Alaric - Ancient History Encyclopedia Alaric by Donald L. Wasson published on 04 September 2014 Alaric I (reigned 394-410 CE) was a Gothic military commander who is famous for sacking Rome in 410 CE, which was the first time the city had been sacked in over 800 years. Although little of his family is known, we do know that he became the chief of the Tervingi and Greuthungi tribes (later known as the Visigoth and Ostrogoth , respectively). He led his fellow Goths on a rampage through the Balkans and into Italy , sacking the Roman capital, and then moving further south and dying soon after in 410 CE. After Alaric’s death, his brother-in-law Athaulf led the Goths into Gaul . Alaric Comes to Power For centuries the people of Rome lived comfortably behind the walls of their city. The empire was continually expanding, and the army, under a long series of capable military commanders, kept the dreaded barbarians safely away from the city’s gates.

Unfortunately, the supremacy of Rome began to slowly decay when the empire was split into two by Diocletian , and the power base gradually moved to Constantinople and to the emperor who resided there. This shift in political and economic power left Rome weak and vulnerable. A young, former Roman commander took advantage of this situation and sacked the once eternal city: his name was Alaric. Remove Ads Advertisement Although labelled as a barbarian, Alaric was a Christian who received his military training in the Roman army . He commanded the Gothic allies, fighting alongside the Romans at the battle of River Frigidus in 394 CE, a battle waged between the eastern emperor Theodosius I and the western usurper emperor Eugenius. Shortly after the battle, in 395 CE, Emperor Theodosius, the last to unite and rule both halves of the empire, died. The empire was again divided. Alaric’s nemesis (and later ally) the ambitious Flavius Stilicho (359-408 CE) became regent (or at least claimed to be) for the former emperor’s two sons, Arcadius and Honorius (395–423 CE).

Arcadius became emperor in the east (dying in 408 CE), while the younger Honorius would eventually assume the throne in the west. Alaric & Stilicho When the Salarian Gate was opened by an unnamed sympathizer, an army of “barbarians” led by Alaric entered Rome, and a three day pillage began. Stilicho, magister militum or commander-in-chief (and son of a Roman mother and Vandal father), clashed with Alaric. This conflict stemmed from a treaty signed in 382 CE between the Romans and the Goths, after the Gothic War , which allowed them to settle in the Balkans but only as allies, not citizens. The treaty further required them to serve in the Roman army, something that alarmed many of the Goths. And, as they had feared, their extensive losses at Frigidus validated their concern; they had been placed on the front lines, ahead of the regular Roman army, as "sacrificial lambs". Alaric lived under the mistaken delusion that the Roman government in the west was stable and would last forever, providing security for his people.

In an attempt to force a rewrite of the treaty, Alaric and his army took advantage of the growing tension between the east and west and ransacked cities throughout the Balkans and into Greece , eventually invading Italy in 402 CE. He demanded not only grain for his people but also recognition as citizens of the empire, as well as his appointment as magister militum, an equal in the Roman army; Stilicho vehemently refused these demands. Although Alaric was forced to retreat at Verona , in 406 CE an attempt was made for compromise. Through his agent, Jovius, the Roman commander listened to Alaric’s demand of legal rights to their land with annual payments of gold and grain. In return, Alaric was to assist Stilicho in his plan to invade the east; with Arcadius in full power in the east, Stilicho had already secured himself in the west (he had married his daughter to Emperor Honorius), and with the help of Alaric, he would attack the east, dethroning Arcadius. Remove Ads Advertisement The deal would never come to pass. Alaric sat patiently, waiting for Stilicho to join him.

Despite his good intentions, Stilicho, however, was delayed due to problems elsewhere in the west: the Gothic king Radagaisus invaded Italy; the Vandals , Alans, and Survi invaded Gaul; and the future emperor Constantine III (a viable threat to the throne) emerged victorious from Britain . These setbacks made money scarce and negotiations impossible. Alaric’s patience wore thin, and his demand for 4,000 pounds of gold (payment for his waiting) went unheard. As a result, he began to slowly move his army closer to Italy. Although Stilicho wanted to pay the demands, the Roman senate , under the leadership of a war hawk named Olympius disagreed, and the senate considered Alaric’s actions a declaration of war. With Olympius’ urging, the emperor decided to invade the east. Stilicho warned against the emperor leading the army, choosing to lead an army himself. With Stilicho away, Honorius and Olympius traveled to Ticinum, an Italian city just south of Milan, supposedly to review the troops; however, Olympius, without the permission of the emperor, ordered the killing of thousands of Gothic allies - an action that further angered Alaric.

A final fatality of this massacre was Stilicho himself, who was accused of plotting with Alaric. As a result of this treachery, over 10,000 soldiers defected and joined Alaric’s army. In 408 CE the Gothic army sacked the cities of Aquilea, Concordia, Altinum, Cremona, Bononia, Ariminum, and Picenum, choosing, however, to avoid Ravenna, the capital of the western empire and home of Emperor Honorius. Instead, Alaric set his sights on Rome, surrounding all thirteen gates of the city, blockading the Tiber River and forcing widespread rationing; within weeks decaying corpses littered the city streets. Alaric & the Sacking of Rome As additional forces came to Alaric’s side, Emperor Honorius did little to help the city and oppose Alaric. The Goths were still viewed as barbarians and no match for the armies of the empire.

Although the treasury was virtually empty, the senate finally succumbed, and wagons left the city carrying two tons of gold, thirteen tons of silver, 4,000 silk tunics, 3,000 fleeces, and 3,000 pounds of pepper. Alaric eased the siege, still hoping to negotiate terms, but Honorius remained blind to the seriousness of the situation. While temporarily agreeing to Alaric’s demands - something he never intended to honor - 6,000 Roman soldiers were sent to the city but were quickly defeated by Alaric’s brother-in-law Athaulf. The Visigoths and the Sack of Rome You will penetrate The City Despite or to avoid his destiny, Alaric tried to negotiate peacefully with the rulers of Rome. Far from being the enemy of Rome, Alaric worked as king-maker, installing Priscus Attalus as emperor, and keeping him there despite policy disagreements. It didn't work. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know Ultimately, Rome's refusals to accommodate a barbarian led Alaric to sack Rome on August 24, A.D. 410.

Aside: An Unlucky Day for Rome Most Roman festivals began on odd-numbered days because even numbers were considered infelicitous. (The word felix means fortunate in Latin and was the agnomen the Roman dictator Sulla added to his name in 82 B.C. to indicate his luck. Infelicitous means unlucky.) August 24 is a good example of just how bad even-numbered days could be for the Roman Empire, since it was on that same day, 331 years earlier, that Mt. Vesuvius had erupted, wiping out the Campanian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Sack of Rome Gothic troops destroyed most of Rome and took prisoners, including the Emperor's sister, Galla Placidia . "But when the appointed day had come, Alaric armed his whole force for the attack and was holding them in readiness close by the Salarian Gate; for it happened that he had encamped there at the beginning of the siege. Aug. 24, 410 A.D.

