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| Sack of Rome | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFall of the Roman Empire andRoman–Germanic Wars | |||||||
 Genseric sacking Rome, byKarl Briullov | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Vandalic Kingdom | Western Roman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gaiseric | Petronius Maximus † | ||||||
Thesack of Rome in 455 was carried out by theVandals led by their kingGaiseric.
A 442 treaty between theWestern Roman Empire andVandal Kingdom included amarriage of state between the daughter of Roman EmperorValentinian III and the son of Gaiseric. Valentinian's successorPetronius Maximus violated the treaty by marrying his son to Valentinian's daughter which led to Gaiseric declaring Rome violated their treaty and launched an invasion. Maximus did not organise a defence of Rome and waslynched by a Roman mob while trying to escape the city.Pope Leo I convinced Gaiseric to avoid the use of violence against residents of the city. The Vandalslooted Rome for two weeks, causing widespread destruction to the city, stripping it of most of its valuables, and taking some residents asslaves. Maximus' successorAvitus had little support which led to the outbreak of theRoman civil war of 456.
The Sack of Rome in 455 and theVisigothic sack of 410 shocked the Roman world and symbolized the decline and impendingfall of the Western Roman Empire, marking a pivotal moment inEuropean history.
Since its founding in 395 AD, theWestern Roman Empire was in aprolonged state of decline. One of its major issues was a mass migration ofGermanic and other non-Roman peoples known as theMigration Period. This led to thesack of Rome in 410 by the GermanicVisigoths underAlaric.[2] It was the first time the city had fallen sincec. 387 BCE.[3]
A peace treaty was signed between the Romans andVandals in 442, in which the Vandals acquired Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, eastern Numidia, and western Tripolitania while the Romans retained Mauretania Caesariensis, Mauretania Sitifensis, and western Numidia. A marriage alliance between Huneric andEudocia, the daughter of EmperorValentinian III, was also made.[4]
Petronius Maximus is alleged to have influenced Valentinian III to haveFlavius Aetius killed on 21 September 454. Maximus then conspired to have Valentinian III murdered on 16 March 455, and Maximus rose to become emperor on 17 March.[5] Maximus, in order to legitimize his rule, marriedLicinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian III, and married Eudocia to his son Palladius. Licinia Eudoxia, however, in revenge for her husband's murder and forced marriage, conspired with the Vandals against Maximus.[6] Gaiseric proclaimed that the broken betrothal between Huneric and Eudocia invalidated the peace treaty and exploited the situation as acasus belli to invade Rome, gathering a large force and sailing fromCarthage.
Rome had ceased to be the capital of the empire by the beginning of the 4th century and a multitude of cities served as the capital of the western empire.[7]Theodosius I is the only emperor that is definitely known to have visited Rome between 363 and 395.[8] Valentinian III moved his court to Rome in 450 and stayed there for the remainder of his life.[9] The population of the city had fallen from 700,000-1,000,000 at the end of the 4th century to 300,000-500,000 by 455.[10]
The Vandals landed atOstia, located at the mouth of theTiber only a few miles southwest of Rome. Maximus tried to flee Rome, but was spotted by an angry mob and stoned to death before being thrown into the Tiber.[11] Before approaching, the Vandals knocked down theaqueducts that supplied water to the city.[12]Pope Leo I was able to convince Gaiseric to spare those who did not resist, protect buildings from fire, and to not torture captives.[13] While Gaiseric kept his promise not to burn and slaughter, he did carry off some inhabitants asslaves, and also managed to capture Eudoxia and her daughters Eudocia andPlacidia as they tried to escape.[14]
The Vandals sacked the city for two weeks[13] before returning to Africa, during which the imperial government of the Western Roman Empire was effectively paralysed. They marched south throughCampania, devastating the region, and attempted to sackNeapolis but failed as the city had better defences.
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Gaiseric and his army looted great amounts of treasure from Rome. They "tore off half the roof" of theTemple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus by stripping away the gilt bronze roof tiles,[15] hence the modern termvandalism.[16][17] The two-week Vandal sack of 455 is generally considered more destructive than the three-day Visigoth sack of 410.[18]Victor of Vita records that several shiploads of slave captives arrived in Africa from Rome, who were then divided between the Vandals.Deogratias, theBishop of Carthage, bought the freedom of some of the Romans by selling all of the valuables from his church. Deogratias hosted and fed them in larger churches in Carthage until they could be repatriated back to Rome.
Avitus, who had the military and financial support of KingTheodoric II, was acclaimed emperor by his army inArles on 9-10 July, and was later recognized by theRoman Senate. He was later overthrown byMajorian andRicimer after acivil war in 456.[19] Avitus allowed the Visigoths to enterSuebian-controlledHispania in return for Theodoric's support. Avitus was popular with the Germanic elites, but he proved to be unpopular with the Romanaristocracy and struggled to gain control of the government.
Despite the popular image of the Vandals as destroyers, the severity of the sack is debatable, with claims that it inflicted little murder, violence, orarson. This interpretation seems to stem from Prosper's claim of the promise of leniency which Pope Leo I coaxed from Gaiseric. TheByzantine historianProcopius reported the burning of a church.[citation needed] Some modern historians likeJohn Henry Haaren maintain that temples, public buildings, private houses and even the emperor's palace were sacked.[20] The Vandals also took immense quantities of gold, silver, jewels and furniture, destroyed works of art, and killed a number of citizens.[citation needed]