ALARIC

Quote:

‘A Grecian philosopher, who visited Constantinople soon after the death of Theodosius [Roman emperor], published his liberal opinions concerning the duties of kings and the state of the Roman republic. Synesius observes and deplores the fatal abuse which the imprudent bounty of the late emperor had introduced into the military service. The citizens and subjects had purchased an exemption from the indispensable duty of defending their country, which was supported by the arms of barbarian mercenaries. The fugitives of Scythia were permitted to disgrace the illustrious dignities of the empire; their ferocious youth, who disdained the salutary restraint of laws, were more anxious to acquire the riches than to imitate the arts of a people the object of their contempt and hatred; and the power of the Goths was the stone of Tantalus, perpetually suspended over the peace and safety of the devoted state. The measures which Synesius recommends are the dictates of a bold and generous patriot. He exhorts the emperor to revive the courage of his subjects by the example of manly virtue; to banish luxury from the court and from the camp; to substitute, in the place of the barbarian mercenaries, an army of men interested in the defence of their laws and of their property; to force, in such a moment of public danger, the mechanic from his shop and the philosopher from his school; to rouse the indolent citizen from his dream of pleasure; and to arm, for the protection of agriculture, the hands of the laborious husbandman. At the head of such troops, who might deserve the name and would display the spirit of Romans, he animates the son of Theodosius to encounter a race of barbarians who were destitute of any real courage; and never to lay down his arms till he had chased them far away into the solitudes of Scythia, or had reduced them to the state of ignominious servitude which the Lacedaemonians formerly imposed on the captive Helots. The court of Arcadius [Theodosius’s son and the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire] indulged the zeal, applauded the eloquence, and neglected the advice of Synesius. Perhaps the philosopher, who addresses the emperor of the East in the language of reason and virtue which he might have used to a Spartan king, had not condescended to form a practicable scheme, consistent with the temper and circumstances of a degenerate age. Perhaps the pride of the ministers, whose business was seldom interrupted by reflection, might reject, as wild and visionary, every proposal which exceeded the measure of their capacity, and deviated from the forms and precedents of office. While the oration of Synesius and the downfall of the barbarians were the topics of popular conversation, an edict was published at Constantinople which declared the promotion of Alaric [the leader of the Visigoths] to the rank of master-general of the Eastern Illyricum. The Roman provincials, and the allies who had respected the faith of treaties, were justly indignant that the ruin of Greece and Epirus should be so liberally rewarded. The Gothic conqueror was received as a lawful magistrate in the cities which he had so lately besieged. The fathers whose sons he had massacred, the husbands whose wives he had violated, were subject to his authority; and the success of his rebellion encouraged the ambition of every leader of the foreign mercenaries. The use to which Alaric applied his new command distinguishes the firm and judicious character of his policy. He issued his own orders to the four magazines and manufacturers of offensive and defensive arms, Margus, Ratiaria, Naissus, and Thesalonica, to provide his troops with an extraordinary supply of shields, helmets, swords and spears; the unhappy provincials were compelled to forge the instruments of their own destruction; and the barbarians removed the only defect which had sometimes disappointed the efforts of their courage. The birth of Alaric, the glory of his past exploits, and the confidence of his future designs, insensibly united the body of the nation under his victorious standards; and, with the unanimous consent of the barbarian chieftains, the master-general of Illyricum was elevated, according to ancient custom, on a shield, and solemnly proclaimed king of the Visigoths. Armed with this double power, seated on the verge of the two empires, he alternately sold his deceitful promises to the courts of Arcadius and Honorius [Theodosius’s other son and the emperor of the Western Roman Empire], till he declared and executed his resolution of invading the dominions of the West. The provinces of Europe which belonged to the Eastern emperor were already exhausted, those of Asia were inaccessible, and the strength of Constantinople had resisted his attack. But he was tempted by the fame, the beauty, the wealth of Italy, which he had twice visited; and he secretly aspired to plant the Gothic standard on the walls of Rome, and to enrich his army with the accumulated spoils of three hundred triumphs.’

Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: volume 3, JM Dent & Sons, London, 1981, page 176

The above extract is a description of a turning point of history. The two emperors, Honorius and Arcadius, were decadent and incompetent. Their incompetence led, ultimately, to fall of the Western Roman empire. The Visigoths were already inside the Roman empire, and other barbarians would soon pour in across the borders – in particular the Vandals and the Franks. The Visigoths sacked Rome. The Vandals plundered their way down Gaul, into Spain and finally across North Africa where they settled. Then the Huns arrived on Roman borders.

