General Notes

Flavius Honorius, b. Sept. 9, 384, became coruler of the Roman Empire on the
death of his father, Theodosius I, in 395. While his brother Arcadius became
emperor in the East, Honorius assumed charge of the western half of the
empire. However, real power in the West rested with Flavius Stilicho, the
Vandal general whom Theodosius had appointed as regent.

Territorial disputes, aggravated by ambitious regents, soon drove the brothers
apart and effectively divided the empire. For more than a decade, Stilicho
managed to preserve the West, which was besieged by barbarian invaders; but in
408 he was charged with high treason and executed on Honorius's orders. Two
years later (410), Rome was sacked for the first time in 700 years by the
Visigoths under Alaric. By the time Honorius died on Aug. 15, 423, the process
of disintegration had become irreversible, and the future of Western Europe
was in the hands of the Germanic tribes.