was the hunger. The population of Rome depends on the grain from Africa and for years not a single ship from Cartagho reached Italia and brought food to the starving population. The end of the Vandalian War is the end of the Roman hunger years.

On the other edge of the known world, in the steppes of the Scythians, a king rose upon the local rulers. The Huns, north the Pontic Sea, are united under one banner again, 11 years after the fall of Udin, ruler of the Danubian tribes. Ultzindur is the mightiest man of all the rulers of the steppe. He united the most Hunnic tribes and led them already against the peoples of the northern Caucasus. Only the Huns which were once the core of Uldin’s empire are not yet part of Ultzindur’s domain. They settle mostly on the northern bank of the Danube and are busy with internal fights. Also some Goths are under them and other Germanics and furthermore some Romans live still in these lands.

417 AD is the year of Ultzindur: first the Delta of the Danube, then the plains of southern Dacia fall to his hordes. Many Huns cross in this year the Danube, not to conquer but to flee their invading brothers. They become part of the Eastern army and most of them will lose their life in the war for Rome.

The king of the Pannonian Goths, Himilvin, heard about the rise of a new Hunnic ruler, shortly after Ultzindur’s Dacian invasion. For the King it was certainly a bad sign. He had plans, big plans: the conversation of the Transdanubian tribes. Under all rulers, he was the one with the biggest religious spirit but he had nevertheless a sense for political necessity. Himilvin grew up under Hunnic rule and fears nothing more but their return. The Baiuvari could wait and stay pagans for now. The king needed a plan if the Huns should advance until Pannonia. His people could move to the north over the Danube but on the other hand will this land probably also fall to Ultzindur. The south would be another option. Himilvin feared the Romans much less than the Huns, but taking Italia would still be an ambitious project.

If Odo should invade Italia, Himilvin will attack from the north-east. In the moment the Roman armies under Asterius still hold on the Alpine passes but it is only a matter of time until the Goths sweep into the empire’s heartland. Honorius rule is limited on Italia. Gallia is lost to Odo and also to Eucherius. The later was able to gain land in the north against the Silingi, mostly because their troops are busy in the south. Eucherius’ formal master is emperor Constantinus and his son of the same name. The younger Constantinus left the command over the continental army completely to Eucherius, who was also promoted Magister Militum and Patricius of the empire. The young prince, lacking military talent, prefers to stay on the island. His father reformed the instable Britannian provinces already a few years ago: the field army, the comitatenses, was reduzed in terms of size whereas the border troops, the limitatei, were enlarged. The Britannian army adapted a defensive strategy. Most soldiers have family, didn’t see the continent for over a decade and are not willing to leave their home for the bloody barbarian playground of Gallia.

Eucherius acts nearly independent from the Emperor in Britannia. His army’s backbone consist of Aremoricans, Franks and even some Saxons; whereas Britannians make up only a tiny part of his troop.

 

At all edges of the Roman world, the imperial rule is shrinking and Honorius and Asterius control nothing anymore but Italia.

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 417 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Striped/Outline=foederati

Purple=Eastern Empire; Striped=foederatiMagenta=Britannian Empire; Light Magenta=Aremorica; Stripped=foederati
Brown=Vandals

Green=Hispanian Empire
Blue=Gothic Empire
Yellow=Gepids
Light Brown=Huns

 

King Himilvin of the Goth

The Gothic Alphabet

I made my own version of the Gothic Alphabet (see here and here for more info):

 

---> BIGGER VERSION <---

Chapter X: Imperial Blood

„Sire, your own blood may flow in your children’s veins, not on the battle field, but years will pass and from generation to generation, more drops of your blood will run out of your offspring’s corpse, down our swords, into the ground, following the water of once Roman rivers to the sea. You will salt the ocean more with every generation and may your own body rest one day in the Italian soil, your blood will never rest.“ – Odo

Aelia Eudoxia is 34 years old and gave birth to ten children. It was her duty as the wife of Arcadius and Empress of Rome to produce a potential heir, but she failed every single time. Eight daughters gave she birth to, one son died only a few hours after he saw the daylight the first and last time; he should have been a second Theodosius. Now she lays in her own sweat and blood, in unbelievable pain, and dies the death of a dutiful wife: giving birth to the tenth child, a healthy son.