Had the Roman emperors followed the advice of Synesius, things might have been very different. A major factor in the collapse of the Western Roman army was the fact that it had been barbarised. It largely consisted of barbarian mercenaries whose loyalty to the Romans was shallow. As Alaric’s army invaded Italy, once again, many of the barbarian mercenaries either deserted or switched sides. This was hardly surprising given the murderous activities of Honorius and his courtiers, culminating in the execution of the general Stilicho.

Stilicho was often described as a barbarian or semi-barbarian (his father was a Vandal and his mother was Roman), but he considered himself to be Roman and was closely related to the imperial Theodosian family. He married Theodosius’s beloved niece and foster daughter. He had served in the army alongside Theodosius and was at the bedside when Theodosius died. Stilicho had two daughters, the first married Honorius as did the second after the first one died.

Stilicho might have been arrogant, ambitious, and given to poor judgement (eg he accelerated the barbarisation of the Western Roman army), but he was loyal, brave, a public hero, and was indisputably the most capable general in the whole empire. He had repeatedly proven himself to be more than a match for Alaric or any other barbarian invader.

It was Theodosius who had started the barbarisation of the Roman army, and adopting a policy of appeasement of the Visigoths. Stilicho foolishly pushed this policy still further. His downfall was his failure to recognise the extent that opinion had turned against appeasement. Stilicho abandoned the Rhine frontier and concentrated the Western Roman army in Italy. When the Vandals invaded and swept unopposed into Gaul, the legions in Britain rebelled, crossed the English Channel into Gaul and proceeded to confront the Vandals with some success. Stilicho’s response was to recommend that the Romans accept an offer from Alaric that in return for a large payment in gold, he would march west and attack the rebel Roman legions. Stilicho intended to personally dash to Constantinople where the death of Arcadius meant a new emperor, his son, was about to be appointed. Stilicho had long had designs on involvement in the Eastern Roman empire. He could not see that his actions might be interpreted as treason.

Instead of ordering Stilicho to defend Gaul and forget Constantinople, Honorius and the Roman senators resorted to murder. Stilicho’s execution was preceded by and followed by the massacre of his friends, relatives and allies, including the families of even ordinary barbarian soldiers. Gibbon wrote:

‘By the imprudent conduct of the ministers of Honorius the republic lost the assistance, and deserved the enmity, of thirty thousand of her bravest soldiers; and the weight of that formidable army, which alone might have determined the event of the war, was transferred from the scale of the Romans into that of the Goths.’

Four parts of the extract quoted stand out:

1. ‘The fugitives of Scythia were permitted to disgrace the illustrious dignities of the empire; their ferocious youth, who disdained the salutary restraint of laws, were more anxious to acquire the riches than to imitate the arts of a people the object of their contempt and hatred.’

2. ‘The court of Arcadius indulged the zeal, applauded the eloquence, and neglected the advice of Synesius. Perhaps the philosopher … had not condescended to form a practicable scheme, consistent with the temper and circumstances of a degenerate age. Perhaps the pride of the ministers, whose business was seldom interrupted by reflection, might reject, as wild and visionary, every proposal which exceeded the measure of their capacity, and deviated from the forms and precedents of office.’

3. ‘the unhappy provincials were compelled to forge the instruments of their own destruction’.

4. ‘seated on the verge of the two empires, [Alaric] alternately sold his deceitful promises to the courts of Arcadius and Honorius’.

Part 1 could be said of many Third World immigrants in the West today. They are ‘anxious to acquire the riches than to imitate the arts of a people the object of their contempt and hatred’. They demand Western living standards but refuse to assimilate. Allegations of racism are casually peddled.

Part 2 describes a ruling elite completely unfit to govern. They restrict their activities and government policy to that which does not exceed ‘the measure of their capacity’, or deviate from ‘precedents of office’. The same could be said of governments across the West today. The so-called Conservatives are incompetent and simply preside rather than govern.

Part 3 is barely believable. The emperor ordered his subjects to forge weapons to be given to those whose aim was to destroy them. Today, across the West, ordinary taxpayers are forced, via the tax system, to fund their own destruction. Mass immigration is totally dependent upon public subsidies.

Part 4 describes how Alaric was able to con monies out of both Roman emperors. Today, there are numerous scams and wheezes to demand reparations from White people, and governments across the West are willing to entertain such scams and wheezes. These governments too condemn structural racism.

The Western Roman Empire fell, piecemeal, to the barbarians. This was due not only to the pressure of the barbarians on the borders, but due to the decadence and incompetence of the two emperors.