Features and circumstances of Alaric's first campaign to Italy

Yartsev S.

The article looks into the features and circumstances of the first campaign of Alaric in Italy in 401–402. Based on a thorough analysis of the sources, the author offers a new, original reconstruction of these events. According to the author, the reason for the military campaign was the unprecedented pressure of the Romans on Alaric after the death of Gainas and the change in attitudes towards the Goths in the Eastern Roman Empire. In that situation, Alaric simply had no choice but to urgently solve two important tasks. At first, it was necessary to reach an agreement on the transition of the Goths under Western jurisdiction, and in the future to resolve the issue of resettlement of the Goths to territories subject to Western Rome. After Stilicho's refusal from such barbaric plans, the only chance for salvation was the departure of Stilicho with the main forces for some kind of war, which made it possible for Alaric to break into the territory of Italy and, demonstrating his strength, agree on a new feodus directly with Honorius himself. For this purpose, Alaric secretly coordinated his actions with the Vandals and Alans who attacked the Roman territory in Raetia and Noricum. Waiting for Stilicho to leave for the war, Alatic invaded Italy. However, Stilicho, who returned a few months later to the Apennine Peninsula, was able to defeat Alaric in two battles. Stilicho used similar tactics of secret war against Alaric, seeking to undermine the Gothic society from the inside. The new feodus with Alaric, of course, was a full-fledged agreement with mutual obligations and guarantees. On the one hand, the Goths really achieved settlement in the territory of the western part of the Roman Empire. However, on the other hand, the choice of a region bordering on the East for the settlement of the Goths, as well as the lowering of the status of the Gothic leader among his fellow tribesmen, against the background of his claims to Rex Gothorum, certainly could not help to consolidate a lasting peace between the Goths and the Romans.

Keywords:Western Roman Empire, Italy, Stilicho, Alaric, Goths, Alans.