Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 42 The Downfall of the Supreme Commander

Flavius Claudius Constantinus stood in Hispania, gazing at the scene of a burning city. Fearing that Stilicho would capture him in a pincer movement from the Diocese of Hispania, and the Italian heartland, the man had foolishly marched his armies into the region. Unfortunately, he was not recognized by the people of Hispania as the Emperor he claimed to be, as the region was fiercely loyal to the Theodosian Dynasty.

The result was an outright rebellion. The man known commonly as Constantine III could hardly contain his anger, and after a fierce battle that saw much of his forces defeated, he had lit the city ablaze. Bodies lie piled in the streets, and heads were mounted on spears to show an example as to what happened to those who defied the false emperor.

Even the soldiers beneath Constantine’s command were slightly unnerved at the horrific actions they were commanded to engage in against the citizens of Rome. However, none dared to question the man they previously declared to be the true emperor.

Among the ranks of the army were the Frankish Foederati, who swore their allegiance to the usurper. With the death of yet another of their chieftains by the hands of the Gothic Foederati Commander Sarus, a new man had risen to prominence among the Franks. His name was Hagen, and he was yet another towering barbarian.

Hagen had a wide grin on his face as he held onto a naked woman who was bound and gagged, this Roman woman was carried on top of his shoulder, and was his prey for the night. When Constantine gazed upon the sight of such a thing, he merely nodded his head in silence. As promised, the Foederati beneath his command were given coin, wine, and women as payment for their services. The women who “accompanied” the barbarian warriors were those captured from enemy villages and cities.

Much like the armies of Stilicho, Constantine was all too reliant on the Barbarian Foederati to maintain his control over the territory he laid claim to. Hagen had a toothy grin on his face as he sarcastically thanked the false emperor for his “generosity”._.

“Such a kind emperor, giving us Franks plenty of women to fuck! I rather like this one. She’s got a bit of a fierce streak, and I look forward to breaking her spirit!”

Constantine said nothing as he gazed upon the man. It was bad enough that he had to sell his own people to the Franks, but the nerve of this barbarian, saying exactly what he was going to do to his face. He could hardly stand it. He gritted his teeth as he finally agreed to the man’s request.

“If you like her so much, then take her… Begone from my sight!”

The woman tried to scream, but the cloth in her mouth prevented her from saying anything. After that, Hagen went to the nearest private area and forced himself onto the woman he had captured. Such acts were occurring all across the blazing city as the Franks raped and pillaged to their hearts’ content.

Constantine was just glad that the battle was over, and he could move onto the next city that dared to defy his rule. As for the Romans beneath his command, they were outraged, but there was little they could do. They composed of one third of Constantines troops, and could not defeat their barbarian allies should they impede their “conquest”.

Thus, all Constantine and his Roman forces could do was to yield to the Franks’ desires. It was the fault of those who lived in the region for resisting his rule. If they did not want such terrible things to happen to them, then they should have bent the knee. With this, Constantine was forced to fight against the Theodosian Revolt in Hispania.

—

While the Diocese of Hispania revolted against the rule of the False Emperor, the Eastern Roman Empire was in a state of chaos. Arcadius was dead, leaving behind a seven-year-old child to succeed him. Theodosius II, the young boy Emperor of the East, was alone in the palace while his regent, the Sassanid King, tended to the needs of his court.

The boy knew nothing about politics, or the troubles that his regent was currently going through. Instead, his regent, Yazdegerd I, was taking care of everything behind the scenes. Currently, he was worried about a few rumors that had found their way to his ears about a potential threat to her son’s life, and she was taking every measure to counter it.

Unbeknownst to him, the snake Olympius had long since been spreading rumors about Flavius Stilicho. Among these was the notion that the man was responsible for the death of the late Praetorian Prefect of the East Flavius Rufinus. Whether true or not, these rumors proved to be a way for the Sassanid King to weaken the West.

Of Course Rufinus’ death had occurred over a decade ago. Despite this, the Sassanid King made use of these rumors to overthrow Stilicho. After all, the supreme commander of Western Rome’s forces desired to retake Illyricum for the west.

Such a thing could never be allowed to happen, and because of this, the regent of the boy emperor wrote a letter to the western roman emperor in an attempt to convince him to do something about his treacherous supreme commander. He had become a pawn of Olympius without even realizing it.

After dispatching the letter to Ravenna, the man sighed heavily before approaching the boy he thought of as his own son. He had an anxious expression on his rugged face as she stroked the boy’s hair and assured him everything would be alright.

“Do not fret boy, your father has left me to your care, and I intend to look after you until you are capable enough to rule on your own.”

Too young to realize how distressed his regent was, the young Theodosius merely smiled and nodded his head innocently. Such a cute reaction caused the man to temporarily be relieved. After a while, the regent tucked his charge into bed. He had done everything he could to protect the east. Not all he could do was wait.

—

With the Theodosian Revolt in the West, and the Death of Arcadius in the east, Olympius used this as an opportunity to get rid of his rival. Stilicho had unknowingly made a grave error by forcing the senators of Rome to pay tribute to Alaric in order to stay the barbarian’s wrath.

Olympius had long since sewn the seeds of distrust within the dimwitted mind of the Emperor Honorius and the senate as a whole. He started by using Stilicho’s willingness to pay the ransom to the Goths as a means to suggest he was conspiring against the throne.

Then he spread falsehoods about Stilicho being responsible for the death of his rival, who perished at the hands of his gothic Foederati a decade earlier. Such things could not be proven, but in the minds of many who opposed the Supreme Commander, they made sense. After all, the two men were heated rivals.

After the death of Arcadius, Olympius did not waste any time, and instead spread rumors that he planned to usurp not only the western throne for his godson Marcellus, but instill his own blood related son on the throne in the East, in doing so making himself the shadow behind a reunited Roman Empire.

These false allegations had spread to the Western Roman Army, and now in the city of Ticinum, a group of mutineers held their blades in their hand as they turned against their General and officers. A particularly ugly man stabbed his blade through the chest of General that Stilicho had placed in charge of the region.

“Traitor! Your barbarian master has assassinated Flavius Rufinus, Conspired against his highness Honorius in an attempt to place his disgraced godson on the throne as a puppet, and has done the same in the East against the son of Arcadius! You will all die for your sins against the Empire!”

The city of Ticinum turned into a bloodbath, as those loyal to the Supreme Commander were slain where they stood by the soldiers beneath their command. A struggle ensued between the two sides, but ultimately those who were convinced of Stilicho’s misdeeds prevailed. By the morning of the next day, the streets of Ticinum were marred with the blood of Stilicho’s supporters.

While Marcellus reinforced his power in Raetia, his godfather had been driven into a corner with no escape. The enemies of Stilicho had banded together to cause his downfall, and soon the man would have to answer for his supposed crimes. Unfortunately for Stilicho, those in power did not care for the truth or even the glory of Rome. Instead, these craven bastards cared only for their personal vanity.