Stilico's Role in the Battle of Constantinople

Alarik didn't command anything like the entirety of the Goths who had settled in this region in 382. This wasn't a whole people picking up stakes and deciding to move on, but a military force comprised mostly of former Roman units. Stilico took over as the power behind the Emperor in the West after Theodosius died earlier in 395. When he didn't get it, Alarik turned south from Constantinople towards mountainous Macedonia and Thessaly along the Aegean coast.