Flavius Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho
A possibly ivory diptych of Stilicho (right) with his wife Serena and son Eucherius, ca. 395 (Monza Cathedral.) It should be noted that the identity might also be attributed to Aetius.
Nickname(s)	Last of the Romans
Born	c. 359 Unknown
Died	22 August 408 (aged c. 49) Ravenna
Buried at	Unknown, Possibly the Stilicho Sarcophagus
Allegiance	Western Roman Empire
Service/branch	Roman army
Years of service	382-408
Rank	Magister Militum
Commands held	Comes Stabuli Magister Militum Consul
Battles/wars	Battle of the Frigidus (394) defeated Alaric's forces in Macedonia (397) Gildonic War (398) Pictish War (398) Battle of Pollentia (402) Battle of Florentia (405) defeated Radagaisus forces in Ticinum (406)

Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a high-ranking general (magister militum) in the Roman army who became, for a time, the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was half Vandal and married to the niece of the Emperor Theodosius; his regency for the underage Honorius marked the high point of German advancement in the service of Rome. After many years of victories against a number of enemies, both barbarian and Roman, a series of political and military disasters finally allowed his enemies in the court of Honorius to remove him from power, culminating in his arrest and subsequent execution in 408. Known for his military successes and sense of duty, Stilicho was, in the words of historian Edward Gibbon, “the last of the Roman generals.”

Stilicho (Στιλίχων Stilíchōn in Greek) was the son of a Roman soldier of Vandal birth and a provincial Roman woman. Despite his father's origins there is little to suggest that Stilicho considered himself anything other than a Roman, and his high rank within the empire suggests that he was probably not Arian like many Germanic Christians but rather a Nicene Christian like his patron Theodosius I, who declared Nicene Christianity the official religion of the empire.

Stilicho joined the Roman army and rose through the ranks during the reign of Theodosius I, who ruled the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from Constantinople, and who was to become the last emperor to rule both the eastern and western halves of the empire jointly. In 383, Theodosius sent him as an envoy to the court of the Persian King Shapur III in Ctesiphon to negotiate a peace settlement relating to the partition of Armenia. Upon his return to Constantinople at the successful conclusion of peace talks, Stilicho was promoted to comes stabuli and later to general (magister militum). The emperor recognized that Stilicho could be a valuable ally, and to form a blood tie with him, Theodosius married his adopted niece Serena to Stilicho. The marriage took place around the time of Stilicho's mission to Persia, and ultimately Serena gave birth to a son, who was named Eucherius, and two daughters, Maria and Thermantia.