Page "Visigoths" Paragraph 19

Over the next 15 years, an uneasy peace was broken by occasional conflicts between Alaric and the powerful Germanic generals who commanded the Roman armies in the east and west, wielding the real power of the empire.

Finally, after the western general Stilicho was executed by Honorius in 408 and the Roman legions massacred the families of 30, 000 barbarian soldiers serving in the Roman army, Alaric declared war.

After two defeats in Northern Italy and a siege of Rome ended by a negotiated pay-off, Alaric was cheated by another Roman faction.

He resolved to cut the city off by capturing its port.

On August 24, 410, however, Alaric's troops entered Rome through the Salarian Gate, to plunder its riches in the sack of Rome.

While Rome was no longer the official capital of the Western Roman Empire ( it had been moved to Ravenna for strategic reasons ), its fall severely shook the empire's foundations.