General Notes

http://www.newgenevacenter.org/biography/alaric2.htm#overview

Alaric was a Visigothic chieftain principally interested in becoming recognized within the Roman Empire as a military "protector" over the imperial household.  He was rebuffed in his effort to do this through a normal rise up the ranks of the military--and thus Alaric took to conquering.  Recognition, not plunder, seemed consistently to remain his aim in life.

His main political adersary was Stillicho--who however sometimes worked in league with Alaric when it seemed profitable to do so.  The dramatic highpoint in Alaric's maneuverings was his entry at the head of his Visigothic army into Rome itself in 410.  Though his army was quite restrained in its treatment of Rome, this was  a major humiliation for this grand city.

In the end all of Alaric's maneuverings merely pointed out the glaring weaknesses of the Roman Empire, especially in the West.  This set up conditions for the final collapse of the Western Imperium.

Birth
Alaric was born around 370 to a noble Gothic (Western Gothic or Visigothic) family, who had just fled south to the mouth of the Danube River at the Black Sea to escape the invasion of Eastern Europe by the Asian Huns.

Early Military Service
As a young man Alaric served in the army of the Gothic foederati (tribesmen with recognized territorial rights and responsibilities in the Roman Empire)--becoming a general in 394 and serving under the Emperor Theodosius.  At this point he began to take note of the weakness of the Roman hold over northeastern Italy.

Proclaimed a Gothic King
When he was later bypassed by Theodosius's sons in their distribution of imperial offices, he made the decision to act on his own political behalf.  Gathering disgruntled foederati (for whom tribute payments from Rome had been slacking off) he had himself proclaimed Gothic king.

His March on Constantinople, Greece and Illyricum (395-396)
He moved his troops on Constantinople itself.  But unable to take this well defended city, he turned his troops towards Greece proper.  For almost two years (395-396) he plundered Greece--though he spared Athens. Then he found himself trapped in Greece by the general Stilicho--but managed to escape to the north along the eastern Adriatic Sea (Illyricum), where he was welcomed as a liberator, king of the lands that reach even up to the middle Danube River.  From there he conducted a devious diplomacy with the Eastern and Western branches of the Roman Empire--swearing fealty to one or another as he felt it opportune to do so.  In the meantime he began to equip his troops with the finest of Imperial weapons.

His First Invasion of Italy  (401-403)
In 401 Alaric broke his treaty with Rome and invaded Italy.  He spread terror through northern Italy--until he was again met and defeated by Stilicho at Pollentia in 402.  Then after another defeat from the hands of the Romans in 403, he abandoned Italy.

He Returns to Greece
Furthermore, though defeated, Alaric was not considered out of the political picture.  Indeed, in the mounting tensions between the Eastern and Western Imperial governments, he was called in for support by even Stilicho.  When however the Roman problem defused itself by the death of one of the imperial claimants, Alaric, who had moved his armies into Greece, demanded a huge tribute payment in compensation for his efforts. Stilicho and the Senate had agreed to the payment.  But then he and some of the Senators were assassinated by their political enemies in the Senate.  In the ensuing political chaos, some of the foederati of Italy were killed.  This in turn set off a massive flight of foederati refugees to Alaric's camp.

His Second Invasion of Italy
This prompted Alaric to mobilize his troops.  They invaded Italy again--and rolled right up to the walls of Rome.  Rather than attack, he settled in for a siege of starvation against the surrounded Romans. Finally he was bought off by a huge ransom payment.

Political Wheeling and Dealing
But Alaric still pressed for Roman recognition of  some kind of official position within the Empire:  rule over the lands between the Northern Adriatic and the Middle Danube and the command of the Imperial army. Failing satisfaction in this, he besieged Rome a second time (409)--and gained the position as unofficial overlord of a new Western Emperor, Attalus.  But Attalus proved to be an uncompliant vassal--and also brought Rome to defeat in Northern Africa where Rome depended heavily for its grain imports.  The Romans began to complain bitterly about this new regime of Alaric and Attalus.  The Eastern Emperor Honorius, once an ally of Alaric, now stepped into the situation.  Alaric dumped Attalus and negotiated with Honorius--but was out-trumped diplomatically with the intervention of a Gothic rival, Sarus.

Entry into Rome (410)
Thus in 410 Alaric resorted to his old trick of besieging Rome again. This time Alaric and his Visigoths broke through the Roman defenses.  But they proved themselves to be sparing in their plunder of the ancient capital.

Catastrophe and Death in an Effort to Invade Africa (410)
From there Alaric moved his troops to the south, with the intention of taking by force the grain lands of North Africa--thus bringing some contentment to his Roman subjects.  But storms destroyed his navy--and Alaric himself was struck by fever and died in the effort, bringing to an end the life of this amazing self-defined adventurer.

Despite his ultimate failure at establishing some kind of Gothic regime of his own, Alaric left an huge mark on his age.  Principally, he had exhausted the Roman resistance in the West, and opened the way for the German Vandals and Suebi to invade Gaul and Spain.  It was his marauding of Rome that also caused the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain--leaving that land vulnerable to the invading Picts to the North and the Saxons to the East.