Rome was sacked by the Goths in 410, and the empire suffered more barbarian invasions afterward.
Early Invasions
The source of these raids was a new group of people who moved into Europe. Called the Huns, they were fierce warriors from Central Asia.
As you can see on the map, the Huns invaded southeastern Europe. From there they launched raids on nearby kingdoms. Among the victims of these raids were several groups of people called the Goths.
The Goths could not defeat the Huns in battle. As the Huns continued to raid their territories, the Goths fled. Trapped between the Huns and Rome, they had nowhere to go but into Roman territory.
Rome’s leaders were afraid that the Goths would destroy Roman land and property. To stop this destruction, the emperors fought to keep the Goths out of Roman lands. In the east the armies were largely successful. They forced the Goths to move farther west. As a result, however, the western armies were defeated by the Goths, who moved into Roman territory.
The Sack of Rome
The Romans fought desperately to keep the Goths away from Rome. They also paid the Goths not to attack them. For many years this strategy worked. In 408, however, the Romans stopped making payments. This made the Goths furious. Despite the Romans’ best efforts to defend their city, the Goths sacked, or destroyed, Rome in 410.
The destruction of Rome absolutely devastated the Romans. No one had attacked their city in nearly 800 years. For the first time, many Romans began to feel afraid for the safety of their empire.
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