And all the youths at the time of the day agreed upon came to this gate, and, assailing the guards suddenly, put them to death; then they opened the gates and received Alaric and the army into the city at their leisure. And they set fire to the houses which were next to the gate, among which was also the house of Sallust, who in ancient times wrote the history of the Romans, and the greater part of this house has stood half-burned up to my time; and after plundering the whole city and destroying the most of the Romans, they moved on." Visigoth - Ancient History Encyclopedia Visigoth by Joshua J. Mark published on 16 December 2011 The Visigoths were the western tribe of the Goths (a Germanic people) who settled west of the Black Sea sometime in the 3rd century CE. According to the historian Herwig Wolfram, the Roman writer Cassiodorus coined the term Visigothi to mean `Western Goths’ as he understood the term Ostrogothi to mean `Eastern Goths’, sometime in the 6th century CE.

Cassiodorus was simply trying to coin a name to differentiate the two tribes of the Gothic people. The designation visigothi seems to have appealed to the Visigoths themselves, however, and they came to apply it to themselves. When the Huns invaded the area, the Visigoths appealed to the Roman Emperor Valens for sanctuary in the Roman Empire . Valens consented and the Visigoths settled in an area near the Danube. Mistreatment by provincial Roman governors soon led to widespread discontent among the Visigoths and, by 376 CE, open rebellion had broken out. The Visigoths plundered the neighbouring Roman towns, growing in power and wealth as they went. Remove Ads Advertisement Emperor Valens took the field with forces mainly drawn from the Eastern Roman Empire and won a number of victories against the Visigoths in what came to be known as The Gothic Wars (376-382 CE). At the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE the Visigoths won a decisive victory against the forces of Valens (an event which historians mark as the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire ) and the emperor himself was killed in the battle.

Theodosius I then became emperor of the Western Roman Empire and tried to halt the progress of the Visigoths as they then swept on to Thrace. In 382 CE a peace treaty was concluded between Athanaric of the Visigoths and Theodosius I of Rome . Theodosius I tried to cement the peace by instituting regional Visigoth governors and, more importantly, trying to unite the Visigoths and the Romans through Christianity . The Visigoths practiced Arian Christianity while Theodosius I, and the Romans, followed the Nicene Creed instituted by Constantine the Great at Nicea in 325 CE. While he was not successful in this, the peace lasted until the death of Theodosius I in 395 CE. Alaric I tried to unite the Visigoths and Romans by having Visigoth governors introduce Roman customs. With his death, the Visigoths in service to Rome rejected Roman rule and proclaimed Alaric I their king. Alaric I tried to unite the Visigoths and Romans by having Visigoth governors introduce Roman customs and culture in their regions.

While he was moderately successful, Alaric was better suited as a warrior than an administrator and, in 396 CE, led his forces through the Balkans, pillaging as they went, down into Greece . He then turned back to Italy and, after a number of engagements with the faltering Roman forces, sacked Rome in 410 CE. Remove Ads Advertisement He died soon after and his successor, Athaulf, led the Visigoths in the conquest of Gaul , establishing the Visigothic Kingdom of Toulouse. Following Athaulf, King Wallia expanded the kingdom and his successor, Euric, enlarged it even further to include a large part of Spain. The Visigoths at this time still practiced Arian Christianity while the inhabitants of Spain were Nicene Christians (recognized today as Catholics). According to some sources, Euric carried out intense persecutions of the Nicene Christians while, according to others, he merely targeted high ranking church officials whom he deemed problematic. After his death, Alaric II became king and, at this time (c. 485 CE) Clovis of the Franks accepted Nicene Christianity and sought to drive the Arian Visigoths from the region.

In 507 CE Alaric II was defeated in battle by Clovis, dying in the engagement, and the Visigothic kingdom became Frankish. The capital was set up at Toledo and a gradual merging of the cultures began between the Romans and the Visigoths. In 711 CE the Muslim forces conquered Spain and, in so doing, accelerated the assimilation of the two cultures into one united front against the conquerors. In time, the native Romans of Hispania and the Visigoths became the united culture of Spain. In 722 CE, at the Battle of Covadonga, Pelagius of Asturias defeated the Muslim forces and thus began the Christian re-conquest of Spain. In 732 CE, at the Battle of Poitiers (also known as the Battle of Tours) the Frankish King Charles Martel (the Hammer) defeated the Muslim forces under Rahman to permanently halt Muslim incursions into Europe . After driving the Muslims out of Galicia in 739 CE, the Roman Catholic Church was established by the new government as the national faith and official religion of the country. The German Visigoths and the Italian Romans had become the unified people of Spain.

Alaric Trashes Rome -- 410 AD Alaric Trashes Rome -- 410 AD: Rome was sacked many time in its history, from 390 BC when Rome's famous geese saved only the Capitoline fortress from the general destruction by the Gauls until German mercenaries under the command of a Parisian renegade (nominally part of the army of Charles V) did it the last time in 1527 AD ( ). One of the more interesting of these destructions (in Latin it meant "unbuilding") occurred when Alaric arrived in 410 AD. What was so special about this sack was that Alaric had been trained for the job by Stilicho, the very general who initially opposed him. Stilicho might have finally defeated Alaric if not for the stupidity of the Emperor and then the sudden and uncharacteristic bravado of the Senate, who, instead of sending General Stilicho to the front, conspired in his execution. The long prelude: We have to go back forty or so years to understand how all of this happened.

For decades in the fourth century, there had been intermittent battles for control of sections of north-central Europe between the Romans and the Visigoths. The Visigoths at that time had only a tribal organization, and leaders of rival tribes vied for power. By about 370 AD, two factions had emerged, one under Athanaric and the second under Fritigern. Athanaric was winning, and eventually Fritigern had to get help from the Romans. In effect, his forces became Roman auxiliaries in return for protection. Soon, however, a new menace appeared: Huns overran the Visigoth territories in about 375 AD. Athanaric retired to Transylvania, and the majority of the Visigoths joined Fritigern, who now had useful Empire connections, and fled, in 376, across the Danube River into the Eastern Roman Empire. Fritigern also led his men into Arian Christianity to make their move more palatable to the eastern Emperor, Valens, who was himself an Arian.

