Alaric - King Alaric I of the Visigoths
Alaric was the king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in August A.D. 410.
When Alaric sacked Rome, it was the end of his career, but a phoenix rose from his ashes, in Aquitaine, France -- the Gothic Kingdom.
Procopius begins this section of Book III of the Vandalic Wars with the alliance of the Visigoths with Alaric. His description of the sack has interesting anecdotes, including one about the emperor's response to the sacking of Rome. By this time, the emperor was in no physical danger from the sacking since he made his home elsewhere.
King Alaric I, ruler of the Visigoths, sacked Rome on August 24, A.D. 410, a possible date for the Fall of Rome.
Alaric the Visigoth article from the 1911 Encyclopedia.
The Visigoth "Alaric... laid siege to Rome for the third time. The city was taken and Alaric's dream came true. In a grand procession he rode at the head of his army through the streets of the great capital."
Last Best Chance to Defeat Alaric and the Goths - Stilicho and Rufinus. Because of personal ambition, the Pretorian Prefect Rufinus prevented Stilicho from destroying Alaric and the Goths when there was a chance.
