Honorius grows up to be competent

Honorius the western Roman Empire grow up to be a super competent emperor who's main ambition is to not lose any territory to the barbarians. When he reaches his majority he forms a good working relationship with stilicho and surrounds himself in competent men who advise him on how to preserves the empire and improve tax collection, the army, and law. He also get the recruting ground of ilriycum rather bloodlessly from his brother in a short campaign he personally leads. He live to the age of 70 and has sons to succeed him.

After getting ilriycum how would a competent honorius keep more invading hoardes out and use his empires reasourse to the fullest. How would he improved tax collection, the army, and law to help with that. And above all else would these changes reasult in surviveing West?

Scenario 2: Instead of getting illyricum both Honorius and arcadius are competent and coaopritve with each other
 
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I think the only way to create an Honorius that's competent in any capacity is to drastically change his upbringing.
Honorius was an enabled child who continued to indulge long into the future, the only way to rectify that course would be for someone to not enable that sort of behavior and the only way for that to happen is for him to either become emperor far later in his life, or have his position in the succession much farther down.
For that to happen you can have a number of things occur:
  1. Have Theodosius live longer, and given how long he lived OTL that's asking for a lot and even so it wouldn't give Honorius (Or Arcadius for that matter) that much time to grow up without being the center of court intrigue by ambitious courtiers.
  2. Have Stillicho takeover. I had this idea that I didn't know how plausible it was and it involved Stillicho taking his obligation to Theodosius only slightly less seriously. He deposes the child whose obviously far too young to rule and he assumes the Emperorship, adopts as Honorius as his heir and keeps him close. Stillicho had an immense respect for the late emperor and I don't see that sort that sort of half-treason as too far out of bounds for someone that duitiful. Stillicho seems to have been hamstringed by oversight and him taking the full reigns of power from the get go might just hold in the devastation of the 5th century to something manageable.
  3. Have someone other than Stillicho take the throne, someone who practically forces Honorius into exile in the Eastern court. This would certainly lead to a war, but keeping Honorius out of the lime light and having all that he was ever entitled to taken from him might just instill in him the sort of hungry ambition and respect for power that he would need to have some measure of competence (or at least attention) to governing.
 
Stilicho derived his legitimacy and power from the claim that Theodosius entrusted to him the guardianship of Arcadius and Honorius. He doesn't have the military or political support at the time of Theodosius's death to usurp the throne.

Also, the equivalent to a super-competent Honorius could be achieved if Constantius doesn't suddenly die shortly after becoming joint-emperor. Constantius was basically what you're describing.
 
Stilicho derived his legitimacy and power from the claim that Theodosius entrusted to him the guardianship of Arcadius and Honorius. He doesn't have the military or political support at the time of Theodosius's death to usurp the throne.

Also, the equivalent to a super-competent Honorius could be achieved if Constantius doesn't suddenly die shortly after becoming joint-emperor. Constantius was basically what you're describing.
Problem is that by the time Constantius came to the scene,enough damage has been done.
 
Problem is that by the time Constantius came to the scene,enough damage has been done.

Not really. Damage had been done, but nothing that could not be quickly reversed. Constantius was doing well in subduing Spain before his death, and of course butterflying his death crucially butterflies the arrival of the Vandals in North Africa. It also butterflies the destructive civil war that followed the death of Honorius and the power struggles between Aetius and Boniface.
 
Stilicho derived his legitimacy and power from the claim that Theodosius entrusted to him the guardianship of Arcadius and Honorius. He doesn't have the military or political support at the time of Theodosius's death to usurp the throne.

Also, the equivalent to a super-competent Honorius could be achieved if Constantius doesn't suddenly die shortly after becoming joint-emperor. Constantius was basically what you're describing.

Tell me more about constantius and what made him like what I'm describeing
 
Added a new scenario where instead of getting illyricum both Honorius and arcadius are competent and work together
 
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