Due to the size of Radagaisus' army, it required a tremendous effort by the Romans to avert this danger.

From 395, when they stayed north of the Black Sea, they attacked the Eastern Roman Empire in waves, where they caused enormous destruction.

They crossed the Danube River and followed a route through western Pannonia to the northern Alpine provinces and descended to Italy via the Brenner Pass.

[5] This is supported by archaeological finds of coin jars, buried by residents who apparently knew of Radagaisus' arrival.

Moreover, the passages through the Alps were not or hardly defended, because the Alpine garrisons had been stripped by previous wars, and the mountain range was never fully manned after 395.

Radagaisus' army ravaged Italy from the Alps to Tuscany for more than half a year before Stilicho amassed a force large enough to deal with the barbarian invaders.

[8] Given the magnitude of the danger, it is reasonable to assume that he also mobilized troops stationed in Gaul, as he had done earlier during Alaric's invasion of Italy.

Stilicho could not prioritize tracking down fleeing bands because he had to quickly march further south to subdue Sarus' host and defeat Radagaisus' main force.

The most plausible reconstruction is that the fleeing barbarians were actually a remnant of Radagaisus' third force, composed mainly of Vandals and Alans, who fled from northern Italy to Raetia across the Alps.

[14] From Pavia, Stilicho's main force marches against Radagaisus, who is near the city of Florence, which is besieged by his Gothic army.

The barbarians repeatedly make attempts to break out, always without success and when fighting takes place it is the Goths of Sarus' defected army who are deployed by Stilicho against Radagaisus' forces.

Through good logistics, strategy and deft diplomacy, it managed to defeat a numerically superior opponent composed of different ethnicities.

This invasion led to the army in Britannia revolting and crossing over to the continent under usurper Constantine III, after which the provinces of Gaul and Spain fell out of Emperor Honorius' power.

Stilicho was accused by several of his competitors at the imperial court of inciting the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi to invade Gaul in order to take advantage of the weakening of the empire and claim the throne for himself.