this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
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Rough Roman Memes
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Explanation: Flavius Stilicho is one of the last great generals of the Western Roman Empire (with Aetius and Majorian being the two 'big' ones after him). Half-Germanic, he was the bulwark which held back the barbarian invaders from destroying the remains of Rome. Unfortunately, the legendarily incompetent Emperor Honorius had Stilicho executed, which shortly thereafter led to Rome being sacked for the first time in nearly a thousand years.
That being said, whether Stilicho was a fundamental savior of the Empire at its darkest hour, or just a competent variant of the military rot which characterized the 5th century AD is sometimes hotly debated.
I tend to opt for the second one. Stilcho was competent enough, but the barbarians had already breached the border while he was still in charge.
The emperor being a shithead certainly didn't do the empire any justice, but I doubt that Stilcho alone would've changed the fate of Rome.