Conspiracy theories abounded in Ancient Rome: court intrigues were constantly at play among the Senatorial aristocracy, since favoritism and personal alliances rather than a democratically based bureaucracy brought power. And thus we come to the sad end of Stilicho, the barbarian leader who served Rome in the waning days of the Western Empire.
Stilicho was half-Vandal, a barbarian group that gave its name to the verb we use to describe the meaningless trashing of an area. Yet his Vandal ethnicity didn’t make him anti-Roman. In fact, in the late forth/early fifth centuries, the division of “barbarians/Romans” frequently could be a thing for rich Romans who wanted to slander and turn people against those who opposed them. Stilicho actually fought many battles as leader of the Roman military (as the “Magister Militum”), working for the Emperor Theodoric who put him in charge and gave him custody of his son. Stilicho repeatedly defended Rome against Alaric, the barbarian who eventually sacked the city of Rome after Stilicho’s death.
Although our sources are less complete than we would want, there is good reason to believe that Stilicho was undone by a contingent of wealthy Romans who were capitalizing on some of Stilicho’s military losses and anti-barbarian sentiment in the Empire. In 408, a rumor began that he wanted to put his own son as Emperor on the throne. Theodosius, his promoter, had died and could not protect him, and both Stilicho and his son were executed. In the aftermath, local Romans killed many wives and children of barbarian allied troups (“foederati”). The division of “barbarian” and “Roman” became more aggregated as a result of these events.
Source(s): Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele, “‘Dagli altari alla polvere.’ Alaric, Constantine III, and the Downfall of Stilicho.” _Journal of Ancient History 2018; 6(2): 260-77. Https:/ doi.org/10.1515/jah-2018-0012.
