Bandit King - Stilicho: Ad 392

By Tomas Barba

The Bandit King, Stilicho, is the fictionalized hunt for the Gothic bandit, Alaric. Alaric the Goth entered history in AD 391 as a bandit in the Rhodope mountains. After his unsuccessful attack on the emperor, Theodosius sent Master-General Promotus to catch the bandit and bring him to justice. Alaric killed him. Flavius Stilicho enters this story as a tribune. By its end he was a Master-General and Commander of the Thracian Field Army. His father a Vandal, was probably a commander of barbarian troops serving Rome. Stilicho's mother was the daughter of a Roman aristocrat. This marriage implies that Stilicho's father was both of high rank and well respected. Stilicho began his career in the imperial guard. He was part of the embassy to Persia brokering a peace in AD 388 with the Shahanshah, a peace necessary to free Roman troops in the east to march against the usurper, Magnus Maximus in the West. Stilicho 's bravery and cunning in the battles against the Western Roman empire earned him an assignment as the Master of the Imperial Stables, responsible for not just the imperial stables and, but the acquisition of mounts for the army. That assignment brought him to the attention of Serena, the emperor's adopted daughter, and child of his brother. Flavius Rufinus was the Master of Offices, a powerful administrative position. He had known the emperor, Theodosius, for many years prior to the start of this story, and this friendship gave Rufinus more power than his position alone carried. The tension between Master-General Arbogast and the Emperor Valentinian that ended in Western emperor being found hanged in his bed chamber was true, as was the tension between Christianity and paganism.Are there parts of this novel that are pure fiction?Absolutely, but I will try to identify those for the reader in this section.Most of the drama is fiction, however the major characters were real, the events, historical, and the stage, upon which this story plays out is accurately portrayed. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1978044356
• ISBN13: 9781978044357
• Release Date: December 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 482 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"