Six Numeri for Honorius

[Nathan Ross]

some parts may well have been altered between 394 and perhaps 420. Did you get a chance to read Ralf Scharf's book?

Sadly, as my German is non-existent all I could do with Scharf's book is look at the pictures...

Certainly there must have been alterations and additions to the ND after 394 - but as I understand it the eastern half is 'frozen' around that point or a little beforehand, and I suspect the western half is a bit of a mess.

During the Frigidus campaign Theodosius took a large army west, and part of it - under Stilicho - apparently never returned east again. At the same time Arbogast and Eugenius presumably took many units from Gaul east to the Julian Alps; how many of them returned?

Six years later Stilicho was scouring the provinces for troops to oppose Alaric and then Radagaisus, even drawing units from Britain and limitanei from the Rhine and Danube, if we can trust Claudian (and so surely most of the Gallic field army too), and still only came up with 30 numeri. How many of them ever returned to their original stations?

All things considered, I believe the western Notitia is a compendium of alterations, charting a changing situation between c.370 and some time in the 420s but not accurately representing any single date.

When did Stilicho become a friend of Constantinople? ... a payoff - Honorius permitted Stilicho to be killed, for the price of aid from the East.

Oh, a conspiracy! Yes, that would make sense... As for Stilicho I'm really not sure, as the whole period 395-408 is extremely baffling...

Presumably whatever 'alliance' was agreed (by eastern PP Anthemius?) was not honoured - because the east knew that Stilicho would just use any troops they gave to him against them! Only with Stilicho's downfall could the arrangement be concluded. But even then it took the east at least 18 months to follow up on it. Seeing how Honorius got on, perhaps, or just letting him sweat for a bit?

yet another tipoff that the army of the West had ceased to exist.

Yes. The western field armies of the 5th century do seem a bit like 'the dog that did not bark in the night'!

Sending them to Spain would not be my first choice had I been in Honorius' position.

I doubt Honorius had much say on what went on!... But yes, that's a good point, whoever was in charge. Still, we seem to have the suggestion in the 'Honorius Letter' that some troops were sent by the central government to 'barbarian infested' Spain. And the ND's Comes Hispanias seems to have quite a powerful little army...

Maybe Flavius Constantius (or somebody) had the very prescient idea that allowing the Vandals to occupy Spain unchallenged was going to get problematic at a later date?