Six Numeri for Honorius

[Robert Vermaat]

During the Frigidus campaign Theodosius took a large army west, and part of it - under Stilicho - apparently never returned east again. At the same time Arbogast and Eugenius presumably took many units from Gaul east to the Julian Alps; how many of them returned?

All things considered, I believe the western Notitia is a compendium of alterations, charting a changing situation between c.370 and some time in the 420s but not accurately representing any single date.

Yes, it's certain I thing that the Eastern half might represent a single date (c.394) but the Western half shows a number of alterations, doublures and unaltered entries. Which gives us a lot of headaches but also the change to see the residue of units being hauled around!

Presumably whatever 'alliance' was agreed (by eastern PP Anthemius?) was not honoured - because the east knew that Stilicho would just use any troops they gave to him against them! Only with Stilicho's downfall could the arrangement be concluded. But even then it took the east at least 18 months to follow up on it. Seeing how Honorius got on, perhaps, or just letting him sweat for a bit?

The only alternative I can think of would be the spring of 408, just after Arcadius' death, when Stilicho was planning to attack Constantine III with the help of Alaric?

I doubt Honorius had much say on what went on!... But yes, that's a good point, whoever was in charge. Still, we seem to have the suggestion in the 'Honorius Letter' that some troops were sent by the central government to 'barbarian infested' Spain. And the ND's Comes Hispanias seems to have quite a powerful little army...

Maybe Flavius Constantius (or somebody) had the very prescient idea that allowing the Vandals to occupy Spain unchallenged was going to get problematic at a later date?

Depend on the timeframe, again.. If Constantine III was already controlling the Provence, how would the troops have reached Spain? And before Constantine rebelled, Stilicho was an enemy of the East I think. Which would perhaps leave Africa as a source of the units?