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Battles: The Sack of Rome
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Posted by Webmaster on September 19 2004, 06:37 AM
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The Sack of Rome in 410 AD was the first time Rome had fallen to an invader. The effects of the sack were enormous despite the fact that it lasted for only three days and was light. The sack would later inspire St. Augustine of Hippo to write his classic work City of God.
The events that would set the stage for the sack of Rome go back some 40 years before the sack. In 375 AD the Huns suddenly appeared in Europe pushing the Goths into the lands of the Roman Empire, one of Gothic leaders a man named Fritigern led the Visigoths into the lands of the Eastern Roman Empire. Despite the fact that Fritigern had converted the Visigoths to Arian Christianity (Arian Christianity denies the divinity of Jesus) the Romans still looked down on the Visigoths and they treated them like dirt. In 378 the Visigoths revolted from Roman rule and they wiped out the army under Emperor Valens at Adrianople (also called Hadrianopolis) a peace settlement was signed in 382 giving Thrace to the Visigoths.
Alaric would first appear on the world stage in 392 AD. No one knows when Alaric was born but we do know that as a young boy he was sent to Constantinople to be educated in Roman ways. In reality he was little more then a privileged hostage. In 392 Alaric was put in charge of the 20,000 man strong Visigothic Foederatae (federated German or Gothic cavalry serving under the Romans) troops. Alaric’s former mentor Flavius Stilicho headed the army he was apart of. In 395 AD the eastern Emperor Theodosius I died and upon the arrival of the news of the death Alaric along with rest of the Visigoths left the Eastern Empire for the Western Empire. As he marched Alaric plundered the Balkans, the Eastern Emperor sent Stilicho (because he was Alaric’s former teacher) to defeat him. After Stilicho returned to Constantinople he was awarded the title of protector of Honorius, Theodosius I’s youngest son (he was twelve). Theodosius had planned that his youngest son would become Emperor of the Western Empire. Stilicho had been Honorius’ protector for sometime when Alaric attacked the Western Empire in 402 AD. Alaric was beaten at the battle of Pollentia on Easter Sunday that year but he managed to get away. This year would set a pattern for the following years of 403-407 where Stilicho would beat Alaric thoroughly but then Alaric would make a flawless escape. The year 407 was especially hectic with Alaric and the Vandals attacking at the same time that the self styled King of Britain Constantine III Pendragon revolted. Then in late 407 early 408 Alaric seemed to be on the edge of making peace with Rome when news reached him that massive amounts of Visigothic women and children had been murdered by the Romans out of anger. Alaric cut the peace talks and he returned to the Visigoth homeland. Stilicho now realized that Alaric would return with a vengeance and he pleaded with Senate to bribe off Alaric. However several senators believed that Stilicho had been letting Alaric escape and they refused to even consider the proposal. Things worsened for Stilicho when the Imperial advisors in the Court of Honorius in the city of Ravenna managed to convince the Emperor to arrest Stilicho on the grounds of treason. Stilicho fled from Ravenna and found sanctuary with the Church. However one of the commanders in Rome managed to convince Stilicho to come out of hiding. After this he was captured taken to Ravenna and beheaded on August 22, 408 AD. Alaric heard of this and assembled his army with the intent of punishing the Romans for their crimes against them.
With Stilicho gone there would be no one to stop Alaric from attacking Italy. Alaric now realizing that the only man that could beat him was dead invaded Italy with revenge on the mind. Alaric ravaged and pillaged his way to Rome leaving destruction in his wake. Eventually Alaric reached the walls of Rome itself. Although Rome was no longer the capital of the Roman Empire it still had great importance. Alaric arrived at Rome sometime in 409 and he prepared for a long siege. The siege of Rome was very long and made worse for the defenders when Alaric’s army completely destroyed the surrounding countryside cutting off food supplies. Sometimes during the long siege the defenders would get a rider out, these riders would often go to Ravenna to try to get help from Honorius. However the Emperor turned a blind eye to the people of Rome, it is debated to this day whether or not Honorius did not care about the starving people of Rome or if he was to stupid to comprehend what was happening. On August 24th 410 someone opened Salaria Gate at the end of Via Venetto allowing the Visigoths to stream through. The Sack of Rome lasted for three short days. In this time the Visigoths killed those who resisted and spared those who did not. The Visigoths also burned some buildings but not a lot, though they where Arians the Visigoths spared all Christian buildings (some pagans would hide in the churches for safety). All ancient sources agree that no raping took place in the sack. After those three days the Goths left Rome installing a man named Attalusas the Western Emperor.
In the aftermath of the sack Alaric and Visigoth army then headed southward with the intention of invading North Africa, but they were stopped by Alaric’s sudden death in 411. As for the Romans the Sack of Rome would have lasting repercussions on the Roman Empire and on Christianity. The population of Rome was devastated that it would never reach the levels it had before the sack until the 20th Century. And many people now realized that Rome was not invincible, this would pave the way for all conquests .The sack would also prompt St Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo (Hippo is in North Africa) to write a book called City of God a work that we still admire today. |
User Comments:
| patatkraam
:: October 31 2008 |
| I heard that the huns worked for the romans sacking other Factions but turned against the romans and took Rome.. |
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| Mythos_Ruler
:: October 31 2008 |
| Was this the event that burned down the old Roman fora? The Forum Romanum, Forum of Ceasar, Trajan's forum? |
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| Shogun 144
:: October 31 2008 |
Michael,
Not really, the Forum Romanum bore the brunt of the damage but actually was mostly rebuilt in later centuries. Some of the buildings were allowed to collapse or was never repaired, as was the case of the Basilica Aemilia. As for the Forum Caesaris, it was already abandoned prior to the Sack of Rome, the Senate having been moved out of the Curia Julia centuries previous by Domitian. The Forum Traiani went untouched as far as I know, and didn't start to decay until the Age of Charlemagne when people started to remove the limestone from the buildings. |
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| scotty
:: December 7 2008 |
| There should be more paragraph breaks in the text above. |
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