Gratianus, born 414 AD, is the long awaited heir of the eastern throne. Arcadius feared his brother’s children could rule one day in Constantinople and should they prove to be as week as their father, it would be the end of the east too. The emperor would have liked to name the child after his own father, Theodosius, but Galla Flavia, his sister-in-law, gave birth to a Theodosius first. Naming the child Arcadius would have been an option, but that seems so egocentric and a bit impropriated in the emperors eyes. So Arcadius decided in favour of the name of the former emperor Gratianus, a short-lived half-brother of him had also this name and his family and Gratian’s are more or less related.

Flavius Aelius Gratianus – Aelius in honour of his mother – had as he was born four siblings, the other five died before him, all of them girls. From the oldest to the youngest there were Arcadia, Pulcheria, Theodosia and Thermantia. At Gratianus’ birth his father was already planning the wedding of Arcadia. A son of her could be a fall-back option if Gratianus shouldn’t live long enough to take his father’s throne. 

Exactly six month after the birth of his son Arcadius married his oldest daughter to the son of his general Gaudentius, a young man named Aetius. It would not be the last wedding of the year but the last the world would take such notice of. In the winter of 414, near the Atlantic, in the province of Aremorica, far away from Rome, closer to the Barbarians than to the Emperors, a relative of Honorius and Arcadius marries again; Eucherius. The son of Stilicho and Serena lost his first wife as he escaped from Burdigala, fleeing Odo’s Gothic troops, who sieged the city. With small ships did he, his families and his friends escape, his wife got sick and died before they reached northern Gallia, but Eucherius himself survived and so did his son Serenus. Gildo was the father of Serenus mother, his new step mother is the niece of the leader of the Suindini. They are the former inhabitants of Suindinum and the surrounding but lost their home to the plundering Silingi. Here a bit further to the west they try to build up an alliance against the invaders and seek to reconquer their homeland.

A few months later in the beginning of 415 the dream of the Suindini became true, at least the first part of it; the cities of Aremorica are united in their fight against the Goths and Silingi, even some Frankish tribes fight now on their site. Honorius has no power over this alliance; they swore loyalty to Constantinus in Britannia but even he doesn’t really rule them. The emperor stayed on his island with the most of the troops, whereas his son and Caesar, of the same name, led some soldiers to the mainland. In theory Caesar Constantinus commands the troops, but de facto it is Eucherius who leads the Aremoricans in the war for Gallia.

The Silingi and Goths move with the biggest part of their army to south-west, towards the Alps and into Hispania. The magister militum of the west, Asterius, was able to stop them for short time in the beginning of the war, but now, in the autumn of 415, they destroyed already the most of the Roman army. They crossed the Rhodanus and took Nemausus and Arelate. Asterius collects the rests of his troops on the Italian side of the Alps, awaiting Odo’s horde on the other side of the mountains. Waiting are also Honorius and Eucherius. The first in the palace at Mediolanum, the latter on the battle field near the Sequana, both waiting for their wives to give birth.

Two weeks later Honorius will get a daughter, Honoria; Eucherius a son, Romanus; blood flows in the empire: on the battle field and in the veins.

 

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 415 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Striped/Outline=foederati

Purple=Eastern Empire; Striped=foederati
Brown=Vandals

Green=Hispanian Empire
Blue=Gothic Empire
Magenta=Britannian Empire; Light Magenta=Aremorica; Stripped=foederati
Yellow=Gepids

Rome 413 AD (big map)

I hope you like it :)

EDIT: changed the Balkan a bit

Chapter IX: Borders of the Empire

„Poor old ship, the sailors left you to the pirates.“ – Gerontius

Emerita Augusta, capital of Lusitania and close to the last legions in southern Hispania, received in the spring of 412 AD apocalyptical news: Several ships got attacked near Olisipo by Germanic pirates. It is not clear who exactly did it, if it were the Saxons or Franks than it would mean that they came as south as never before, if it were the Vandals than not even the Atlantic coast would be safe from them anymore. What matters is that Lusitania is now not anymore a relatively peaceful place in this sea of war. Several years ago Alaric troops crossed the mountains in the north but they moved back to Gallia as they destroyed Mallius’ empire. Especially Lusitania and its capital Emerita stayed pretty unharmed during this campaign but now Hispania is nearly without defence. Honorius moved the most legions to Africa, where they got destroyed, and only a few troops stayed on the peninsula.

