Stilicho\'s Betrayal

[Flavivs Aetivs]

He just wanted some land to distribute to his followers to make them happy and keep them fed. Alaric played hardball in negotiations, and wasn't above plundering a few villas or sacking a city to get his point across. He thought that by marching into northern Italy, he could intimidate Ravenna into accepting his demands and backing off militarily.

A practice used by almost every barbarian, until the Romans couldn't control the federates anymore after Aetius' death. Alaric also wanted more military command, which with Stilicho the Vandal as current MUM and after the incidents with his predecessor Arbogastes, they did not want another barbarian in an MM command.