The first sack of Rome in 800 years helped hasten the end of the empire
Posted on 08/24/2010 3:47:47 PM PDT by decimon
Tuesday marks the 1,600th anniversary of one of the turning points of European history - the first sack of Imperial Rome by an army of Visigoths, northern European barbarian tribesmen, led by a general called Alaric.
It was the first time in 800 years that Rome had been successfully invaded. The event had reverberations around the Mediterranean.
Jerome, an early Christian Church Father, in a letter to a friend from Bethlehem - where he happened to be living - wrote that he burst into tears upon hearing the news.
"My voice sticks in my throat, and, as I dictate, sobs choke me. The city which had taken the whole world was itself taken," he said.
Although Alaric was a Christian ransacking a Christian city, there was an ominous feeling that the world structure built by pagan Rome was disintegrating.
The Roman Empire survived for a few more decades, and later other armies sacked the city again, but this was the date which marked the beginning of the end of Rome's grandeur.
Centuries later, the city which had at the height of its power boasted a population of more than a million people, was reduced to a lawless, ruined village of no more than 30,000 residents.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
In a day ping.
Nothing new but what the hey.
“Centuries later, the city which had at the height of its power boasted a population of more than a million people, was reduced to a lawless, ruined village of no more than 30,000 residents.”
Sounds like Detroit.
Rome was already in terminal decline by that point. A long series of ruinous economic policies, starting with the debasing of the coinage several centuries earlier and culminating with a bunch of bizarre, socialistic edicts later pretty much guaranteed that Rome was on the way out by the time Alaric made it official.
November 4th, 2008
To me this is a less significant date than the date your namesake defeated Marius. So we know that date?
No S%!t....
In response to this calamity, St. Augustine wrote his classic “City of God,” arguing that Christians should focus on the “City of God,” not the “City of Man.”
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm
“”Book 1 Augustine censures the pagans, who attributed the calamities of the world, and especially the recent sack of Rome by the Goths, to the Christian religion, and its prohibition of the worship of the gods. He speaks of the blessings and ills of life, which then, as always, happened to good and bad men alike. Finally, he rebukes the shamelessness of those who cast up to the Christians that their women had been violated by the soldiers.
Book 2 In this book Augustine reviews those calamities which the Romans suffered before the time of Christ, and while the worship of the false gods was universally practised; and demonstrates that, far from being preserved from misfortune by the gods, the Romans have been by them overwhelmed with the only, or at least the greatest, of all calamities— the corruption of manners, and the vices of the soul.
Book 3 As in the foregoing book Augustine has proved regarding moral and spiritual calamities, so in this book he proves regarding external and bodily disasters, that since the foundation of the city the Romans have been continually subject to them; and that even when the false gods were worshipped without a rival, before the advent of Christ, they afforded no relief from such calamities.
Book 4 In this book it is proved that the extent and long duration of the Roman empire is to be ascribed, not to Jove or the gods of the heathen, to whom individually scarce even single things and the very basest functions were believed to be entrusted, but to the one true God, the author of felicity, by whose power and judgment earthly kingdoms are founded and maintained.
Book 5 Augustine first discusses the doctrine of fate, for the sake of confuting those who are disposed to refer to fate the power and increase of the Roman empire, which could not be attributed to false gods, as has been shown in the preceding book. After that, he proves that there is no contradiction between God’s prescience and our free will. He then speaks of the manners of the ancient Romans, and shows in what sense it was due to the virtue of the Romans themselves, and in how far to the counsel of God, that he increased their dominion, though they did not worship him. Finally, he explains what is to be accounted the true happiness of the Christian emperors.
Book 6 Hitherto the argument has been conducted against those who believe that the gods are to be worshipped for the sake of temporal advantages, now it is directed against those who believe that they are to be worshipped for the sake of eternal life. Augustine devotes the five following books to the confutation of this latter belief, and first of all shows how mean an opinion of the gods was held by Varro himself, the most esteemed writer on heathen theology. Of this theology Augustine adopts Varro’s division into three kinds, mythical, natural, and civil; and at once demonstrates that neither the mythical nor the civil can contribute anything to the happiness of the future life.
