Stilicho: The Savior Of The West: A Late Roman Empire TL

If and when the Western Roman Empire stabilizes - will it territorially expand in future generations (such as to Caledonia/Alba (Scotland), Hibernia (Ireland), Germania Magna and thus expand into Central Europe and Eastern Europe)? Will Christianity in the Western Roman Empire be Roman Catholicism? Please let me know. Than you. :)

Basically what Mikestone said.
 
If and when the Western Roman Empire stabilizes - will it territorially expand in future generations (such as to Caledonia/Alba (Scotland), Hibernia (Ireland), Germania Magna and thus expand into Central Europe and Eastern Europe)? Will Christianity in the Western Roman Empire be Roman Catholicism? Please let me know. Than you. :)


IMHO, I don't think so. They have more than enough on their plate. What I think they might achieve is further vassalizing their smaller neighbours, if that.

Moreover, they need to find a way of solving their major structural flaws if they want to have a shot at even medium-term survival.
 
Trouble With the Alemanni
Events in the empire were very quiet for a change. In Rome, the senate seemed to be silent in its opposition to Stilicho, his few remaining opponents unable to do anything due to his virtual unassailable position. The imperial capital was moved back to Milan for the time being, with Stilicho feeling comfortable in letting Honorius reside in the city, due there being no foreseeable threats to Italy.
Even Alaric, the self-proclaimed “King of the Goths”, who had caused so much trouble in the west, was silent. Stilicho had been right in his assumption that Alaric would be content with his former position. Of course, Stilicho’s recent revamping of his cavalry arm, and increased recruitment from Illyricum, must have played a role in keeping Alaric quiet.
Following Stilicho’s campaigns in 409 and his placement of freshly recruited Limitanei on the border along the Rhine, the frontier stabilized for the time being. He appointed a new comes to the province, a capable commander by the name of Constantius. A strong supporter of Stilicho, Constantius had proved himself under Stilicho to be a very able commander. It is important to note, that although Constantius was ambitious, he was also very loyal to Stilicho. It is likely Stilicho recognized this, and we cannot rule out the possibility that he saw in Constantius a potential successor to his position of magister militum.
Invasion of 412
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In the summer of 412 however, the Alemanni once again crossed the Rhine into Gaul. They may have been encouraged by the false reports of Stilicho’s death, which had surfaced around the time and nearly caused a mutiny among his troops. It had only been his arrival before the troops, proving that the rumors were in fact false, that prevented the mutiny. They were numbered at some 25,000 men.
It is odd that they would have crossed in the summer, when the borders would have been most heavily guarded. The likely explanation is they would have wanted to capitalize on the perceived death of Stilicho, before the power vacuum could be filled and the situation stabilized. The defenders along the area seemed to have been defeated in a small scale battle outside Augusta Raurica. From there, the Romans retired to Aventicum, sending word out to Stilicho and Constantius of the invasion, before being besieged by the Alemanni forces.
Stilicho felt more urgency in dealing with this than he did in suring up the borders after the attempted invasion in 406 due to its proximity to the Alps and Italy. He quickly gathered up some of his men scattered throughout northern Italy, amassing a force of some 20,000 near Milan, strengthened by an increased cavalry wing, and almost entirely Roman. This was not his full force however, as he had to leave behind troops to guard the Julian Alps in case Alaric saw this as a ripe opportunity.
Meanwhile, when word reached Constantius, he immediately gathered the 13-15,000 man field army in Gaul, and began marching out from Lugdonum. Upon hearing of Stilicho preparing to march through the Alps, plans were made for a pincer movement to outmaneuver and surround the Alemanni forces.
Battle Of Vesontio