But things soon got dicey in the Visigoths' new homeland, mostly because of high taxes and oppressive measures instituted by corrupt Byzantine/Roman officials. For centuries, and in both ends of the Empire, there had been a pervasive atmosphere of prejudice and discrimination against northern "barbarians". They were easily recognizable: they were tall, blond, blue eyed, bearded ("barba" meant beard in Latin), speaking course Germanic languages ("barbar" was also perhaps onomatopoeic, for barbarian mutterings). Worst of all, they dressed funny, wearing pants and shoes with stockings instead of respectable Roman tunics and sandals. Northern barbarians had always been the butt of Roman ethnic jokes -- think of "blond jokes" and where they might have come from. Many Romans, and especially those of purer upper-class Italian and Greek ethnic stock who had been recruited into provincial civilian and military officialdom, thought that northern barbarians, including Visigoths, were not very bright and that they would, therefore, be easy marks for various semi-official swindles. This, of course, was a mistake. In short order, the Visigoth settlers rose in revolt.

Valens set out with legions to put them back in their place, but at Adrianople in 378, the Visigoths won a decisive victory. Valens was wounded in the battle and took refuge in a tower on a nearby farm. A few hours later, Visigoth cavalry found and burned the tower. Valens was ashes and thus joined the two-thirds of his army that had been slain in the battle. The Visigoths then swept across the upper Balkan Peninsula and ravaged Thrace. The first Theodosius was next on the imperial throne, and he immediately took up arms against the Visigoths. In 382 peace was finally negotiated, and the Goths under Fritigern were settled in Thrace -- their earlier seizure of that territory was thus officially recognized by the empire. Friction, however, continued. Alaric: Yes, we finally get to Alaric. Alaric came from one of the leading "royal" families of the Visigoths, and some sources even say he was a son of Fritigern -- leading tribal leaders spread their seed to cement their tribal federations.

Like other tribal princes from all over the empire, Alaric was brought to Constantinople to attend the new military academy that Theodosius had established. The students, also part hostages, were indoctrinated and hopefully converted to the Roman/Byzantine way of thinking. He must have been a good student. After graduation, he quickly rose through the ranks, and, by 392 AD, was leading more than 20,000 Visigothic "foederatae" (troops recruited from tribes federated with Rome) at the Battle of the River Frigidus. At Frigidus, Alaric was under the command of Theodosius's top general and theater commander, Flavius Stilicho, and they were facing another Roman army led by a renegade general named Arbogast. Alaric's troops led the attack on two successive days and finally won the battle for Stilicho. More than half of the Visigoths died in the repeated frontal attacks Stilicho ordered, and Alaric left the field with the distinct suspicion that Stilicho, who until then had been his mentor, was trying to expend Visigoth troops as quickly as possible.

Despite his suspicions, Alaric continued to serve the Empire faithfully until Theodosius died in 395. Fritigern had died in 380 and, although he didn't have the title, Alaric was the ruler of the Visigoths by virtue of his command of the largest Visigothic army -- the remaining 10,000 foederatae and new recruits. When Theodosius died, Alaric led his troops away, and the Visigoths were once again an "enemy" rather than a "federated" tribal group. There were, of course, rumors that Alaric was in cahoots with Eastern Empire rivals of Stilicho, who, it was said, played on Alaric's suspicions of his former boss. Stilicho gave chase as Alaric plundered through the Northern Balkans and eventually chased him out of the Eastern Empire and into the West, missing, en route, at least one good opportunity to capture him.

Stilicho, also, in the meanwhile, and in accordance with the will of Theodosius, became the guardian, protector, and top general of Honorius, a twelve-year-old son of Theodosius, whom Theodosius had set up as puppet emperor in the West. Stilicho was to be, for a few years, the puppet-master. And that's how it came about that Stilicho headed off to Rome, and, when Alaric menaced the Italian Peninsula, it was Stilicho who led the forces of the Western Empire to intercept his former protégé. Stilicho decisively beat Alaric at the Battle of Pollentia on Easter Sunday, 402 AD, but Alaric again slipped away as he had done during the pursuit in the east. Stilicho won another great battle against Alaric at Verona the next year, but Alaric got away yet again. A pattern was evolving which provoked rumors that Stilicho purposely was allowing Alaric to escape, and even more scandalous rumors circulated that they had been lovers in early days.

Modern historians discount the latter completely -- no evidence adduced -- but they still worry about the apparent ease of Alaric's escapes. Stilicho soldiered on, keeping the Visigoths at bay, repulsing the northern wing of the Vandals, who crossed the frozen Rhine River in 407, containing a revolt in England led by Constantine III. Late in 407, Alaric again appears to have allied himself with Rome to participate in Stilicho's projected expedition to the far borders of the Eastern Empire. Some modern historians interpret this as a Stilicho plan to get the Visigoths as far away as possible from northern Italy, but other events intervened. Everyone knew that "those horrible northern barbarians" had caused most of Rome's troubles, and "anti-blond" racism and discrimination became rampant in the Western Empire. Wives and children of some Visigoth soldiers, officers, and noblemen, who until then had been faithful to Rome, were murdered in Italian-led pogroms. Visigoths fled en masse to Alaric's protection, making Alaric's forces all the stronger. Only Stilicho could save the day.

Stilicho, ever the realist, went to the Senate and asked for money to buy off Alaric. The Senate responded with anti-Visigoth polemics and personal attacks on Stilicho. Hadn't he purposely allowed Alaric's repeated escapes? And weren't Stilicho and Alaric even now planning joint conquests in the east? Why was Stilicho trying to enrich Alaric? Wasn't Stilicho half barbarian himself? (True.) Why should Rome pay tribute to blond, blue-eyed Barbarians -- even if they had an overwhelmingly superior force? And in Ravenna, Stilicho's rivals in the Court of Honorius (now removed to the north) were busy convincing Honorius that Stilicho was plotting a coup that would put Stilicho's own son, Eucherius, on the Imperial throne. Honorius, who had never been noted for his mental acuity, believed the story and signed a warrant for Stilicho's arrest. It was served on Stilicho in a churchyard in Ravenna. With his troops far away and with popular sentiment turning against him, he took sanctuary in the church.

He came out again after receiving assurances of a trial after which he would keep his head. But the local commander had lied and Stilicho was decapitated without trial on August 22, 408 AD. So now we have a greatly expanded (and very angry) Visigoth army on the loose in Italy, and the only Roman general capable of opposing them is headless in Ravenna. The predictable result was that a few months later Alaric's long siege of Rome began. The Senate now offered to buy off the Visigoths with gold, silver, and food, the last of which, of course, would have to be provided from outside Rome, probably by Honorius. Alaric withdrew for a while after receiving the Senate promises (and some gold and silver), but Honorius, well fed in Ravenna, was not susceptible to the pleas of the starving (some accounts say eventually cannibalistic) Romans. All deals fell through, and Alaric renewed the siege. Finally, on August 24, 410, someone opened the Salaria Gate (now the Pincian Gate at the end of Via Venetto), and Alaric's Visigoths poured through.

