Alaric - 'Roman Officer'?

[Nathan Ross]

But isn't it implied that if Alaric wanted his forces to become Roman soldiers, that this would imply citizenship as well?

I don't think he did. At least, I don't think the sources mention it.

Early in AD408, Alaric wanted a pay-off from the Roman state for moving his army to and from Epirus (supposedly as an ally to Stilicho and Honorius), and he then moved it to Noricum - the implication being, I think, that he would invade Italy if he was not paid.

Later, in 409 during the negotiations near Rimini, Alaric's demands, according to Zosimus, were "a certain quantity of gold each year, and a quantity of corn, and that himself and the barbarians who were with him would inhabit both the Venetias, Noricum and Dalmatia". Zos claims that Jovius (the Praetorian Prefect, acting as envoy) then suggested to Honorius that they also grant Alaric the title of Magister Utriusque Militae, "by which he might be induced to relax the severity of his conditions, and make peace on tolerably moderate terms".

Sozomen says the same thing, but implies that it was Alaric himself who wanted the military command. Either way, Honorius refused it and Alaric marched on Rome. He later changed his mind and demanded "only the two Noricums... plus as much corn as the emperor thought proper to grant, and he would remit the gold". Sozomen confirms that at this point Alaric "did not require any post of dignity, but was willing to act as an ally to the Romans".

So what Alaric wanted was wealth, supplies and land for his followers. The military title was, it seems, an empty honorific and possibly just a bribe: Alaric did not want his troops to become Roman soldiers, and seems to have been pretty ambivalent about the title anyway. He wanted to act as an ally to Rome, but not to be a 'Roman officer' in any meaningful way. There's certainly nothing here about his men gaining Roman citizenship, let alone swearing allegiance to anyone but Alaric himself!

But we only hear in these accounts about what Alaric himself wanted. What those he was leading might have had in mind was quite probably something very different. As I suggested above somewhere, they owed nothing to Rome, many of them would have felt personally aggrieved by Roman atrocities, and they probably wanted only plunder and revenge.