ALARIC I, King of the Visigoths. - A descendant of the noble line of the Balti, he was born in the year 370 and for some time commanded part of the Goths who were foederati attached to the army of Theodosius. In 395 he was elected king of the Visigoths and in the same year invaded Macedonia and Greece. Driven back by Stilicho, he managed to take refuge in the part of Illyricum that belonged to the Eastern Empire, where he remained with the consent of Arcadius, who even granted him the coveted office of Magister militum. But soon, with a very powerful army, he advanced into Italy. Defeated by Stilicho first at Pollentia on the Tanaro on 6 April 402, and then near Verona, he nevertheless managed to cross back over the Alps unhindered and even to obtain the prefecture of Illyricum under the authority of the Western emperor Honorius. In 408, taking advantage of the death of Stilicho, he descended into Italy again and this time managed to push as far as Rome and to lay siege to the city. Since no agreement was possible with Honorius, on 24 August 410, through the Porta Salaria, he entered Rome and remained there for three days.

Despite the many acts of violence and the sackings carried out in the city, the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul were chiefly spared, where many Romans had taken refuge. From Rome he moved toward southern Italy and advanced plundering as far as Reggio Calabria with the intention of crossing over to Africa. When the plan failed, he turned back with the army, but suddenly falling ill he died and was buried beneath the bed of the river Busento, near Cosenza, in 410.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: F. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, I and II, 2nd ed., Leipzig 1911; R. Keller, Stilische oder die Geschichte des weströmischen Reiches von 395-508, Berlin 1884; H. Grisar, Roma alla fine del Mondo Antico, I, new ed., Rome 1930, pp. 73-81; M. Brion, La vie d'Alaric, Paris 1930; A. Solari, La crisi dell'Impero romano, IV; La tutela barbarica, part 1, Rome 1936; G. Romano and A. Solmi, Le dominazioni barbariche in Italia (395-558), Milan 1940, pp. 75-82.

Emma Santovito

@incollection{ec1_alarico_i_re_dei_visigoti, author = {Santovito, Emma}, title = {Alarico I, re dei visigoti}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {625}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/alarico-i-re-dei-visigoti} }

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Alaric I, King of the Visigoths

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