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Flavius Gratianus, AD 359-383, was Roman emperor of the West from 367 to 383.
He was a devout Christian and relied upon
the bishop, Ambrose, as one of his chief advisors. Not only did he decline membership in the Order; he declined the title
of pontifex maximus and removed the statue of Victory from the Senate. Ultimately, the supporters of Magnus Clemens Maximus,
Governor of Britain, despite numerous warnings from the Order assassinated him.
Since we could not stop Magnus, we opted to assimilate him into the Plan. We encouraged his departure from Britain while
supporting the elevation of Theodosius as the Sixth Keeper...As a Christian, Gratian would not accept our help, but he was
willing to make Theodosius Emperor in the East. His son, Valentinian II, would rule in the west. It was his last act.
Magnus' removal of some legions from Britain presented some interesting possibilities. A project to 'co-opt' the provincials
was initiated by the Order. Maximus began the withdrawal of roman power from Britain, in order to pursue his own bid for the
purple. Meanwhile, the Order pursued theirs. And Magnus was checked by Theodosius, last Emperor-Keeper of the Order of Sol
Emesa.
Theodosius I, was the Sixth Keeper and last ruler of the whole empire. He was selected by Gratian before his death
to succeed Valens in the East after the defeat at Adrianople and to control the incursions of the goths
We knew the Hunni were coming west, Lucius Severus, driving the Goths ahead of them like cattle. We would have need of the
Goths when they came. But we needed time to absorb them.
In 382, he granted them territory north of the Balkan Mountains; they agreed to furnish troops to the Roman army.
The price of Constantine's bargain fell hard upon Theodosius. The Bishop of Milan, Ambrose exacted a private renunciation
of the Legacy. Also an edict banning all but the orthodox Christian faith. The Order and the Arians had found common ground.
. By now the various Christians were become no different than the Blue or Green factions at the Circus, Lucius Severus. They
are equally prone to riot. Both advance their agendas at the expense of the Empire! Mind you, the Arians are a bit easier
to take these days.
Arbogast, his frankish magister militum, assassinated Valentinian II in 392. Theodosius invaded Italy with a half-gothic
army and destroyed Arbogast with his puppet, Eugenius. More than 10,000 Goths died in the Battle of the Frigid River, fully
half of the Visigothic army at the time.
Theodosius was master of a restored empire. He bought time and began our policy of wearing down the Goths by attrition. It
has cost us, but we gained nearly sixty years to absorb the Goths and prepare for the Hunni. But Alaric was there as well.
He would remember how his tribe was used and look for a reckoning.
The Legacy, however, was left to Flavius Stilicho. Because of Theodosius' promise to the Bishop, Ambrose; From now on, the
Keeper could never be Emperor. Rule of the Eastern and Western Empires was bequeathed to the sons of Theodosius, Honorius
and Arcadius. Their women or their eunuchs ruled them. The two halves of the roman empire would never be united again. Faster
now, the grand design of the Order began spinning out of control.
The next three Keepers were not emperors in turn. The Christians were jealous of their power. The East had become hopelessly,
fanatically Christian. It had become impolitic to embrace a non-christian philosophy; for all that the Order had always been
more temporal than spiritual. The following choice was made, with full concurrence of the then-steward. This was, after all,
about the future of the west. The next Keeper received the Legacy as part of a dowry, when he married the emperor's niece.
Flavius Stilicho, a half-Vandal, was the seventh Keeper. He was Magister Militum under Emperor Theodosius I and effective
ruler of the western Roman Empire. Entrusted with the care of Theodosius's ineffectual son, young Honorius, at Theodosius'
death, Stilicho faced a series of barbarian invasions that threatened Rome. For Alaric was King of the Visigoths and still
remembered the Frigid River.
At Pollentia he routed the Visigoths, led by Alaric, and forced them to withdraw from Italia
back into Illyricum
. Arcadius was ruled by Rufinius, his magister militum. They demanded that Stilicho stay out of the East and so Alaric bade
his time there, when Stilicho could have ended it. Three years later, he had to do it again
In 405 he decisively defeated invading Ostrogoths at Fiesole in Italia, using legions pulled from Britain and Gaul.
However,
forces were withdrawn from the Rhine to face the Goths. In 406 the Rhine froze over and allowed the Vandals into the Empire,
they moved down into Hispania.
Accused by Honorius of treason for losing the Rhine frontier, Stilicho was executed
in 408.But not before the next Keeper was chosen. Alaric sacked Rome two years later. He took Honorius' sister, Galla Placidia,
with him.
