Adrian Goldsworthy

Yes, he moves around a bit, but basically his life is court life, and he has very little sense of what the empire is like other than what people tell him and how he's been raised to think, which compared to a Theodosius or someone like that who's fought their way up is a very different situation.

And it is generally the pattern that the emperors become much more figureheads during this century than they have been before, and the real power is the military man backing them.

And it is generally the pattern that the emperors become much more figureheads during this century than they have been before, and the real power is the military man backing them.

And it is generally the pattern that the emperors become much more figureheads during this century than they have been before, and the real power is the military man backing them.

Everybody is frightened. because Honorius does not know who to trust. And if you're one of these senior commanders, you realize, well, maybe I could persuade the Emperor. You know, he doesn't really know much. If I'm convincing, perhaps I'm right. Perhaps, you know, some of these people you feel with Stilicho and some of the others, they genuinely feel they're doing a good job.

Everybody is frightened. because Honorius does not know who to trust. And if you're one of these senior commanders, you realize, well, maybe I could persuade the Emperor. You know, he doesn't really know much. If I'm convincing, perhaps I'm right. Perhaps, you know, some of these people you feel with Stilicho and some of the others, they genuinely feel they're doing a good job.

Everybody is frightened. because Honorius does not know who to trust. And if you're one of these senior commanders, you realize, well, maybe I could persuade the Emperor. You know, he doesn't really know much. If I'm convincing, perhaps I'm right. Perhaps, you know, some of these people you feel with Stilicho and some of the others, they genuinely feel they're doing a good job.

And it's human instinct. We feel if we're working hard and we're going well, as far as we're concerned, it's going well. Everybody should realize that. And we're a bit shocked if they don't because they don't know all the details. So there's that distance made much worse by the court situation and by this constant competition. Essentially, if you're at that high level, you can't trust anybody.

And it's human instinct. We feel if we're working hard and we're going well, as far as we're concerned, it's going well. Everybody should realize that. And we're a bit shocked if they don't because they don't know all the details. So there's that distance made much worse by the court situation and by this constant competition. Essentially, if you're at that high level, you can't trust anybody.

And it's human instinct. We feel if we're working hard and we're going well, as far as we're concerned, it's going well. Everybody should realize that. And we're a bit shocked if they don't because they don't know all the details. So there's that distance made much worse by the court situation and by this constant competition. Essentially, if you're at that high level, you can't trust anybody.

Every Roman commander has to look at all his colleagues as rivals, all his juniors as potential rivals. The emperor is looking at these people and thinking, well, if they could find somebody else. Honorius has the strength for a while that there isn't an alternative. There isn't an obvious replacement for him. So that gives you a position of strength.

Every Roman commander has to look at all his colleagues as rivals, all his juniors as potential rivals. The emperor is looking at these people and thinking, well, if they could find somebody else. Honorius has the strength for a while that there isn't an alternative. There isn't an obvious replacement for him. So that gives you a position of strength.

Every Roman commander has to look at all his colleagues as rivals, all his juniors as potential rivals. The emperor is looking at these people and thinking, well, if they could find somebody else. Honorius has the strength for a while that there isn't an alternative. There isn't an obvious replacement for him. So that gives you a position of strength.

If these warlords want to remain commanding the army, effectively running the state, there needs to be an emperor as a figurehead that people will accept. You don't want one with such a dodgy claim that a commander elsewhere can easily find somebody just as good. Again, we tend to focus on the big events and the foreign wars, but civil war is something everybody experiences. It's part of life.

If these warlords want to remain commanding the army, effectively running the state, there needs to be an emperor as a figurehead that people will accept. You don't want one with such a dodgy claim that a commander elsewhere can easily find somebody just as good. Again, we tend to focus on the big events and the foreign wars, but civil war is something everybody experiences. It's part of life.

If these warlords want to remain commanding the army, effectively running the state, there needs to be an emperor as a figurehead that people will accept. You don't want one with such a dodgy claim that a commander elsewhere can easily find somebody just as good. Again, we tend to focus on the big events and the foreign wars, but civil war is something everybody experiences. It's part of life.

It's natural in a way that we find in our era very, very alien.

It's natural in a way that we find in our era very, very alien.

It's natural in a way that we find in our era very, very alien.

Well, it hasn't gone as bad as things could in the sense that there's always the potential to mess up. He has a long reign by the standards of this period. He's there a long time and surviving that long, even if much of the time you're a puppet.