The Sack -- the shortest part of the story: The Visigoths were also pretty famished after camping for more than eighteen months in what later became the Villa Borghese Park, so they only pillaged for three days before they left in search of food. During the sack, most unresisting persons were spared from the sword. Many were nominally enslaved, but the selling price of slaves plunged so low that most quickly bought themselves and friends out of servitude: the Visigoths wanted whatever cash they could realize and certainly had no desire to own a multitude of pretty useless city people as slaves. A few important persons, notably the beautiful young Galla Placida, a daughter of Theodosius who had been raised in Stilicho's household, were kept as hostages. All accounts agree that rape was not on the menu -- they were all Christians, after all. Public buildings were burned, but, by and large, houses and churches were spared. Secular artwork was damaged or hauled off, but early sacred art survived -- it was mostly in the catacombs and churches. No matter: it was almost all destroyed later or painted over in new styles. The sack, although short-lived, had a profound effect on Rome.

There was no food in the city, and a chaotic situation prevailed. The Roman slave economy had also finally collapsed, because almost any slave could afford freedom in the glutted and depressed slave market. Roman population numbers, already reduced since the departure of the government apparatus with Constantine ninety years earlier, again fell precipitously as droves of Romans quickly dispersed into the hills and countryside. Additional waves of barbarians, interspersed with outbreaks of plague and wars, ensured that Rome's population would not again meet its highest imperial peak until the 20th century. Aftermath: From the Visigoth viewpoint the most important thing about Rome, when they finally took it in 410 AD, was also that it was a city without food. The "sacking" was exceedingly brief, and then, led by Alaric, the invaders very quickly headed off southward to forage. They happily devoured whatever was available on the southward march through the fertile Campania and Cosenza. According to legend, they planned to take Sicily as a stepping-stone to North Africa -- where there was more food -- but the plan aborted when Alaric died after a short illness.

Another legend, repeated by Gibbon in his "History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" (Volume 3 Ch. XXXI), recounts the burial of Alaric in the bed of the Busentinus (now Busento) River at the southern edge of Cosenza city, the river having been diverted for the purpose and then allowed to return to its course covering the still undiscovered tomb. Atawulf, either a son-in-law or a brother-in-law, succeeded Alaric, and eventually led the still-hungry Visigoths back northward and across the Alps into France. These were the same Aquitaine Visigoths that were defeated and absorbed by the Frankish "king", Clovis, in 507 AD during his anti-Arian march through France and his founding of the French Merovingian dynasty. In the shorter run, Atawulf carried off the hostages, including Galla Placida, and enough loot to set up a local Visigoth kingdom. Within a short time Galla Placida defied the wishes of her family (her brother, Honorius, was still Emperor in Ravenna), and she married her captor.

The marriage ended a year later when Atawulf was murdered, and she was soon back in her family's arms in Ravenna. (Her whole story is too interesting and complicated to include here -- another article on her is in the works.) Things didn't get better for Rome when Atawulf and the Visigoths left Italy. In 452 the Huns came all the way down into Italy but stopped short of Rome either because there was famine and plague in Italy that year or because god helped Pope Leo I scare him away. (The official Catholic Church version has been, for more than a century, that Leo simply dissuaded Attila -- no longer any mention of a miracle.) Rome was ravaged again in 455 AD, this time by the Sicilian and North African branches of the Vandals, and they were less kind and less willing to leave: the pillage, bloodshed, and rape (not coreligionists) lasted at least two weeks. Another twenty years of chaos followed during which the last vestiges of Western imperial authority dissolved.

The barbarian mercenaries in the "Roman" army fought amongst themselves for control of the remnants, and finally in 476 Odoacer (there are several spellings) got control of substantially all of the Italian mainland. He sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople and proclaimed himself King. By convention, that event is cited by most historians as the beginning of the "Dark Ages" in Europe. Odoacer, of course, was another one of those pesky Visigoths. Alaric and Stilicho: Enemies of the Roman Empire: Gibbon, "Decline and Fall" -- Chapter XXX of Book 3 starts here, and succeeding pages take you through chapter XXXI (click on the "running dog"): Procopius of Caesaria -- Alaric's sack of Rome (written 140 years later): Ammianus Marcelinus on "The Luxury of the Rich in Rome". Written a generation before the sack, but it illuminates the decay that made Rome so vulnerable and made Roman city folks so useless as slaves: Gothic invasion map: P.S. 1: Alaric may not have been his real name, even though he was certainly a real person.

Alaric is derived in some (mostly Germanic, Baltic, and Scandinavian) etymologies as "alla reikus" or other close variants, the meaning of which would be "everyone's ruler". "Alaric" may therefore just be his title or nickname. P.S. 2: 1527 was the last time Rome was "sacked". After that it was just conquered and looted. P.S. 3: Should Honorius have believed the allegation that Stilicho was plotting a coup? It certainly is within the realm of possibility that Stilicho was finally fed up with Honorius and the Ravenna court. No real evidence of a coup plot has surfaced, however, and two things argue against a coup theory: 1) there had been ample opportunities before, both in the east and in the west, when Stilicho could have led a takeover, but he had always proved loyal; and 2) a coup, if Stilicho had wanted one, would not have required a "plot" or complex plan. A simple order (such as "Forward march!") would have sufficed. P.S.

4: The burial in the river story was a common way of explaining why nobody knew the location of a famous grave. If you believe the legends it happened a lot all over Europe and the Middle East in those days. About the only heroes who escaped such a watery grave were King Arthur in England, who supposedly is still in a mountain somewhere waiting to come back and save his country in an hour of need or maybe in Glastonbury Abbey, and Attila, who was buried in an unmarked grave, after which the burial party was massacred and buried in another unmarked grave. P.S. 5: One theory is that the Visogoths as well as the Lombards and Burgundes swept down out of Scandinavia and were precursors of the Vikings and Russ of several centuries later. It appears that the blondes have always moved southward looking for a beach.

The Invasion of Gaul; Visigoths besiege and burn Rome previous | next Invasion across Gaul; Visigoths besiege and burn Rome Journey of the Visigoths (from Wikimedia Commons), with dates in white: 376, 378, 397, 410 (the year they sacked Rome), and 418 into Hispania. Around 395, bands of Huns invaded Armenia, and they moved into Syria and Cappadocia , where they plundered and killed. The Huns pushed against eastern Germans: Vandals, Suebi (or Suevi) and Burgundians. These Germans crossed the Danube River in great numbers, into the Roman province of Pannonia . The Roman population there fled westward. The empire was further challenged in 399 when Alaric and his army of Visigoth warriors and civilians moved across the Alps and into Italy. In 402 and 403, a Roman army led by Flavius Stilicho drove Alaric and the Visigoths back to Illyricum.

