Stilicho\'s Betrayal

[Justin I]

He just wanted some land to distribute to his followers to make them happy and keep them fed. Alaric played hardball in negotiations, and wasn't above plundering a few villas or sacking a city to get his point across. He thought that by marching into northern Italy, he could intimidate Ravenna into accepting his demands and backing off militarily.

A practice used by almost every barbarian, until the Romans couldn't control the federates anymore after Aetius' death. Alaric also wanted more military command, which with Stilicho the Vandal as current MUM and after the incidents with his predecessor Arbogastes, they did not want another barbarian in an MM command.

Yes ... according to Zosimus, Alaric at first demanded Noricum, Venetia and Histria, but would accept less if they threw in a military command. The second time, he only asked for Noricum, gold, corn and and alliance.

Correction: I had my chronology wrong. Alaric made those demands after Stilicho died. Still, the point is that Alaric wanted to be an ally of the Western army, not its conqueror.

This is a great thread, I might add.