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In the city of Ravenna sat the Imperial Palace. In years passed, the capital of the Western Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Mediolanum, however such a northern city proved to be unsecure and had been ravaged in a previous war. As a result, Ravenna now stood as the Imperial Capital. The city of Ravenna was embedded in a swamp, and it was because of this it was naturally superior in its defensive position.

Flavius Stilicho was the Supreme Commander of the Western Roman Army. Unfortunately for him, he now acted as a glorified babysitter of an overgrown child. The Emperor Honorius was a young man in his early twenties, and despite this, he was dim-witted, lazy, hedonistic, and outright petty. It was because of men like Stilicho that the Empire was even still standing.

Currently, the Goths were occupying Noricum, and the usurper Constantine III had taken over the diocese of Britannia and Gaul. If he made a move on either of them, the heartland of the Empire would be ravaged by one or the other. Thus, because of that, he could only rely on buying temporary peace to sustain the borders of the Empire.

Despite this, there were many equally petty senators who thought of such a thing as a major insult to their pride and honor. Stilicho was living in a nest of vipers, and every single one of them was trying to influence the young emperor to act against him.

It was for this reason that the man smiled when he read a report from Castra Regina. Unbeknownst to him, at the time he was convincing the Senate to agree to Alaric’s demands, the man himself had marched on Castra Regina. Thankfully, Marcellus was able to deter the gothic invasion with a simple threat. Still, it was testament to the young general’s reputation that a man like Alaric stayed his hand.

Marcellus’ actions had bought Rome time, time to prepare the ransom so that Alaric would not invade. Of course, Alaric was a filthy barbarian and he could not be easily trusted. While reading this letter, Stilicho also saw the words that Marcellus had left him._.

“I intend to transform my limitanei into a force that our ancestors would be proud of. It will be difficult, but it is the only way I can defend this land I have been tasked with protecting. Because of this, I have spent a fortune commissioning arms and armor for my soldiers. They train every day, and are not allowed to slack off on their other work.

Just know that each man who stands among my ranks is willing to die to defend the border from the Gothic threat. You must do your part to negotiate on behalf of all of us Romans to ensure that Alaric stays his hand. I fear I am not in a position to do anything other than deter the man. Just know that should the day come that Alaric brings his troops into my territory, my soldiers will fight to the last man to protect its people.”

Stilicho could only shake his head when he read this. Despite being half-vandal, Marcellus had considered him a true Roman, something the members of the Senate disagreed upon. If only a man like Marcellus ruled the Empire, perhaps it would not be in its current state. After reading the letter, he cast it into the fire. It was best that Honorius did not find out about Marcellus’ attempt to further enhance his troops. The petty fool might actually accuse Marcellus of treason.

Dwelling upon this, he decided to do everything in his power to conceal the manufacture and sale of the goods that Marcellus had requested. At the very least, there would not be a trail for Honorius to follow. He decided to write a letter to the foreman of the Roman Manufactorum, explaining to him that Marcellus was commissioning the goods on his behalf. If Honorius were to find out about this deal, then Stilicho could always say he was simply acting to strengthen the border defenses against the Gothic threat.

After doing this, he left his chambers and soon found the Roman Emperor staring at his pet chickens with a dejected gaze. Whatever had occurred, Honorius was clearly in a foul mood. With a heavy sigh, Stilicho approached the man and questioned what was on his mind.

“Your majesty, is there anything I should be aware of?”

Honorius did not immediately respond, and instead cast out a handful of seed for the chickens to feast on. After doing so, he began to complain about his life.

“Despite Marcellus’ punishment, my sister still writes to him. I fear that the girl has fallen for that scoundrel. Yet, I do not have any proof. Tell me, how should I punish the bastard for wooing my little sister?”

Stilicho knew it was something petty, but he didn’t realize it was this bad. He had no choice but to advocate on Marcellus’ behalf.

“With all due respect, Honorius, your sister is old enough to wed, and you have yet to find her a proper partner. I know you despise Marcellus, but he only has Rome’s best interests in his heart. I assure you he has no desire to do anything but serve the Empire. If you keep punishing your most loyal servants because of your personal feelings, you won’t be able to inspire others to act on your behalf.

If your sister has truly developed feelings for the man, then perhaps you should reward him, by agreeing to wed the girl to him. I know you don’t want to hear this, but there are rumors developing in the senate that perhaps you fancy your sister. It is better to marry her off to a capable man, then to sit by and do nothing.”

Honorius remained silent for some time as he dwelled on the subject. He truly despised Marcellus, if not simply because of the vicious scolding he had received when he visited the man in prison. He could not forgive Marcellus for speaking to him in such a manner.

His sister’s happiness was not one of his concerns, but if there were rumors about him being in love with his sister, then he needed to find the girl a husband quickly. Still, it was true that he was lacking competent subordinates aside from Stilicho and Marcellus. It was one of the reasons he had not outright executed the young general. Ultimately he decided to it was too much of a fuss to manage and tossed more feed towards his chicken.

“Eh, if those idiots in the senate want to talk, then let them talk. I won’t wed my sister to Marcellus just because they have begun to spread rumors about me. Instead, I want you to find out who started these petty lies, and punish them severely!”

Stilicho could not help but sigh in defeat. Just what did Rome do in its past to deserve being plagued with such an incompetent emperor? Perhaps it was the fault of men like Nero or Elagabalus that the heavens had decided to gift the throne to Honorius. Either way, Stilicho would speak no further about rewarding Marcellus for his efforts. Instead, he nodded his head in affirmation of Honorius’ orders.

“Very well, if that is what you desire, I will see what I can do…”

After saying this, Stilicho departed from the room and left to manage further affairs of the Empire. Why did he even bother speaking up on Marcellus’ behalf if the fool was just going to sit back and do nothing?

As for Honorius, the snake known as Olympius quickly approached him. The man had a forced smile on his face as he whispered venom into the fool’s ears.

“He seeks to overthrow you, you know that, right?”

Honorius immediately snapped his attention towards the Senator when he heard this before inquiring further about what he was talking about.

“Who does?”

The man struggled to contain his contempt for Honorius’ stupidity as he clarified what he meant by his previous statement.

“Stilicho, he knows he can’t be emperor because of his sullied lineage. But Marcellus, he’s a member of the Gens Claudia. Rumor has it that the man is even descended from the Julio-Claudian dynasty of centuries past. If such a thing were true, then it would not be surprising if Stilicho sought to replace you with his favored son.

Think about it, Honorius, why is Stilicho always pressing for Honorius to be rewarded? Even now he seeks to wed your sister to the man to improve his claim to the throne. You should be wary of those who say they are most loyal to Rome, for they are usually the ones harboring treasonous sentiments.”

A light flickered in Honorius’ eyes before he shook his head, denying such a possibility. Stilicho had always been loyal to his family. Such a thing made little sense.

“No, Stilicho wouldn’t do that…”

In response to this, a vicious smile curved itself upon Olympius’ lips as he twisted the truth to his means.

“No, of course not. I mean, he did just agree to spend 4,000 gold to prevent the Goths from invading Raetia. It must simply be a coincidence that Marcellus is currently guarding the border between Rhaetia and Noricum as we speak… After all, Stilicho surely wouldn’t convince the senate to spend such a vast sum or money just to protect his favored son.”

After saying this, Olympius did not wait for a response. He left the emperor alone, dwelling on these thoughts. Unfortunately, doubt had set in Honorius’ heart, and after this conversation, he would view Stilicho in a different light.