Gerontius, Comes of the Hispanian legions, used the insecurity and the rumours in the city of Emerita to claim for himself to be the protector of the local Roman population from all foreign powers, including the emperor in Arelate. His inspiration was probably Constantinus, the Roman emperor of Britannia, who stayed on the island and secured it instead of getting drawn into the conflicts of the mainland. Also Postumus’ Gallic Empire, of the third century, could have been an example of an independent but still Roman state and even the Germanic ruler, which dominate the collapsing empire now, act like independent kings in their territory. The next logical step for a Roman general could only be to grab land from the empire before the barbarians do. Not that Gerontius would have hated Germanics – he had many foreign soldiers in his troops – no, he just didn’t believe that they could be leaders of some civilized state. The current empire under Honorius was for him nothing but an old sinking Gothic ship, which was once made by Romans and still sails under the builder’s flag.

Filigund, king of the Silingi and Alani, was the first to call Gerontius, Rex Hispanorum. Gerontius himself claimed to be emperor, even if the title of a king would have been more appropriated. He would of course not deny the rule over the whole Roman world, if it would fall into his hands, but he is smart enough to know that the time of the great empires is over, at least in the west. On his coins he appears with the title of the Restorer of Hispania - more a plan for the future, than an achievement - but still a pleasant title for the ruler of the peninsula. Nevertheless around the whole Mediterranean he was soon known as the King who is Roman but still is fighting the empire. The novelty was not, that he fought the empire but that he was Roman. That barbarians broke free from Rome, like Alaric did or Gainas, was nothing new, but that a Roman general would do that, didn’t happen for 150 years and was already forgotten for the most people. Constantinus in Britannia was no shock for the Romans, he still claimed to rule the whole empire, but Gerontius was for only claiming a part. He was a sign of the decline of the west.

Alaric, King of the Goths and Magister Militum, died in the winter of 413. The Goths thought Alaric’s successor, Odo, would be granted the title of the Magister Militum but empress Flavia was able to convince Honorius to proclaim Asterius, leader of the Italian troops, new general of the west. With this decision Flavia was planning to reduce the German influence in the empire and even succeeded in some way with it; Odo broke with Rome. The Second Gothic War begun.

Asterius moved the emperor’s court back to Mediolanum and begun to concentrate his troops in the Rhone Valley. Further to the north-west Odo united his forces with the ones of Filigund in the meantime. The King was also in contact with the leaders of the Franks, which stayed officially on Rome’s side but actually acted neutral in the war and didn’t attack the Goths. The Burgundians on the other side were sending troops to Asterius, they formed together with Hunnish and Alemannian forces the backbone of the Roman army.

As the first snow fell in the year 413 the Western Empire was already collapsing: Hispania and Gallia are in revolt, Africa is free from Roman forces, Britannia is de facto independent and Dalmatia is ruled by the East. Honorius, Arcadius, Flavia, Asterius Odo, Geiseric, Filigund, Gerontius; all of them decide over the fate of the Roman world.

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 413 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Striped/Outline=other foederati

Purple=Eastern Empire; Striped=foederati
Brown=Vandals

Green=Hispanian Empire
Blue=Gothic Empire
Magenta=Britannian Empire
Yellow=Gepids

Chapter VIII: The head of Mallius

„A head is a head and a lie is a lie.“ – Honorius

Gainas smashed the rests of Mallius Theodorus’ empire in the battle of Hippo in 408 AD. By then Numidia was already conquered by the Vandals and after the battle the Mauritanian coast fell also back to the empire. At Hippo even Mallius’ general died, but not, and that drove Gainas mad, the Usurper himself. Nobody actually knew where he was; maybe he was already dead and rotted in the dessert. But as long as there were no evidences of his death he would be a major problem for Gainas. The Mauritanian tribes, that raided the Vandalo-Roman coastal cities, never claimed to act on Mallius’ command and he wasn’t seen with them but people on Honorius’ court nevertheless suggested again and again that Mallius’ was behind their attacks and accused Gainas, to be unable or unwilling to finally find and kill the usurper.

