While Eutropius consolidated his hold on power in the capital, the distracted government still failed to react to the presence of Alaric in Greece. At first Eutropius may have coordinated with Stilicho around the defence of Illyricum; by 397, when Stilicho personally led a blockade that compelled Alaric to retreat into Epirus, the atmosphere of the eastern court had changed. As neither Arcadius nor Eutropius was keen to have Stilicho intervening in the affairs of the eastern empire, they provided no further military aid to Stilicho, who then abandoned the blockade of the Visigoths. At Eutropius's urging, Arcadius declared Stilicho to be a "hostis publicus", and came to an arrangement with Alaric, making him "magister militum per Illyricum". At around the same time, the eastern court persuaded Gildo, the "magister utriusque militiae per Africam", to transfer his allegiance from Honorius to Arcadius, causing relations between the two imperial courts to deteriorate further.