Page "Stilicho" Paragraph 20

Without a strong general like Stilicho to control the by-now mostly barbarian army, Honorius could do little to break the siege, and adopted a passive strategy trying to wait out Alaric, hoping to regather his forces to defeat the Visigoths in the meantime.

What followed was two years of political and military manoeuvering, Alaric, king of the Goths, attempting to secure a permanent peace treaty and rights to settle within Roman territory.

He besieged Rome three times without attacking while the Roman Italian Army watched helplessly, but only after a fourth failed attempt at a deal was Alaric's siege a success.

After months under siege the people of Rome were dying of hunger and some were resorting to cannibalism.

Then the inevitable happened, a traitor opened the gates to Alaric's troops and they sacked the city in August 410.

The removal of Stilicho was the main catalyst leading to this monumental event, the first barbarian capture of the city in nearly eight centuries and a part of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.