In the winter of 408/409 Gainas made a radical decision; he sent his guard out in Sicilia and Carthago to find a man who should look as close to the usurper himself as possible. The guards took coins of Mallius’ image with them and studied the artworks that showed him before they left the palace.  Three weeks later they arrived with an old peasant, around Mallius’ age, who, even if he worked his whole life, had soft and pale skin. His eyes, nose and mouth looked like the ones of the usurper, only his haircut and his beard didn’t seem like Mallius at all, but a scissor here and there and he seemed pretty imperial. After the scissors the sword came and Gainas had a head he could proudly send to the Emperor in Arelate.

It was a dangerous and maybe mad plan to actually claim that this would be the head of Mallius Theodorus, but Gainas hoped on the one hand that no one would notice that it isn’t Mallius and on the other that even if the Emperor would notice that he wouldn’t do anything because he would be satisfied with this solution. But Gainas was wrong, many people on Honorius’ court had seen Mallius before, they knew how he looked like, were aware of the little details of his face and could tell that this is not the usurper. Gainas attempt to fool the Emperor didn’t stay a secret, the news spread over the Empire and Honorius had to act. It was thanks to the influence of the young Empress Flavia, that the Britannian usurper Constantinus was spared by Honorius forces for now. The fleet which was built on the channel coast in the last years to challenge Constantinus’ fleet, which was actually the former Roman fleet in this area, was moved further to the south, in order to bring Honorius armies from Hispania to Mauretania. From here on they were supposed to fight their way through northern Africa to Carthago and find Mallius and destroy the Vandals.

Before even a single battle was fought Gainas was found dead in Carthago, killed by conspirators, whose goal it was to prevent a war with Rome and the potential fall of the Vandal Empire. It was rumoured that the head of the conspiration was King Godigisel himself, who tried to escape out of the shadow of his popular advisor and general. Only a few days later the King was dead, assassinated but no one knew who was behind it. The King’s son and designated heir Gunderic, claimed that his brother Geiseric would be his father’s murderer. Geiseric on the other hand accused Gunderic of killing their father and Gainas, who was Geiseric’s patron. Supported by the Gainasian group in Carthago Geiseric ordered to kill Gunderic and his family. He also organised the marriage between him and Gainas’ daughter, which included killing her husband. After eliminating his enemies in the Empire, he changed the course of foreign policy. He allied with the Mauretanians against the Romans and promised them the land west of Caesarea and also the hinterland apart the coast east of it.

In the summer of 409 the Roman fleet was defeated by the Vandals near Sardinia, mostly because of the lack of experience on the Roman side. The most of the surviving ships switched sides and conquered, instead of Africa, Sardinia. On land the Romans also lost their luck and were beaten, after first successes, by united Vandal and Mauretanian forces. In the end of the year the last Roman forces were driven out of Mauretania. Even Tripolitania, which was not under Vandalian control before the war, was conquered by Geiseric. In the first months of 410 also Corsica and the Balearic Islands fell to the Vandals. The rests of the Imperial fleet were smashed in the summer and Rome suffered under starvation and plagues, caused by the blockade of Ostia and Portus by the Vandals.

Honorius showed unable to handle the situation, especially because the Empire’s legions were needed on the northern border against the rebellious Germanics. In the middle of this unstable situation, two children were born in the spring of 411, two sons, one to Honorius, named Theodosius, one to Geiseric, named Gainas.

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 411 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Light Red=Goth; Striped=other foederati

Brown=Vandals

Purple=Eastern Empire
Magenta=Britannian Empire
Yellow=Gepids

Chapter VII: Flavia

„The future is secured, for them, for us, for everyone. “ – Nicomachus Flavianus

Galla: daughter of Nicomachus Flavianus and Galla, soon to marry Honorius, whose sister is named Galla and whose stepmother is also called Galla. Not only because of this potential danger of confusion, but also because of her hair, which, lighter than her younger brother’s, is still not blonde but a shade of brown, she is called Flavia. Sometimes she is also referred to as Galla Minor, Flaviana or Flavianilla.