Book 7 In this book it is shown that eternal life is not obtained by the worship of Janus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the other “select gods” of the civil theology.
Book 8 Augustine comes now to the third kind of theology, that is, the natural, and takes up the question, whether the worship of the gods of the natural theology is of any avail towards securing blessedness in the life to come. This question he prefers to discuss with the Platonists, because the Platonic system is “facile princeps” among philosophies, and makes the nearest approximation to Christian truth. In pursuing this argument, he first refutes Apuleius, and all who maintain that the demons should be worshipped as messengers and mediators between gods and men; demonstrating that by no possibility can men be reconciled to good gods by demons, who are the slaves of vice, and who delight in and patronize what good and wise men abhor and condemn—the blasphemous fictions of poets, theatrical exhibitions, and magical arts.
Book 9 Having in the preceding book shown that the worship of demons must be abjured, since they in a thousand ways proclaim themselves to be wicked spirits, Augustine in this book meets those who allege a distinction among demons, some being evil, while others are good; and, having exploded this distinction, he proves that to no demon, but to Christ alone, belongs the office of providing men with eternal blessedness.
Book 10 In this book Augustine teaches that the good angels wish God alone, whom they themselves serve, to receive that divine honor which is rendered by sacrifice, and which is called “latreia.” He then goes on to dispute against Porphyry about the principle and way of the soul’s cleansing and deliverance.
Book 11 Here begins the second part of this work, which treats of the origin, history, and destinies of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly. In the first place, Augustine shows in this book how the two cities were formed originally, by the separation of the good and bad angels; and takes occasion to treat of the creation of the world, as it is described in Holy Scripture in the beginning of the book of Genesis.
Book 12 Augustine first institutes two inquiries regarding the angels; namely, whence is there in some a good, and in others an evil will? And, what is the reason of the blessedness of the good, and the misery of the evil? Afterwards he treats of the creation of man, and teaches that he is not from eternity, but was created, and by none other than God.
Book 13 In this book it is taught that death is penal, and had its origin in Adam’s sin.
Book 14 Augustine again treats of the sin of the first man, and teaches that it is the cause of the carnal life and vicious affections of man. Especially he proves that the shame which accompanies lust is the just punishment of that disobedience, and inquires how man, if he had not sinned, would have been able without lust to propagate his kind.
Book 15 Having treated in the four preceding books of the origin of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly, Augustine explains their growth and progress in the four books which follow; and, in order to do so, he explains the chief passages of the sacred history which bear upon this subject. In this fifteenth book he opens this part of his work by explaining the events recorded in Genesis from the time of Cain and Abel to the deluge.
Book 16 In the former part of this book, from the first to the twelfth chapter, the progress of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly, from Noah to Abraham, is exhibited from Holy Scripture: In the latter part, the progress of the heavenly alone, from Abraham to the kings of Israel, is the subject.
Book 17 In this book the history of the city of God is traced during the period of the kings and prophets from Samuel to David, even to Christ; and the prophecies which are recorded in the books of Kings, Psalms, and those of Solomon, are interpreted of Christ and the church.
Book 18 Augustine traces the parallel courses of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world; and alludes to the oracles regarding Christ, both those uttered by the Sibyls, and those of the sacred prophets who wrote after the foundation of Rome, Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, and their successors.
Book 19 In this book the end of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly, is discussed. Augustine reviews the opinions of the philosophers regarding the supreme good, and their vain efforts to make for themselves a happiness in this life; and, while he refutes these, he takes occasion to show what the peace and happiness belonging to the heavenly city, or the people of Christ, are both now and hereafter.
Book 20 Concerning the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the old and new testaments.
Book 21 Of the end reserved for the city of the devil, namely, the eternal punishment of the damned; and of the arguments which unbelief brings against it.
Book 22 This book treats of the end of the city of God, that is to say, of the eternal happiness of the saints; the faith of the resurrection of the body is established and explained; and the work concludes by showing how the saints, clothed in immortal and spiritual bodies, shall be employed.
