Italy: 'The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius', oil on canvas painting by John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), 1883, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Honorius (384-423) was the second son of Emperor Theodosius I and younger brother to Eastern Emperor Arcadius. Honorius was made Augustus and co-ruler in 393 CE, aged 9. When his father died two years laters, Honorius was given the Western half of the Roman Empire, while Arcadius ruled the East. Young as he was, Honorius was mainly a figurehead for General Stilicho, who had been appointed his guardian and advisor by Theodosius before his death. Stilicho made Honorius marry his daughter Maria to strengthen their bonds.

Honorius' reign, which was weak and chaotic even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Roman Empire, was marked by constant barbarian invasions and usurper uprisings. Stilicho defeated many of these threats and played an important role in holding the empire together, but the sudden execution of Stilicho on Honorius' orders in 408 CE paved the way for the empire's collapse, with many of Stilicho's troops defecting en masse to the banner of King Alaric I of the Visigoths.

Chaos and terror gripped the Western Roman Empire without Stilicho's guiding hand, entire swathes of the empire rising up in protest or lost. Rome itself had been sacked by Alaric in 410 CE, the first time in 800 years. Honorius died of edema in 423 CE without an heir, widely considered as one of the worst emperors in Roman history.

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