History of the Wars [written c. 550 CE], III.ii.7-39
But the Visigoths, separating from the others, removed from there and at first entered
into an alliance with the Emperor Arcadius, but at a later time (for faith with the Romans
cannot dwell in barbarians), under the leadership of Alaric, they became hostile to both
emperors, and, beginning with Thrace, treated all Europe as an enemy's land. Now the
emperor Honorius had before this time been sitting in Rome, with never a thought of war in
his mind, but glad, I think, if men allowed him to remain quiet in his palace. But when
word was brought that the barbarians with a great army were not far off, but somewhere
among the Taulantii (in Illyricum), he abandoned the palace and fled in disorderly fashion
to Ravenna, a strong city lying just about at the end of the Ionian Gulf, while some say
that he brought in the barbarians himself, because an uprising had been started against
him among his subjects; but this does not seem to me trustworthy, as far, at least, as one
can judge of the character of the man. And the barbarians, finding that they had no
hostile force to encounter them, became the most cruel of all men. For they destroyed all
the cities which they captured, especially those south of the Ionian Gulf, so completely
that nothing has been left to my time to know them by, unless, indeed, it might be one
tower or one gate or some such thing which chanced to remain. And they killed all the
people, as many as came in their way, both old and young alike, sparing neither women nor
children. Wherefore, even up to the present time Italy is sparsely populated. They also
gathered as plunder all the money out of all Europe, and, most important of all, they left
in Rome nothing whatever of public or private wealth when they moved on to Gaul. But I
shall now tell how Alaric captured Rome.
After much time had been spent by him in the siege, and he had not been able either by
force or by any other device to capture the place, he formed the following plan. Among the
youths in the army whose beards had not yet grown, but who had just come of age, he chose
out three hundred whom he knew to be of good birth and possessed of valor beyond their
years, and told them secretly that he was about to make a present of them to certain of
the patricians in Rome, pretending that they were slaves. And he instructed them that, as
soon as they got inside the houses of those men, they should display much gentleness and
moderation and serve them eagerly in whatever tasks should be laid upon them by their
owners; and he further directed them that not long afterwards, on an appointed day at
midday, when all those who were to be their masters would most likely be already asleep
after their meal, they should all come to the gate called Salarian and with a sudden rush
kill the guards, who would have no previous knowledge of the plot, and open the gates as
quickly as possible. After giving these orders to the youths, Alaric straightway sent
ambassadors to the members of the senate, stating that he admired them for their loyalty
toward their emperor, and that he would trouble them no longer, because of their valor and
faithfulness, with which it was plain that they were endowed to a remarkable degree, and
in order that tokens of himself might be preserved among men both noble and brave, he
wished to present each one of them with some domestics.
After making this declaration and sending the youths no long afterwards, he commanded
the barbarians to make preparations for the departure, and he let this be known to the
Romans. And they heard his words gladly, and receiving the gifts began to be exceedingly
happy, since they were completely ignorant of the plot of the barbarians. For the youths,
by being unusually obedient to their owners, averted suspicion, and in the camp some were
already seen moving from their positions and raising the siege, while it seemed that the
others were just on the point of doing the very same thing. 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. 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.
At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna received the message from
one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that Rome had perished. And he
cried out and said, "And yet it has just eaten from my hands!" For he had a very
large cock, Roma by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city
of Rome which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief
answered quickly, "But I, my good fellow, thought that my fowl Roma had
perished." So great, they say, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed.
But some say that Rome was not captured in this way by Alaric, but that Proba, a woman of
very unusual eminence in wealth and in fame among the Roman senatorial class, felt pity
for the Romans who were being destroyed by hunger and the other suffering they endured;
for they were already even tasting each other's flesh; and seeing that every good hope had
left them, since both the river and the harbor were held by the enemy, she commanded her
domestics, they say, to open the gates by night.
Now when Alaric was about to depart from Rome, he declared Attalus, one of their
nobles, emperor of the Romans, investing him with the diadem and the purple and whatever
else pertains to the imperial dignity. And he did this with the intention of removing
Honorius from his throne and of giving over the whole power in the West to Attalus. With
such a purpose, then, both Attalus and Alaric were going with a great army against
Ravenna. But this Attalus was neither able to think wisely by himself, nor to be persuaded
by one who had wisdom to offer. So while Alaric did not by any means approve the plan,
Attalus sent commanders to Libya without an army. Thus then, were these things going on.
And the island of Britannia revolted from the Romans, and the soldiers there chose as
their emperor Constantinus, a man of no mean station. And he straightway gathered a fleet
of ships and a formidable army and invaded both Spain and Gaul with a great force,
thinking to enslave these countries. But Honorius was holding ships in readiness and
waiting to see what would happen in Libya, in order that, if those sent by Attalus were
repulsed, he might himself sail for Libya and keep some portion of his own kingdom, while
if matters there should go against him, he might reach Theodosius [Theodosius II, Emperor
in the East, 408-450 A.D.] and remain with him. For Arcadius had already died long before,
and his son Theodosius, still a very young child, held the power of the East. But while
Honorius was thus anxiously awaiting the outcome of these events and tossed amid the
billows of uncertain fortune, it so chanced that some wonderful pieces of good fortune
befell him. For God is accustomed to succor those who are neither clever nor able to
devise anything of themselves, and to lend them assistance, if they be not wicked, when
they are in the last extremity of despair; such a thing, indeed, befell this emperor. For
it was suddenly reported from Libya that the commanders of Attalus had been destroyed, and
that a host of ships was at hand from Byzantium with a very great number of soldiers who
had come to assist him, though he had not expected them, and that Alaric, having quarreled
with Attalus, had stripped him of the emperor's garb and was now keeping him under guard
in the position of a private citizen.
And afterwards Alaric died of disease, and the army of the Visigoths under the
leadership of Adaulphus proceeded into Gaul, and Constantinus, defeated in battle, died
with his sons. However, the Romans never succeeded in recovering Britannia, but it
remained from that time on under tyrants.