Battle of Vesontio
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Battle of Vesontio​
Constantius arrived with such speed on Aventicum, that he nearly caught the Alemanni by surprise. They managed to get wind of his approach just in time, and broke off their siege. A small engagement occurred, but the results were largely indecisive, and the Alemanni turned north towards Vesontio. Constantius shadowed them, as Stilicho crossed the Alps and, unbenounced to the Alemanni, began marching with all haste towards them.
Another engagement occurred, this time much more decisive. Constantius, by now knowing Stilicho was just behind, launched a surprise strike on the Alemanni. Caught slightly off guard, the Alemanni at first began to falter, but regained their bearings and began to use their superior numbers to turn the tide in their favor.
At the start of the battle however, Stilicho had only been no more than around an hour away. It was now, that his forces arrived on the scene, first the cavalry, followed by the infantry. The Alemanni cavalry was taken by surprise and routed from the field, leaving Stilicho and Constantius’ cavalry free reign to smash into the flanks and rear of the infantry. Struggling to figure out what had just hit them, chaos and confusion consumed the Alemanni ranks. At this point Stilicho’s infantry engaged, sending any resistance left into full fledged rout. Many were cut down, and the Alemanni kind, whom we don’t know his name, was slain.
As they approached the river, what was left of the Alemanni forces struggled to cross. Relentlessly hounded by the Roman forces, most were slaughtered or drowned in the river. The casualty results for the Alemanni in the end were over 20,000. For Constantius, the initial stage of the battle being where he incurred the most losses, he lost around 3,000 men. Stilicho’s forces seemed to have remained relatively unscathed, with no account putting his casualties more than 1,000. The result was a crushing blow to the Alemanni, and a decisive victory for Stilicho and Constantius. A treaty was established, with the Alemanni submitting (not in the sense that they became a part of the empire) and, ceasing to be a threat.
 

Deleted member 67076

Good to see the empire getting back on track and asserting dominance.
 
Nar. Even the ERE - much the richer and more populous of the two - never managed to do any expanding. Even its reconquests of former Roman territory were mostly temporary.

But there was an exception: the Byzantines' acquisition of much of Armenia in the early 5th century. And this in turn proved the foundation of further expansions to the East, first by Justinian into Lazica in the 550's, and then by the Macedonian Dynasty (after earlier losses in central Anatolia had been restored) deep into Eastern Armenia in the 10th century - areas that had only been under Roman control for the briefest time under Trajan.

But the larger point is valid: the Western Empire is not going to be be doing any expanding in the 5th century even under the most optimistic scenario. The Hunnic threat is too massive, and the resources are too limited.
 
The Empire Up Until 414

The victory at Vesontio in 412 would prove to stabilize the frontier for quite some time. The immediate show of force and complete annihilation of the Alemanni force was not only a statement victory made by Stilicho and Constantius; it was also a break from previous Theodosian policy, which had been continued by Stilicho. Prior to this, barbarian armies were defeated through maneuver and superior tactical ability, with a long drawn out campaign. This was due to the manpower shortages, and the need to keep the barbarian armies intact (like done with Radagaisus), to use them to Roman advantage after their defeat. This had not only earned the enmity of the Senate, but it must have emboldened barbarian warlords and confederations. The risk at complete annihilation had become significantly smaller, and the reward larger.
Mainz and Vesontio changed this, at least for a period of time. Stilicho and Constantine sent a message to the confederations and tribes across the Rhine. Rome, now in a better manpower state after her acquisition of Illyricum, would not hesitate to crush any incursions across the border. While it is unclear if Stilicho had any intention of actually crushing every force attempting to cross, the message certainly stuck. For the rest of his time in power, the Rhine frontier, more or less, remained relatively intact and undisturbed.