The Visigoths were reconciled with Rome by the Bed, not the Sword. Through Galla Placidia, Barbarians had finally acquired
a voice at Court. Constantine came from Britain with the remainder of the British legios, supposedly to avenge Stilicho, then
declared for the purple himself! He even let the Visigoths settle in Hispania. They never bothered to farm the land
Stilicho's Steward, Constantius, quietly assumed his former superior's post as Magister Militum. He managed to defeat Constantine
with a combination of direct military and diplomatic means. Constantius hoped to use Rome's new position as arbiter of barbarian
struggles to have them exhaust each other and salvage the remnant to serve Rome. He used food as a weapon, trading grain from
Africa for Visigothic compliance. He negotiated the Feodas; the treaty that bought more than forty years of relative peace
between Rome and Alarics heirs. The Visigoths were set upon the Vandals and Suevi in Hispania. They also helped him remove
Constantius and his son.
But for the first time, the Steward presented the Legacy. Constantius (now Constantius III by
his marriage to the lately returned Galla Placidia) prudently sent Flavius Aetius, the chosen Keeper, to the Huns as a hostage.
Can you believe it has come to this, that a roman citizen might be safer and more comfortable with the Hunni? It ruined his
education. On the other hand, He did learn about Hunni cavalry tactics. And he brought back the Stirrup to use with his own
heavy cavalry.
Though the then-current Steward and future Keeper had met, there had been insufficient time to impart the mystery. To be
effective, the recipient had to have full understanding, impossible for an adolescent.
I received my Stewardship and Flavius Aetius received the Legacy from Constantius, the Steward, when the time came. Do you
still wonder why I kept my silence, Lucius Severus? Know you that the last two Keepers were killed by Rome! The pretender
Constantine was put down in Gaul, squandering more legios that Rome could ill afford. Without their legions, Britain began
to suffer the depredations of the Saxons in the east and Picts in the north. Ambrosius Aurelianus was dispatched to Britain
with knowledge of Hunnish cavalry tactics, including the Stirrup. We had no other help to send. Constantius died soon after,
in 421, but he had saved the Plan. We were prepared for the Hunni.
Flavius Aetius was the Eighth Keeper. Born in AD 396. A Roman general became virtual ruler of the western empire.
When Aetius returned at the head of 20,000 Hunnish cavalry in 425, that bitch Galla Placidia had to step aside. Empress Dowager
indeed! It must have galled her that she could not control her son through her connection with the Visigoths! And better still,
all this renewed antagonism between Goth and Hunni served the Plan! Yet it was then that she chose Bonafataeus as her tool
against Aetius. When Aetius returned, I told him all that I knew...
He was first given command in Gaul. He raided the Salian Franks and after killing off most of the Royal family, took the merovinian
royal prince Childeric, as a hostage to be educated by Rome. Childeric was raised in the household of Aegidius, his senior
legate. The Franks thereafter were allies of Rome. The northern frontier in Gaul was once again secured.
Then, the rival
general Bonifataeus let the Vandals into Africa when he brought his legions to Italia. Aetius managed to kill Bonifataeus
whilst losing a battle in Cisalpine Gaul where rebels and invading Burgundians might sever Gaul from Italia. He crushed the
rebels with Hunni cavalry in 433 and destroyed the Burgundian kingdom. The Burgundians were placed to guard the passes into
the northwest of Italia
We were so often poorly served by our own people. Bonifataeus cost us Carthage and the grain of Africa! Yet the Burgundians
embraced romanitas and guarded Italia! Aetius saved Gaul and Italia! Aetius was right to kill that traitor Bonifatius! What
else might he have promised Gaiseric the Vandal besides Africa? Gaiseric the Lame; it is said that as a child he fell from
a horse. I have often wondered what sort of world we might have if his neck had broken rather than his leg. Finally, the Hunni
came, as we always knew they would.
That silly bitch Honoria, Placidias get, thought to play politics like her scheming
mother! So after she gets knocked up by a slave and sent to a convent in the east. She sent a ring and her pledge of undying
love to Aetla, who no doubt already had ten or fifteen wives.
He was more than willing to claim his dowry, however. Can
you believe that once again the fate of empire rode between a womans legs?
Here is more history that you wont find at
court, Lucius Severus. Aetla and Aetius had been friends since they were youngsters. He had helped Aetius secure the West.
They had learned much from each other. Aetius had learned his lessons better, I think.
Allying his forces with the Visigoths in 451, Aetius defeated Attila and the Huns at Catalaunum. After an abortive invasion
of Italia, Aetla died in bed of a nosebleed. Flavius Aetius took only one trophy from Aetla, the Sarmatian Sword, known to
the Romans as the Sword of Mars.
When for the second time, the Britons begged the help of Rome against the Pictish and
Saxon hordes again there were no legions to send. Instead, the Sword was sent there, escorted by Sarmatian auxiliaries. The
Sarmatian remnant, freed from Hunnish servitude, was happy to do this.
A nose bleed, ha! Orestes the roman hostage was Aetla's secretary and our man! Remember Ciaus Severus, Orestes is your man,
not Ricimer's! Of course we gave the sword to the Britons! The Empire had had enough of over-ambitious, would-be conquerors!
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