In 405, Vandals, Suevi and Burgundians united under a leader named Radagaisus. He and about a third of his force moved from Pannonia into northern Italy, destroying cities and pillaging. The western emperor, Honorius, fled from the city of Ravenna and found refuge behind the walls of Florence, forty miles southwest of Ravenna. From behind these walls the call went out for volunteers to help combat the invaders. No force of volunteers came, but Stilicho left his battle with invaders on the frontier and arrived just in time to rescue the emperor and the city of Florence. He had Radagaisus beheaded and those of Radagaisus' army who had survived sold into slavery. Stilicho forced the greater part of what had been Radagaisus' army northward into what is now Germany. There he did the best he could for the empire by arranging an alliance with the Franks, and he won the neutrality of Alamanni Germans.

With the Franks he defeated the remainder of Radagaisus' army, and for this he received the title "Deliverer of Italy." In the winter of 406-07 came the greatest of invasions: Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians and Alans, with their farm animals and children, crossed the frozen Rhine River into Gaul. The frontier there had been undermanned and weakened by desertions, and soldiers in populated areas behind the frontier had been hanging around wine shops and spending their time in debauchery. The German invaders found only feeble opposition. They spread out, ravaged, burned and raped, some of them making it all the way to the Pyrenees mountains between Gaul and Hispania, while only a few towns, among them Toulouse , attempted a significant resistance. In 408, Arcadius suddenly died, leaving his six-year-old son, Theodosius II, as emperor in the east. In the west, an aide to Honorius was hostile to Stilicho and warned Honorius that Stilicho was plotting against him and aiming to put his own son on the eastern throne. The moronic Honorius believed the aide.

The aide organized a coup against Stilicho and his supporters, who included the best military officers in the empire. These officers were largely Germans, like Stilicho. Inspired in part by hostility against Germans, Stilicho's supporters were massacred, as were the families of German soldiers serving as auxiliaries to the Roman army in the western half of the empire. Those still alive and attached to Stilicho called on him to rally his supporters and fight back. Instead, Stilicho went to the emperor's court at Ravenna without his bodyguard to meet Honorius. He was taken prisoner, charged with treason, and without a trial he and his son were executed. The last of the great Roman military commanders was dead, and thirty thousand or so German soldiers fled from Rome's army and joined Alaric and the Visigoths. In the autumn of 408, encouraged by the death of Stilicho, Alaric and the Visigoths crossed the Alps and poured into Italy, to Ravenna.

After failing to break through Ravenna's walls, Alaric decided to push on to North Africa, believing that grain grew there in great abundance, and he decided that on his way he would attack Rome to gain what he could. Rome shut its gates as Alaric and his army approached. Alaric and his army besieged the city, and Rome's inhabitants grew hungry. As the siege continued plague appeared within Rome and corpses appeared on its streets. Rome's Senate decided to negotiate with Alaric and suggested it was not afraid of a fight. Alaric laughed and demanded gold, silver, moveable property and some three thousand pounds of Indian pepper in exchange for sparing the city and its inhabitants. Alaric gave Germans and slaves in the city safe passage out, some of whom joined his ranks, increasing Alaric's forces to about 40,000. For more than a year Alaric kept Rome surrounded while waiting for his ransom. Then in August, 410, with assistance from within, his troops slipped into the city. For three days they looted and destroyed the houses of the rich. They killed some people, but being Christians they spared the Christian churches.

Then Alaric and the Visigoths left for southern Italy, hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa. News of what had happened to Rome left many across the empire believing that the end of civilization was at hand. In Palestine, the Christian scholar Jerome lamented that in the ruins of Rome the whole world had perished. Many Christians had believed that Rome would last until Armageddon, and when no Armageddon came they were bewildered. In Rome, pagan survivors saw the sack of their city as the work of Rome's old gods – those gods whose power they believed had made Rome the most powerful of cities. They blamed the Christians for angering these gods. Hoping to appease their gods, some pagans called for performance of the sacred rites of the past, and the Christian authorities in Rome, wishing help from any source, approved such rites. But, distrusting the Christian authorities, none of the pagans had the courage to attempt their rites in public, where it was thought they had to be performed if they were to be effective. Bishop Augustine, at the city of Hippo in North Africa, protested against the view that God had participated in Rome's destruction.

Augustine argued against the view of Bishop Eusebius, from a century before, that had linked Rome and Christianity. Augustine linked Rome with the devil and told that Christians that they were not citizens of Rome but of the heavenly city on the hill: Jerusalem Alaric | Its Origin and History. : Didactic Encyclopedia Who was: Alaric by Donald L. Wasson Alaric I (reigned 394-410 CE) was a Gothic military commander who is famous for sacking Rome in 410 CE, which was the first time the city had been sacked in over 800 years. Although little of his family is known, we do know that he became the chief of the Tervingi and Greuthungi tribes (later known as the Visigoth and Ostrogoth, respectively). He led his fellow Goths on a rampage through the Balkans and into Italy, sacking the Roman capital, and then moving further south and dying soon after in 410 CE. After Alaric’s death, his brother-in-law Athaulf led the Goths into Gaul. Alaric Comes to Power For centuries the people of Rome lived comfortably behind the walls of their city.

The empire was continually expanding, and the army, under a long series of capable military commanders, kept the dreaded barbarians safely away from the city’s gates. Unfortunately, the supremacy of Rome began to slowly decay when the empire was split into two by Diocletian, and the power base gradually moved to Constantinople and to the emperor who resided there. This shift in political and economic power left Rome weak and vulnerable. A young, former Roman commander took advantage of this situation and sacked the once eternal city: his name was Alaric. Although labelled as a barbarian, Alaric was a Christian who received his military training in the Roman army. He commanded the Gothic allies, fighting alongside the Romans at the battle of River Frigidus in 394 CE, a battle waged between the eastern emperor Theodosius I and the western usurper emperor Eugenius. Shortly after the battle, in 395 CE, Emperor Theodosius, the last to unite and rule both halves of the empire, died. The empire was again divided.

Alaric’s nemesis (and later ally) the ambitious Flavius Stilicho (359-408 CE) became regent (or at least claimed to be) for the former emperor’s two sons, Arcadius and Honorius (395–423 CE). Arcadius became emperor in the east (dying in 408 CE), while the younger Honorius would eventually assume the throne in the west. Alaric & Stilicho When the Salarian Gate was opened by an unnamed sympathizer, an army of “barbarians” led by Alaric entered Rome, and a three day pillage began. Stilicho, magister militum or commander-in-chief (and son of a Roman mother and Vandal father), clashed with Alaric. This conflict stemmed from a treaty signed in 382 CE between the Romans and the Goths, after the Gothic War, which allowed them to settle in the Balkans but only as allies, not citizens. The treaty further required them to serve in the Roman army, something that alarmed many of the Goths.

