Ho-no'ri-us, (Fi.avius,) a Roman emperor, the second
son of Theodosius the Great, was born at Constantinople
in 384 A.n. At the death of his father, in 395, he
inherited the Western Empire, (his elder brother Arcadius
having obtained the Eastern,) under the guardianship
of Stilicho, a famous general, whose daughter he
married. His court was held at Milan, and afterwards
at Ravenna. About 402 Alaric the Goth invaded Italy,
and was defeated by Stilicho at Pollentia. In 408 Stilicho
was put to death by order of Honorius, who was a
man of weak and vicious character. From this event
may be dated the fall of the Roman power. Rome
was taken and pillaged by Alaric in 410, and the empire
went rapidly to ruin. He died, without issue, in 423,
and was succeeded by Valentinian III.
See Girbon,
"
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire;" Sozomkn,
"
Historia Ecclesiastica;" Jornandes, "De
Rebus Geticis ;" Tiixemont, "Histoire des Empereurs.
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Flavius Honorius (9 September 384 – 15 August 423), commonly
known as Honorius, was Western Roman Emperor from 395 to 423.
He was the youngest son of Theodosius I and his first wife
Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the eastern emperor Arcadius.
Even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Empire,
Honorius' reign was precarious and chaotic. His throne was
guarded by his principal general, Flavius Stilicho, who was
successively Honorius's guardian (during his childhood) and
his father-in-law (after the emperor became an adult).
Stilicho's generalship helped preserve some level of
stability, but with his execution, the Western Roman Empire
moved closer to collapse...
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A Roman emperor of the West, A.D. 395-423, the second son of
Theodosius the Great. During his minority the able Stilicho
was regent, but in 408 was charged with treason and put to
death. In the reign of Honorius, Alaric (q. v.) took and
plundered Rome (410 A.D.), while the emperor led a life of
ease at Ravenna.
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