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Pre-battle In the year 390 B.C.,a Gaulic tribe - the Senones- traveled to look for new land to settle. They made it to an Etruscan town named Clusium. With an army sitting outside their city, the people fo Clusium felt threatened. They called in Rome to help them with the situation. The Romans sent three ambassadors: the Fabii brothers. Their negotiations soon fell apart and the people from Clusium took arms against the Gauls. Rome "broke the law of nations and took up arms," says Livy. The Law of Nations was an oath of neutrality sworn by diplomats. One of the Roman diplomats ended up killing a Gaulic leader. The Gauls sent ambassadors to Rome demanding the Fabii brothers to kill. Rome denied this request, and even went and promoted the men to high ranking officials. Livy says, "those who ought to have been punished were instead appointed for the coming year military tribunes with consular powers .... The Celtic (Gallic) envoys were naturally - and rightly - indignant!" The Gauls left with a promise of revenge through war.
The Battle On their way to Rome, the Gauls had around 30,000 soldiers, with Brennus leading them. The Romans had around 10,000, led by Quintus Sulpicius. The Romans took position on the Allia River to stop the Gaul advance into Rome. The Gauls flanked the Roman troops, driving many into the river. Others fled, leaving the city gates unguarded. Three days of traveling after the Romans' defeat at the river, the Gauls (Celts) made it to Rome. There, the gates were open and the streets were deserted, for everyone left for saftey in the Capitol or Capitoline Hill. '"The legend says the Celts found only elderly Senators seated on their official seats and were temporarily in awe" (Sloan). Quickly, though, they killed the senators and ransacked the city. Before they could reach the fortified Capital, ""sacred geese" aroused M. Manlius Capitolinus in time to ward off a Celtic (Gaulic) surprise attack" (Sloan). For seven months, the Gauls held the capitol under siege. Rome began to starve. The Gauls began to get sick, due to a disease from them not burying their dead. The Romans finally bribed them to leave for one thousand pounds of gold. Many legends, mostly to try and regain some dignity for Rome, have been created based on the turnout of this siege. One describes how the Romans accuse Brennus, the Gaulic general, of using faulty weights to measure out their 1000 lbs of gold. To this, he was said to have called, "vae victis," or woe to the vanquished Other propoganda includes stories of Camillius coming and defeating the Gauls. According to them, the moment that Brennus says "vae victus," Camillius replies "Not gold, but steel redeems the native land," and defeats the Gauls. (Battle of the Allia - Global Oneness) All myths aside, it is still clear that Rome suffered a heavy loss to the Gauls.
Sack of Rome/ Battle of the Allia
Effects of the Battle After this vicous battle, Rome had been defeated. Rome spent the next century rebuilding their city; they also had to regain their power over central Italy. The positive for the Romans was that fear for the Gauls helped bring Rome and Italy closer to unifying the region, which then leads to to the Gauls finally being driven into France and out of Italy. Among the measures promptly taken was the fortification of the entire city. The earlier earthen wall and wooden palisade was replaced with a stone wall at least 12 feet thick and 24 feet high in front of the earthen wall of the same dimensions. This Servian wall stretched 5.5 miles, making Rome a mighty fortress. Another result of the disastrous battle and sack was that the need for a larger army was apparent and that meant extending service, and hence citizenship, to more people. The next century was full of internal struggle over the rights of the newly inducted lower classes. On the foreign side, the Romans had to start over with warfare against their neighbors on all sides. Not only Etruscans, but also Hernici, equi, Volsci and Gauls (Celts) were included in this struggle. For many generations, Romans would hold a grudge against the Gauls that wouldn't be avenged until Julius Caesar took over the entire Gaulic reigon.
Works Cited Link: http://easybib.com/key/fcfc46
Romans paying Brennus 1000 pounds of gold
Created by: Jack Stein and Will Schiff
Rome Gaining Power In the 5th century B.C., Rome began to expand its territories and take over neighboring lands. They had just finished a long siege on Veii, a large Corinthian city, when the Gaul's attacked them. Rome annexed Veii and took command of all of its territory. The general, Camillius, led the army to victory. Soon, though, he was exiled. A new leader, M. Manlius Capitolinus, was in command of Rome. The Gaulic Sack of Rome would be a stunning blow, and scar Romans for many generations.