And, as they had feared, their extensive losses at Frigidus validated their concern; they had been placed on the front lines, ahead of the regular Roman army, as "sacrificial lambs". Alaric lived under the mistaken delusion that the Roman government in the west was stable and would last forever, providing security for his people. In an attempt to force a rewrite of the treaty, Alaric and his army took advantage of the growing tension between the east and west and ransacked cities throughout the Balkans and into Greece, eventually invading Italy in 402 CE. He demanded not only grain for his people but also recognition as citizens of the empire, as well as his appointment as magister militum, an equal in the Roman army; Stilicho vehemently refused these demands. Although Alaric was forced to retreat at Verona, in 406 CE an attempt was made for compromise. Through his agent, Jovius, the Roman commander listened to Alaric’s demand of legal rights to their land with annual payments of gold and grain.

In return, Alaric was to assist Stilicho in his plan to invade the east; with Arcadius in full power in the east, Stilicho had already secured himself in the west (he had married his daughter to Emperor Honorius), and with the help of Alaric, he would attack the east, dethroning Arcadius. The deal would never come to pass. Alaric sat patiently, waiting for Stilicho to join him. Despite his good intentions, Stilicho, however, was delayed due to problems elsewhere in the west: the Gothic king Radagaisus invaded Italy; the Vandals, Alans, and Survi invaded Gaul; and the future emperor Constantine III (a viable threat to the throne) emerged victorious from Britain. These setbacks made money scarce and negotiations impossible. Alaric’s patience wore thin, and his demand for 4,000 pounds of gold (payment for his waiting) went unheard. As a result, he began to slowly move his army closer to Italy. Although Stilicho wanted to pay the demands, the Roman senate, under the leadership of a war hawk named Olympius disagreed, and the senate considered Alaric’s actions a declaration of war.

With Olympius’ urging, the emperor decided to invade the east. Stilicho warned against the emperor leading the army, choosing to lead an army himself. With Stilicho away, Honorius and Olympius traveled to Ticinum, an Italian city just south of Milan, supposedly to review the troops; however, Olympius, without the permission of the emperor, ordered the killing of thousands of Gothic allies - an action that further angered Alaric. A final fatality of this massacre was Stilicho himself, who was accused of plotting with Alaric. As a result of this treachery, over 10,000 soldiers defected and joined Alaric’s army. In 408 CE the Gothic army sacked the cities of Aquilea, Concordia, Altinum, Cremona, Bononia, Ariminum, and Picenum, choosing, however, to avoid Ravenna, the capital of the western empire and home of Emperor Honorius. Instead, Alaric set his sights on Rome, surrounding all thirteen gates of the city, blockading the Tiber River and forcing widespread rationing; within weeks decaying corpses littered the city streets.

Alaric & the Sacking of Rome As additional forces came to Alaric’s side, Emperor Honorius did little to help the city and oppose Alaric. The Goths were still viewed as barbarians and no match for the armies of the empire. Although the treasury was virtually empty, the senate finally succumbed, and wagons left the city carrying two tons of gold, thirteen tons of silver, 4,000 silk tunics, 3,000 fleeces, and 3,000 pounds of pepper. Alaric eased the siege, still hoping to negotiate terms, but Honorius remained blind to the seriousness of the situation. While temporarily agreeing to Alaric’s demands - something he never intended to honor - 6,000 Roman soldiers were sent to the city but were quickly defeated by Alaric’s brother-in-law Athaulf. Sack of Rome by the Visigoths Realizing further negotiations were impossible, especially after an ambush from the Roman commander Sarus, Alaric returned to the gates of Rome. He had tried everything, even attempting to name a sympathetic senator named Attalus appointed as a new emperor failed.

He took Honorius’s sister Galla Placidia as hostage but to no avail. An alliance asking for an annual payment of gold and grain, as well as the provinces of Venetia, Noricum, and Dalmatia, was refused. Alaric had few choices left, and on August 24, 410 CE, Alaric prepared to enter the city; Rome had not been sacked since 390 BCE. When the Salarian Gate was opened by an unnamed sympathizer, an army of “barbarians” entered Rome, and a three day pillage began. While the homes of the wealthy were plundered, buildings burned, and pagan temples destroyed, St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s were left untouched. Oddly, when Honorius heard that Rome was perishing, he feared the worst - not because of his love of the city, but because he believed his beloved fighting cock named Rome had been killed. Alaric left the city, intending to move into Sicily and later Africa. Unfortunately, he never realized his dream and died soon after in 410 CE. Athaulf assumed control of the army, eventually leading the Goths into Gaul.

Alaric had made every attempt to secure a home for his fellow Goths: the sack of Rome was his final hope. The city would never recover. The burning of Rome was, according to pagan interpretation, the result of the city becoming Christian. Others viewed Rome as a symbol of the past; the new center of the empire was Constantinople. In 476 CE, 66 years after Alaric, the city finally fell to Odoacer, spelling the end to the empire in the west. Written by Donald L. Wasson, published on 04 September 2014 under the following license: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Bibliography Mike Anderson's Ancient History Blog: The Visigoth Sack of Rome – 410 A.D. The Visigoth Sack of Rome – 410 A.D. The Visigoth sack of Rome in 410 A.D. was a milestone in the fall of the Empire.

Not since Hannibal reached Rome in 218 B.C. had an invading force threatened the city. In the latter case, there was no attack because Hannibal knew he could not prevail. Alaric, king of the Visigoths saw a different vista – an impotent western empire without a future. I’m going to let Gibbon set the stage. “In the arts of negotiation, as well as in those of war, the Gothic king maintained his superior ascendant over an enemy, whose seeming changes proceeded from the total want of counsel and design. From his camp, on the confines of Italy, Alaric attentively observed the revolutions of the palace, watched the progress of faction and discontent, disguised the hostile aspect of a Barbarian invader. The pressing invitation of the malcontents, who urged the king of the Goths to invade Italy, was enforced by a lively sense of his personal injuries; and he might especially complain, that the Imperial ministers still delayed and eluded the payment of the four thousand pounds of gold which had been granted by the Roman senate, either to reward his services, or to appease his fury. His decent firmness was supported by an artful moderation, which contributed to the success of his designs.

He required a fair and reasonable satisfaction; but he gave the strongest assurances, that, as soon as he had obtained it, he would immediately retire. The modesty of Alaric was interpreted, by the ministers of Ravenna , as a sure evidence of his weakness and fear. They disdained either to negotiate a treaty, or to assemble an army; and with a rash confidence, derived only from their ignorance of the extreme danger, irretrievably wasted the decisive moments of peace and war. While they expected, in sullen silence, that the Barbarians would evacuate the confines of Italy, Alaric, with bold and rapid marches, passed the Alps and the Po; hastily pillaged the cities of Aquileia, Altinum, Concordia, and Cremona, which yielded to his arms; increased his forces by the accession of thirty thousand auxiliaries; and, without meeting a single enemy in the field, advanced as far as the edge of the morass which protected the impregnable residence of the emperor of the West.

