Alaric I

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(c. 370-410), chief of the Visigoths (a Germanic tribe) from AD 395 and leader of the army that sacked Rome in August 410. To many of his contemporaries the event symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Although Alaric won great fame as a conqueror, Roman historical sources offer only meagre and inconsistent judgments of his character; they do not, however, seem to regard him as a mere “rude barbarian”.

Mentioned: {A & R.12.1979} 186