Alaric I

Born around 370 among the Goths near the Danube, Alaric grew up in the shadow of Rome’s frontiers. He likely served as a young officer with the Gothic contingents that Theodosius I used in his campaigns, including the brutal victory at the Frigidus in 394. Those years taught him both Roman warcraft and Roman politics: soldiers expect reward. When Theodosius died in 395 and the empire split between inexperienced heirs and quarreling ministers, Alaric saw opportunity. He gathered followers from federate Gothic groups who wanted secure lands and regular pay and set out to compel the promise the emperors would not freely grant.

In the post-Theodosian struggles of 395, Alaric led raids through Greece, menacing Corinth and Piraeus, before maneuvering into imperial office as magister militum per Illyricum. His ambitions, however, were bigger than a title. He invaded Italy in 401–403 and was beaten back by Stilicho, then returned after Stilicho’s execution in 408 to squeeze a divided regime. In 409, he presented crisp demands—land in the Noricae, grain for his people, and a stable command—and the Western court responded with a mix of delay and fury. The government even summoned Hunnic auxiliaries against him. Alaric tightened the noose on Rome through blockade and hostage politics, briefly elevating Priscus Attalus as a puppet. When negotiations collapsed, he entered Rome in August 410. The sack, restrained compared to ancient terror tales, still thundered across the world: basilicas rang with prayers, streets with the clatter of iron-shod boots, treasure caravans rolled out the gates.

Alaric was not a nihilist but a negotiator with a mailed fist. Christian and pragmatic, he discouraged desecration of churches and sought legitimacy through imperial titles; the Gothic aristocrat played Roman chess with Gothic pieces. Yet he could be relentless, returning to pressure points until the other side conceded or broke. His people followed him because he promised an end to marching hunger and the insecurity of temporary foedera.

He died suddenly in southern Italy later in 410, famously said to be buried in the bed of the Busento. His career outlived him. The Visigoths moved into Gaul and eventually Spain, forming a kingdom that would shape Western politics for centuries. Alaric’s precedent—using federate status to demand territory and grain and, when refused, coercing the imperial heartland—became the playbook for post-Roman power. In this timeline’s central dilemma, Alaric proved that imperial authority could be unmade from inside the system, by men who knew its laws, wore its ranks, and marched under their own kings.