General Flavius Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a Roman general serving during the reign of the young emperor Honorius. On Easter Sunday, he launched a surprise attack against the Goths while they were observing communion. The assault placed Christians on both sides of a bloody conflict fought beneath the sign of the cross. A young Gothic warrior named Alfrick escaped the massacre carrying a sacred silver cup, beginning a journey that later brought him to Rome and into the path of the monk Telemachus. Stilicho's victory exposes the deep contradiction between Rome's public Christianity and its continuing violence. His actions form part of the broken world Telemachus confronts when prayer and conscience finally compel the monk to act against brutality.