Stelle Interea comes Stilico, Vandalorum i...; (Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (417 - 418), Orosius, Histories VII, cap. 38, par. 1-2, trans. Fear, p. 401) [5737]

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ID 5737
Text Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (417 - 418) Orosius
Quotation Interea comes Stilico, Vandalorum inbellis auarae perfidae et dolosae gentis genere editus, parui pendens quod sub imperatore imperabat, Eucherium filium suum, sicut a plerisque traditur, iam inde Christianorum persecutionem a puero priuatoque meditantem, in imperium quoquo modo substituere nitebatur. 2 quamobrem Alaricum cunctamque Gothorum gentem, pro pace optima et quibuscumque sedibus suppliciter ac simpliciter orantem, occulto foedere fouens, publice autem et belli et pacis copia negata, ad terendam terrendamque rempublicam reseruauit. 3 praeterea gentes alias copiis uiribusque intolerabiles, quibus nunc Galliarum Hispaniarumque prouinciae premuntur, hoc est Alanorum Sueborum Vandalorum ipsoque simul motu inpulsorum Burgundionum, ultro in arma sollicitans, deterso semel Romani nominis metu suscitauit. 4 eas interim ripas Rheni quatere et pulsare Gallias uoluit, sperans miser sub hac necessitatis circumstantia, quia et extorquere imperium genero posset in filium et barbarae gentes tam facile comprimi quam commoueri ualerent. 5 itaque ubi imperatori Honorio exercituique Romano haec tantorum scelerum scaena patefacta est, commoto iustissime exercitu occisus est Stilico, qui ut unum puerum purpura indueret, totius generis humani sanguinem dedidit; 6 occisus Eucherius, qui ad conciliandum sibi fauorem paganorum restitutione templorum et euersione ecclesiarum inbuturum se regni primordia minabatur, paucique cum isdem satellites tantarum molitionum puniti sunt. ita minimo negotio paucorumque poena ecclesiae Christi cum imperatore religioso et liberatae sunt et uindicatae. 7 Itaque post haec tanta augmenta blasphemiarum nullamque paenitentiam ultima illa diuque suspensa urbem poena consequitur.
Translation 1. Meanwhile Count Stilicho, offspring of that effete, greedy, treacherous, and sorrow‑bringing race, the Vandals, thought it was not enough to rule under a ruler and strove by all means possible to substitute as ruler his own son Eucherius, whom, most historians say even then, while he was a young boy and held no official post, was planning how to persecute Christians. 2. It was for this reason that he held Alaric and the entire Gothic race in reserve to worry and wear down the state, courting him with a secret treaty, but in public refusing to countenance either war or peace. In fact, Alaric was humbly pleading for no more than peace on good terms and somewhere to settle. 3. He also roused up other tribes, openly urging them to take up arms and wiping away for the first time their fear of Rome’s reputation: tribes whose numbers and forces were irresistible and who now oppress the Gallic and Spanish provinces, namely the Alans, Sueves, Vandals, and also the Burgundians who were stirred up by the movement of these others. 4. The wretch wanted them to shake the banks of the Rhine and attack the Gallic provinces in the hope that under these straitened circumstances he could wrest power from his son‑in‑law and hand it over to his son, and that the barbarian tribes would prove as easy to suppress as they were to spur on. 5. When this panorama of high crime was revealed to Honorius and the Roman army, Stilicho, who had offered the blood of the entire human race to cover one boy in the purple, was killed by the army that was quite rightly enraged by his conduct. 6. Eucherius too was killed. He had curried favour for himself by threatening to restore the pagans’ temples and demolish churches as soon as he began to reign. A few of their followers who had been party to these deep machinations were also punished along with them. In this way, with minimal effort, the Churches of Christ and a pious emperor were freed from danger and avenged and the punishment of but a few men. 7. However, after such an increase in blasphemy and no sign of repentance, the long‑postponed punishment of the City finally arrived.
Quotation source Orosius, Histories VII, cap. 38, par. 1-2, trans. Fear, p. 401
Temporal Coverage 406 - 410
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