Rome Sacked: Alaric and the Vandals

Alaric, leader of the Visigoths from 395 CE, was a former federate officer of the Roman army who grew increasingly frustrated by Rome's failure to honor its agreements over land and payments. He pressured Italy in a series of campaigns between 401 and 410 CE, initially held in check by the general Stilicho — but after Stilicho was executed in 408 CE on the orders of Emperor Honorius, accused of treason, reprisals against the families of federated soldiers triggered a mass desertion of Germanic troops to Alaric's side. Alaric laid a first and second siege of Rome in 408 and 409 CE, proclaiming a puppet emperor, Priscus Attalus, in 409 CE, and a third siege finally led to the actual sack of the city on August 24, 410 CE, when its gates were opened, possibly by slaves or Gothic sympathizers.