The emperor marries, a girl of 14 years, a decade younger than him. Honorius was married before, to a granddaughter of his general Saturninus, but the girl died and so did later the general. This time it seems more promising, the bride seems healthy, she is pretty and most important she is from a mighty family - actually two families. Her father is a Nicomachi, her mother a Symmachi. Both are mighty and old clans of Rome. Honorius hopes to gain some popularity among the Roman nobility with this move and also an heir for his throne. Even if he tries to win over the nobility and the senate, so is he too afraid to celebrate the wedding in the city of Rome. He prefers to stay in Arelate, close to his protector Alaric.

Two weeks before the wedding the Goth King appears in the city. Just a few days earlier he was still fighting in northern Gallia but now he is back with some news - good or bad ones; hard to tell. The Alani and Silingi, which crossed the Rhine in 399 with the other tribes, were plundering Gallia for nearly 10 years now. They mostly concentrated on the northwest. Neither did they ally like the other tribes with Mallius, nor did they found an own realm to rule. They went restless to the west, the south, than to the north-east and following the Ligara upwards as Alaric’s troops entered Gallia. They were in Burdigala, Turonum and Lutetia but on none of these places did they establish a kingdom. As they followed the Ligara they even split in several smaller groups. All of them continued their way to the north-west, the area dominated by Sequana and Ligara. Every single group was a little army for itself making it impossible for Alaric to win over them, not because they were too strong but they were too many. He didn’t meet a single big army that he could challenge in a battle. But in 408 the young Silingi Theuderic convinced the leaders of the most groups that they need to work together to secure their freedom and defeat Alaric. Theuderic, now King of Vandals and Alans, led his troops in the beginning of 409 in a Battle against Alaric. The Goth King won but made a pact with the losers.

In Arelate he arrived with this news and proved how powerless Honorius really is. He settled the Vandals and Alans between Ligara and Sequana, without even asking for permission. Alaric justified his decision with the fact that this land was reserved for the Sicilian Vandals, but they refused to settle there, so the land fell to their Silingian cousins, which were already in this area.

The day of the wedding was a cold one, not only because of the weather, but also because of the people who came to witness the event. No one of the senators, which were present in the city liked to see the barbarians, especially because they still remember how Gainas plundered the city in the emperor’s name. The Germanics that arrived also preferred to stay alone. Mistrust poisoned the air in the city. The emperor himself didn’t show any emotion on this day. The bride on the other hand seemed more active, she didn’t love the man she married and she was not excited about being with him, but she knew what power she could gain. Her ancestors were philosophers, scholars and bureaucrats, but she was different. As a boy she would have been a general or emperor, but as a girl she was only a link between Honorius and the senatorial elite. Maybe in future she could be able to prove herself as a leader. As she stood in front of the altar, it was clear to her who was the mightiest man in the room; not her husband, not her father, none of the senators, but the barbarian in the back of the church, who was a bit tipsy and the only one, smiling all the time, King Alaric. She hated him. He was a barbarian and also looked like one, he even stunk like one. His pride seemed like arrogance to the young empress and his power was torture for her. Besides Alaric and his guard were no other Germanics in the church. The Burgundian King and his fellows stayed outside the city and only appeared to compliment the emperor, whereas the Frankish King and Vandal King Godigisel didn’t even appear in Arelate; the latter because he had to fear for his life since he plundered Rome, the first because he had to fight enemies in his own territory. The King of the Pannonian Goths, Himilvin, a man with religious spirit, stayed away from the Trinitarian church, mostly because he thought bad about the Roman way of Christianity, he didn’t like the Romans so much in general, but knew that his people could for now only survive in an alliance with them. On the others side did he like Alaric pretty much and both drunk together the night before – that’s the reason the King appeared a bit tipsy in the church.

The kings would leave the city again a few days later, so did the senators, but Flavia stayed and would become in the following years the strong woman behind Honorius. 

Map 

The Western and parts of the Eastern Roman Empire in 409 AD.

Red=Western Empire; Light Red=Goth; Striped=other foederati; Brown=Vandals

Purple=Eastern Empire
Magenta=Britannian Empire
Yellow=Gepids