How Honorius substantially accelerated the Collapse of the Roman Empire.

One big unsolved question remains, though. If one of Honorius' hens was named Roma, what were the names of the others? XD Ravenna? Constantinopolis?

The fact that Honorius reigned for nearly 30 years but Aurelian only 5 is so depressing.

Stilicho deserves much more praise, I mean the dude practically single-handedly kept Rome safe and the empire alive throughout the reign of Honorius (not even mentioning he might have been one of the greatest generals in roman history). And even when he was going to be executed he refused to betray the empire and start a civil war.

It's actually quite amazing just how bad things had to get to bring down the empire. Enemy agents probably couldn't have damaged the empire much more than some of its own emperors and usupers!

If Aurelian had ruled for as long as Honorius we'd be ruling the solar system by now.

The fact that Valentinian III had to re-outlaw extremely public gladiatorial events held in one of the largest buildings in the whole Empire shows you just how little control he actually exercised.

In Gibbon's book "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" it mentions a Pagan Roman general called Genneridus (who historians believe was probably a barbarian mercenary), who had managed to stabilise the situation in Dalmatia. But Honorius fired him anyway and banned Pagans from the army.

You mentioned in a previous video how you liked the emperor Julian "the apostate" and how you think that if he reigned longer he would've been known as "Julian the Great". I'm also a fan of Julian (I'm particularly interested in his plans to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem) and would love to see you make a video about him.

Viewing the Roman empire under the reign of Honorius must have been akin to watching a man attempting to commit suicide several times and failing at the last moment. At a time when the Roman empire needed strength, stability and cooperation, they had two squabbling infantile brothers (Dumb and Dumber) at the center of leadership. The fortunes of the East would in time be restored, the West clearly not. Honorius' reign for me marks one of the absolute nadir of Rome's fortunes, on the level of the Third Century Crisis or the 7th Century Crisis.

I think there is no mere coincidence that these two weak and incapable emperors, Honorius and Valentinian III lasted so long - they were easy to manipulate and should had they tried to do better, they probably had been quickly eliminated one way or another. Capable leaders did exist, then and later (like Majorian) but there were forces at play that drove the course of history, to say so, much more powerful than the will and actions of a single individual. In essence, there was the conflict between the Senate & big land owners class on one side, who had the economic power, and the Roman army class on the other side. The army was holding the Empire together, it was in fact the reformed army of the Illyrian emperors of the 3rd century that saved the Empire in fact from an early death back then - but these two classes were now largely disconnected (as opposed to before 260 AD, when the senatorial class controlled the Army). They were in fact hating each other (the much expanded Army after Diocletian required increased taxation, and as in all times the rich hated taxes and did the best to avoid them - thus increasing the burden on the poor). The Emperor, who was usually coming from the ranks of the Army, was often both capable and managing to keep the system in check and going - and it was going very well indeed, until Theodosius decided to side with the landowners and the Senate. The last truly capable and powerful emperor in the West was Valentinian I, who in fact was much feared by the rich. After Theodosius, however, they had little to fear, and if they had the chance to have a weak emperor, like Honorius, of course it was in their interest to keep him going as long as possible. This was a short-sighted interest, as in a few generation the whole world came crashing down upon their heads... But they continued to do quite well even after 476 AD, and only in the Gothic Wars they finally had their payback time. In a sense, one could tell that the Army and the Empire (of the East) paid them back for all their evil and short-sightedness🙂

Thank you for this fair assessment of Honorius. For an emperor with such a long reign there are few books about him. He simply turns up as a side-character in books about the late empire. His step-sister, Galla Placidia, had such a remarkable life that she would make a good subject for her own chapter in this series.

I'm currently reading Saint Augustine's Confessions and this video sets a very nice cultural and historical background to the time when it was written. Great work, thank you for your efforts! Cheers!

The five terrible emperors: Commodus, Honorius, Arcadius, Valentinian III. and Phocas.

The fact that Alarik kept lowering his demands and Honorius kept refusing made the sacking of Rome so much worse

Like father like son, the fall of the western roman empire was in great part fault of the Theodosian Dinasty, with names like Theodosius, Honorius and Valentinian III, nothing could be done, all began with the death of Valentinian I, he was an eficient ruler and with his unexpected death his brother Valens and his son Gratian began with the bad times and his son Gratian put that useless Theodosius in control of the east after the death of Valens in Adrianopolis and the rest is history.

At least Honorius seriously cared about his chickens...

I’m playing as Honorius for the first time in Crusader Kings 3’s The Fallen Eagle and I lowkey just want to give the kid a hug

CAPITUR URBS QUAE TOTUM CEPIT ORBEM - So wrote St. Augustine upon hearing the shocking news of Rome's sack by Alaric. I think people today can't grasp just how truly shocking this event was at the time.

Another great video man! Keep going👍

I think with Honorius he had some type of divine power protecting him. Not only did he rule for thirty years and die of natural causes while being entirely inept, but his body also may be surviving until this day under Saint Peter's basilica, outlasting all the other remains of all Roman Emperors. There is some mystical energy surrounding him, protecting him. Something deeper about this man to survive everything....and I mean everything....even his remains.