04-14-2014, 09:20 PM
Quote:Finally, at least in hindsight, it is hard to not fault him for failing to see the political reality he was facing in the west by: 1) failing to destroy alaric when he had the chance
Easier said than done ... remember, Theodosius destroyed a lot of the Western army in putting down the revolts of Magnus Maximus and Eugenius in 388 and 394 respectively. Especially the latter; the Battle of the Frigidus was very bloody.
Stilicho was in pretty desperate need of fresh troops at the outset of Honorius' reign. It's speculation, but I tend to think that he tried negotiating with Alaric because the West's forces were in no shape for pitched battle in 395 and couldn't be easily replenished, especially given the loss of Illyricum to the east. Whenever he did confront Alaric, Stilicho took an extremely cautious approach, trying to starve or blockade him rather than attack him directly, which seems to indicate he didn't have much confidence in his forces.
