Alaric I

Alaric I was the king of the Visigoths who repeatedly negotiated and fought with the eastern and western Roman empires during a period of political fragmentation. After serving Rome and failing to obtain a secure command and settlement for his followers, he invaded Italy and in 410 captured and sacked Rome, the first such seizure of the city in nearly eight centuries. He died later that year in southern Italy while preparing to move his people towards Africa.

Historical fiction normally places Alaric within wider narratives about the disintegration of Roman authority, migration and the uneasy status of barbarian soldiers inside the empire. He is less often the sole protagonist than a military and political force confronting Roman officials, generals and civilians. Novels of the late western empire use the sack of Rome as a turning point, while portrayals of Alaric range from destructive invader to a leader seeking land, payment and recognition for his people.

Faith L. Justice’s Twilight Empress places Alaric I within a narrative shaped by family, marriage and personal loyalty, political ambition and government, and court politics and dynastic power. Ben Kane’s Rome places Alaric I within a narrative shaped by court politics and dynastic power.

In non-fiction, Alaric I is discussed in Nick Holmes’s The Fall of Rome and Adrian Goldsworthy’s The Fall of the West. In Nick Holmes’s The Fall of Rome, the narrative follows Valens, Theodosius I, Stilicho, Honorius and Alaric through divided courts, military rivalries and repeated failures of negotiation.