Meanwhile, in the East, things were going relatively well. A Hunnic invasion lead by Uldin had been repulsed by the Eastern Romans in 409. At around the same time, Anthemius began regulating the grain supply coming to Constantinople from Egypt. Lack of available ships had resulted in shortages and famines in the past (the most recent being in 408), leading Anthemius to reorganize the grain transport in 409. He also granted tax remit to the transporters of the grain, took measures to procure grain from elsewhere, and created an emergency fund for the procurement and distribution of corn to the citizens. Adding to this, Anthemius took steps to ensure the regular collection of taxation.
There was one more project Anthemius began. Constantinople was growing out of its boundaries, so Anthemius initiated the construction of a brand new wall. The new wall about 1,500 m to the west of the old, which stretched for 6.5 kilometers between the Sea of Marmara and the suburb of Blachernae near the Golden Horn. When the wall was completed in 413, it had doubled the size of the already large city. This would come to be known as the main wall of the Theodosian Walls.
In 414, Anthemius gave a tax remit to all arrears for the years between 367-407. However, in 414 Anthemius disappeared from the scene. Some suggest it was the result of a plot by Stilicho, though this is unlikely. Pulcheria took over the regency, and Anthemius’ prefecture was passed to Monaxius.
 

Deleted member 67076

Good as always, quick question: are you planning on taking this timeline to the middle ages?
 
Good as always, quick question: are you planning on taking this timeline to the middle ages?

I'm not sure yet. I would hope to though.

ImperatorAlexander Since the POD is many years before his reign is Attila the Hun as we know him going to be butterflied?
I was thinking about that. Rugila (the man who unites the Huns prior to atilla in OTL) died a little earlier than he probably should have so I might do more for him.
 
Any changes made to religion yet? A stabilizing Western Roman Empire would a major impact on Catholocism, perhaps Caesaropapism will take hold with a limited role for the Church.
 
Tis good.

Though, I am always in favor of deposing the Theodosians.

Lol. I don't like Theodosius himself. I blame him for the horrible predicament the western army was put in, and would much rather have liked to see Arbogast slaughter him at Frigidus.

Though I am a huge fan of Stilicho.

Anyway, deposing of the Theodosians reminded me of something. What do you think of an Emperor Constantius III in the future?
 
:DI'm in love with the idea. :D

But please let him another son, not Valentinian.

I was even toying with the idea of him not having a son and instead elevating a certain man we call "Last of the Romans" to co-emperor towards the end of his reign. Though I'm not sure about it. :cool:
 
Any changes made to religion yet? A stabilizing Western Roman Empire would a major impact on Catholocism, perhaps Caesaropapism will take hold with a limited role for the Church.

I'll look into this. I never gave it much thought until you brought it up. Thanks, I am never one to turn down a chance to mess around with Christianity. :p
 
I'll look into this. I never gave it much thought until you brought it up. Thanks, I am never one to turn down a chance to mess around with Christianity. :p

Augustine's City of God takes the sack of Rome by the Visigoths as the backdrop of its arguments so perhaps Augustine never writes the book, and is only remembered for On Christian Doctrine.
 
Augustine's City of God takes the sack of Rome by the Visigoths as the backdrop of its arguments so perhaps Augustine never writes the book, and is only remembered for On Christian Doctrine.

I'm not familiar with Christian writings, but a quick Wikipedia search shows that it influenced the separation of the church from politics?
 
I'm not familiar with Christian writings, but a quick Wikipedia search shows that it influenced the separation of the church from politics?

It also had impacts on Historiography as well. After the sack of Rome, there was some reaction against Christianity because the Pagans claimed that christianity becoming the official religion had meant that the Pagan's god's protections had left Rome (So much so that for a time Pope Innocent I allowed public pagan rituals as a temporary measure). While Augustine said that the Christian temples and sanctuaries were not sacked by the Goths. He argues that the City of God is more important to defend then the City of Rome, since in his time the Roman Empire was decaying very quickly.

I did find out that the Bishops of Illyricum were appointed the Pope of Rome not Constantinople, so that makes a lot of sense for Stillicho to be accepted when he invades. This was also the time period of the debate between Pelagian and Augustine, so depending on how the Emperor decides this could be the time to eliminate or reduce the Augustinian idea of Original Sin.
 
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