Instead of attempting the hopeless siege of Ravenna, the prudent leader of the Goths proceeded to Rimini, stretched his ravages along the sea-coast of the Hadriatic, and meditated the conquest of the ancient mistress of the world. His troops, animated by the hopes of spoil, followed the course of the Flaminian way , occupied the unguarded passes of the Apennine, descended into the rich plains of Umbria… A lofty situation, and a seasonable tempest of thunder and lightning, preserved the little city of Narni; but the king of the Goths, despising the ignoble prey, still advanced with unabated vigor; and after he had passed through the stately arches, adorned with the spoils of Barbaric victories, he pitched his camp under the walls of Rome.” Alaric initiated a siege against the city by blocking the twelve gates to prevent any communication outside the city. He also took control of the Tiber to prevent commerce from being conducted.

“The first emotions of the nobles, and of the people, were those of surprise and indignation, that a vile Barbarian should dare to insult the capital of the world: but their arrogance was soon humbled by misfortune…” As food supplies ran out, the people of Rome began to understand the pain of famine. The daily allowance of three pounds of bread was eventually reduced to nothing. “…the progress of famine invaded the marble palaces of the senators themselves. The persons of both sexes, who had been educated in the enjoyment of ease and luxury, discovered how little is requisite to supply the demands of nature; and lavished their unavailing treasures of gold and silver, to obtain the coarse and scanty sustenance which they would formerly have rejected with disdain.” Thousands starved to death and bodies lay in the streets. Finally, the senate, acting as the supreme power of the government, sent ambassadors to treat with the Gothic leader. Their approach was in keeping with their position.

“When they were introduced into his presence, they declared, perhaps in a more lofty style than became their abject condition, that the Romans were resolved to maintain their dignity, either in peace or war; and that, if Alaric refused them a fair and honorable capitulation, he might sound his trumpets, and prepare to give battle to an innumerable people, exercised in arms, and animated by despair.” His famous reply was "The thicker the hay, the easier it is mowed," laughing at the gall of the Romans in their pitiable position. He set the ransom for breaking the siege at “all the gold and silver in the city, whether it were the property of the state, or of individuals; all the rich and precious movables; and all the slaves that could prove their title to the name of Barbarians”. “The ministers of the senate presumed to ask, in a modest and suppliant tone, "If such, O king, are your demands, what do you intend to leave us?" "Your Lives!" replied the haughty conqueror: they trembled, and retired. Yet, before they retired, a short suspension of arms was granted, which allowed some time for a more temperate negotiation.

The stern features of Alaric were insensibly relaxed; he abated much of the rigor of his terms; and at length consented to raise the siege, on the immediate payment of five thousand pounds of gold, of thirty thousand pounds of silver, of four thousand robes of silk, of three thousand pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and of three thousand pounds weight of pepper.” His terms were met in principle. The gates were opened and the Roman people allowed to obtain the food they so severely required. Meanwhile the Goths moved north to set up winter quarters in Tuscany. But the administration in Ravenna did not trust Alaric, thinking he had some sinister purpose beyond their knowledge. "Three senators, at his earnest request, were sent ambassadors to the court of Ravenna, to solicit the exchange of hostages, and the conclusion of the treaty; and the proposals, which he more clearly expressed during the course of the negotiations, could only inspire a doubt of his sincerity, as they might seem inadequate to the state of his fortune.

The Barbarian still aspired to the rank of master-general of the armies of the West; he stipulated an annual subsidy of corn and money; and he chose the provinces of Dalmatia, Noricum, and Venetia, for the seat of his new kingdom, which would have commanded the important communication between Italy and the Danube. If these modest terms should be rejected, Alaric showed a disposition to relinquish his pecuniary demands, and even to content himself with the possession of Noricum; an exhausted and impoverished country, perpetually exposed to the inroads of the Barbarians of Germany." Amazingly, the chief minister of Honorius, Olympius, rejected the treaty and its alternatives. He ordered 6,000 troops to march from Ravenna to Rome to reinforce the city. This entire army was destroyed before it reached its destination.

"Yet Alaric, instead of resenting this act of impotent hostility, immediately renewed his proposals of peace; and the second embassy of the Roman senate, which derived weight and dignity from the presence of Innocent, bishop of the city, was guarded from the dangers of the road by a detachment of Gothic soldiers." As a result of this calamity, Olympius was replaced by Jovius, the praetorian prefect. Initially, Jovius sought to craft a personal treaty with Alaric at Rimini. While he was away from Ravenna, Honorius drafted a letter negating the treaty. This missive fell into the hands of the King of the Goths. “…the Goth, who in the whole transaction had behaved with temper and decency, expressed, in the most outrageous language, his lively sense of the insult so wantonly offered to his person and to his nation. While the emperor and his court enjoyed, with sullen pride, the security of the marshes and fortifications of Ravenna, they abandoned Rome, almost without defense, to the resentment of Alaric.

Yet such was the moderation which he still preserved, or affected, that, as he moved with his army along the Flaminian way, he successively dispatched the bishops of the towns of Italy to reiterate his offers of peace, and to congratulate the emperor, that he would save the city and its inhabitants from hostile fire, and the sword of the Barbarians. These impending calamities were, however, averted, not indeed by the wisdom of Honorius, but by the prudence or humanity of the Gothic king; who employed a milder, though not less effectual, method of conquest. Instead of assaulting the capital, he successfully directed his efforts against the Port of Ostia, one of the boldest and most stupendous works of Roman magnificence.” Alaric threatened an immediate attack on the grain silos of Ostia if the treaty was not completed immediately. At Ravenna, a usurper, named Attalus, was named as co-emperor in an attempt to take matters in a different direction. The gates of Rome were thrown open to him and he was conducted in a procession to the senate.

He spoke to them about how the glory of Rome would be restored by his hand and sent envoys to measure of the loyalty of the provinces of Africa and Egypt. Honorius, under threat of assassination from every quarter, was blessed with a stroke of luck when a ship landed at Ravenna with a reinforcing army. The envoys of Attalus had been killed by a loyal count of Africa who sent money and men to the emperor. Attalus was stripped of his office. Now Alaric arrived within three miles of Ravenna intent on including the long delayed treaty, but the handlers of Honorius could not see their way to an accommodation. They received a rival Barbarian chief, who killed many Goths during a foray from the city and proceeded to ridicule Alaric in a subsequent parade. In a matter of a few days, the Gothic king and his army appeared at the gates of Rome intent on revenge for the many slights given him. A conspiracy forged with slaves inside the city facilitated the gates being opened to his army. “The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into a vanquished city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws of humanity and religion.

