Summary of Alaric and the Sack of Rome
Alaric, the barbarian Visigoth king and Roman magister militum 'master of soldiers', knew he would conquer Rome because it had been prophesied:"Penetrabis ad Urbem"but despite his destiny, Alaric tried to negotiate peacefully with the rulers of Rome. Far from being the enemy of Rome, Alaric worked as kingmaker, installing Priscus Attalus as emperor, and keeping him there despite policy disagreements. But ultimately, Rome's refusals to accommodate a barbarian led Alaric to sack Rome on August 24, A.D. 410.
You will penetrate The City
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.Gothic troops destroyed most of Rome and took prisoners, including the Emperor's sister, Galla Placidia.
See Procopius on the Sack of Rome.
What Alaric Did After Sacking Rome
Following the sack of Rome, Alaric led his troops south to Campania, taking Nola and Capua. Alaric headed towards the Roman province of Africa where he intended to provision his army with Rome's personal breadbasket, but a storm wrecked his ships, temporarily blocking his crossing.The Successor of Alaric
Before Alaric could re-outfit his naval forces, Alaric I, King of the Goths, died at Cosentia. In Alaric's place, the Goths elected his brother-in-law, Athaulf. Instead of heading to Africa, under Athaulf's leadership the Goths marched north across the Alps, away from Rome. But first, as an en route parting shot, they devastated Etruria (Tuscany).
That's the gist of it. The following two pages contain more, but still abbreviated details on how Alaric tried not to sack Rome, but ultimately felt he had no alternative. Next Page.