“”
Interestingly enough, on this same date - August 24th. - in 79CE, the Roman city of Pompeii was buried under volcanic ash.
The sack of rome was caused by very simple processes.
1) Foreigners were fleeing an enemy and rome allowed these foreigners to enter the empire’s lands and remain.(goths fled the huns and began to live in thrace, i think)
2) government corruption so bad people lost respect for authority and government and no longer had any sense of civic duty.
3) High taxes.
4) romans considered themselves too civilized or too important to fight
Now look where we are in america today. There are mass migrations of mexicans fleeing crime and poverty in mexico and settling in america, not to mention all those with refugee status from all over the world. Government is a joke and increasingly oppressive. taxes and spending are getting out of control. More and more mexicans are serving in the US armed forces. some in government are talking about bringing back the draft or forcing people to serve in civil forces. We’re broke. Obama is going to cut the military to the bone. local governments are going to start making drastic cuts, and when they do, there will be masses of angry people ripe for rioting.
Calling Rome a “Christian city” isn’t accurate, considering the decadence of the society at the time. And cities can’t be “Christian,” only those of the right mind who live in them.
by an army of Visigoths, northern European barbarian tribesmen, led by a general called Alaric.
The lesson from Alaric is consistently lost, and this article does it no service either:
Alaric was a Roman commander. A Visigoth yes, but a sanctioned commissioned commander by the Roman Senate in the Roman army; which by that time was composed primarily of mercenary soldiers because the citizens of Rome were by that time so dissipated, demoralized, and spoiled, that he was "doing the work that Romans (Americans) wouldn't do."
Alaric marched to the walls of Rome over a falling out with the Senate which, after his defense of the empire elsewhere, would not honor him accordingly. Previously he had led successful campaigns in the service of the Empire.
The point of the Alaric episode is the collapse of the internal ("national" if you will) spirit of sacrifice and commitment that drove Rome for the previous eight hundred years. Ala, the United States of America, 2010.
The USA fought and triumphed in WWII with 187 million citizens. Today we have over 300 million residents with a good percentage of those being illegal "mercenaries." Is there anybody out there?
Johnny Suntrade
Yes, and a large part of this had to do with the fact that young Roman males were no longer serving in their military. Many of the political leaders of the time had not put a male member of the family in the military for decades and it was comprised in large measure of mercenary soldiers. Sound familiar Mitt? Huckster? Newt?
...yes the Romney family is out there as are the Huckabees and the Burrs...but don’t try to find any among our soldiers. I’m sure we at Freerepublic could nominate a long list of political no shows. Families that haven’t seen a young man in uniform since World War II. What would the Gregg or Sununu families think about that?
The end of the fighting between Marius is actually a matter of interpretation. In 88 BC Sulla invaded Rome without organized opposition and chased Marius and his followers out. Sulla then obtained control of the Roman army from the Senate and went to the Asia Minor area to fight Mithridates. During the years he was away, Marius’ followers gained control of Rome, and outlawed Sulla. Marius died, leaving his man Cinna in control. On Sulla’s return he met a number of armies led by followers of Marius, including ‘Young Marius’ (Marius’ son). Sulla marched on Rome in November of 82 BC, defeating an army of followers of Marius and recently liberated Samnites in the Battle of the Colline Gate.
After this Sulla was chosen as the only Dictator between the Punic Wars and Julius Caesar, he enacted his Constitutional ‘restoration’, and proscribed the Marians, killing thousands of them. The next generation endured rising chaos, including various attempts to overthrow the Republic, ending with the war between Caesar and Pompey, Octavian and Marcus Antonius against the assassins, and finally Octavian against Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra. That marked the end of the Republic.
Like most I would date the peak of the Empire to the reign of the Antonine Emperors, ending with Marcus Aurelius. Like in the movies, it was pretty much all decline and fall for the next 1300 years, till the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
julian to gregorian adjustment 1752
Italy was actually pretty prosperous under Gothic rule during the 5th and early 6th century. They left the Roman populace, law and infrastructure largely intact. It was the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian’s attempt to reconquer the peninsula in 530 AD that caused decades of war, depopulation, famine and destruction.
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