He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valor, and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a wealthy and effeminate people: but he exhorted them, at the same time, to spare the lives of the unresisting citizens, and to respect the churches of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, as holy and inviolable sanctuaries. In the sack of Rome, some rare and extraordinary examples of Barbarian virtue have been deservedly applauded. But the holy precincts of the Vatican, and the apostolic churches, could receive a very small proportion of the Roman people; many thousand warriors, more especially of the Huns, who served under the standard of Alaric, were strangers to the name, or at least to the faith, of Christ; and we may suspect, without any breach of charity or candor, that in the hour of savage license, when every passion was inflamed, and every restraint was removed, the precepts of the Gospel seldom influenced the behavior of the Gothic Christians.

The writers, the best disposed to exaggerate their clemency, have freely confessed, that a cruel slaughter was made of the Romans; and that the streets of the city were filled with dead bodies, which remained without burial during the general consternation. The despair of the citizens was sometimes converted into fury: and whenever the Barbarians were provoked by opposition, they extended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent, and the helpless.” The Goths evacuated Rome on the sixth day. Weighted down by spoils, they proceeded south through Campania destroying everything in their path. Then, when Alaric reached Rhegium, he decided to cross to Sicily and see what he could find of value there. A crossing was arranged but a storm blew up during the passage that sank many ships. The plan was permanently abandoned when Alaric died unexpectedly. The sack of Rome is a story of the pride of ages and its refusal to see reason. Oddly, it was the barbarian, Alaric, who was reasonable instead of the Romans. All he wanted for himself, and his people, was land within the empire that would protect them from the Huns.

They respected what the Romans had accomplished and sought friendship and affiliation, but the Romans lacked the ability to see the world in its new form. Posted by Mike Anderson at 4:46 PM 1000+ images about Visigoths and Ostrogoths on Pinterest | Museums, The lion and Brooches Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Visigoths and Ostrogoths The Visigoths and Ostrogoths were nomadic tribes of Germanic peoples referred to collectively as the Goths. The Visigoths emerged from earlier Gothic groups who had invaded the Roman Empire, beginning in 376, and had defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The Visigoths invaded Italy and sacked Rome in 410. After the Visigoths sacked Rome, they began settling down eventually in Spain and Portugal, where they founded the Kingdom of the Visigoths.

-Wiki 101 Pins2.18k Followers The Visigoths sack Rome | History Today The Visigoths sack Rome Richard Cavendish describes the attack, on August 24th 410, that signalled the beginning of the end of the Western Roman empire An anachronistic fifteenth-century miniature depicting the sack of 410. At its height the Roman Empire stretched from Britain and the Atlantic to North Africa and Mesopotamia. In the fourth century AD, however, what Pliny the Elder had called the ‘immense majesty of the Roman peace’ was menaced by invasions of Germanic peoples from beyond the frontiers of the Rhine and the Danube. Among them were the Visigoths, whose leader from around 395 was a chieftain in his mid-20s named Alaric. That same year also saw the death of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, after which the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves under his sons, Arcadius in the east and the ten-year-old Honorius in the west. Honorius’s capital was moved from Rome to Ravenna, which was more easily defended.

Honorius’s regent was his father’s choice, an able general called Stilicho, himself half-German and half-Roman and who kept a loyal German bodyguard. In the early 400s Alaric, who had been attacking the Romans in the Balkans, turned to repeated invasions of Italy, which Stilicho repelled. He hoped to draw the Visigoths into an alliance against the eastern Romans, but now hordes of other Germanic warriors invaded the western empire across the Rhine. In 408 Stilicho was beheaded in Ravenna as a traitor who, it was claimed, had conspired with Alaric to put his own son on Honorius’s throne. What Alaric really wanted was land on which his people could settle and an accepted place within the empire, which the authorities in Ravenna would not give him. Needing to keep his followers well rewarded, he marched on Rome and besieged it until the Roman senate paid him to go away. In 409 he attacked Rome again and was able to set up a temporary emperor, Priscus Atallus, who did not last long.

In 410, with the authorities in Ravenna still refusing his demands, Alaric led his warriors against Rome once more. The Visigoths appeared outside the city in force and the senate prepared to resist, but in the middle of the night rebellious slaves opened the Salarian Gate to the attackers, who poured in and set fire to the nearby houses. ‘Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome,’ Gibbon pronounced, ‘the Imperial city, which had subdued and civilised so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia.’ The licentious fury was not as bad as it could have been. Peter Heather, Professor of Medieval History at King’s College, London, has called it ‘one of the most civilised sacks of any city ever witnessed’. The palaces of the aristocracy were looted, Romans who resisted were killed and women raped by the Visigoths or by slaves who took the opportunity to revenge themselves on their masters. Yet not many buildings and monuments were destroyed and it was said that the attackers did not slaughter nearly as many of the inhabitants as they might have. Being Arian Christians, the Visigoths respected Christian sites and treasures.

According to one story, a group of them refused to steal rich gold and silver vessels when told that they belonged to St Peter and on Alaric’s orders the sacred objects were carried safely through the streets to St Peter’s Church, respectfully accompanied by a throng of Christian citizens who were only too glad to find sanct-uary there themselves. St Augustine told this story in City of God to help rebut allegations by pagans that the sack of Rome was the fault of the Christians, who had enraged the city’s pagan gods. The Visigoths withdrew from the city after three days. Lumbering slowly along with their weighty spoils and the prisoners they had taken as slaves or for ransom, they moved south along the Appian Way, plundering as they went. One of the captives they had taken in Rome was Honorius’s 20-year-old half-sister Galla Placidia, who was respectfully treated. Intending to find somewhere to settle in North Africa, the Visigoths had reached Calabria when Alaric, now aged about 40, suddenly fell ill and died near modern Cosenza.

He was buried in a river bed, with a wealth of grave goods to see him right in the next world, in a spot which was afterwards kept secret. His successor was his brother-in-law Athaulf, who after negotiations with the authorities in Ravenna led the Visigoths to the south-west of France, where they established their own kingdom. In 414 Athaulf married Galla Placidia, who thus became queen of the Visigoths. After Athaulf’s death, through an extraordinary turn of events she became empress of Rome. The sack of the city sent a thrill of horror round the Roman world, which has been echoed ever since: ‘In one city,’ St Jerome wrote, ‘the whole world perished.’ By the end of the fifth century the Roman Empire in the west was no more.

Question: The Visigoth army led by Alaric famously sacked what city in 410 CE?
Answer: Rome