Alaric I

Alaric I (; , "ruler of all"; ; 370 (or 375)410 AD) was the first King of the Visigoths from 395–410, son (or paternal grandson) of chieftain Rothestes. He is best known for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire.

Alaric began his career under the Gothic soldier Gainas, and later joined the Roman army. He first appeared as leader of a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples, who invaded Thrace in 391 but were stopped by the half-Vandal Roman General Stilicho. In 394, he led a Gothic force of 20,000 that helped Roman Emperor Theodosius defeat the Frankish usurper Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus. Despite sacrificing around 10,000 of his men, Alaric received little recognition from the emperor. Disappointed, he left the army, was elected reiks of the Visigoths in 395 and marched toward Constantinople until he was diverted by Roman forces. He then moved southward into Greece, where he sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos and Sparta. Nonetheless, the Eastern emperor Arcadius appointed Alaric magister militum ("master of the soldiers") in Illyricum.

In 401 Alaric invaded Italy, but was defeated by Stilicho at Pollentia (modern Pollenza) on April6, 402. A second invasion that same year also ended in defeat at the Battle of Verona, although he did force the Roman Senate to pay a large subsidy to the Visigoths. During Radagaisus' Italian invasion in 406, he remained idle in Illyria. In 408, Western Emperor Honorius ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, in response to rumors that the general had made a deal with Alaric. Honorius then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of foederati Goths serving in the Roman military. The Gothic soldiers then defected to Alaric, increasing the size of his force to around 30,000 men, and joined his march on Ro...