Battle of the Allia: Encyclopedia II - Battle of the Allia - Roman Disaster

Battle of the Allia - Roman Disaster

According to the common (but incorrect) Varronian chronology, the battle took place on July 18, 390 BC, but a more plausible date is 387. About 40,000 Romans under Quintus Sulpicius fought against the Senones, a Gallic tribe who were about equal in number, under Brennus. The Romans, with six legions, took post on the Allia to check the advance of the Senones on Rome. Here they were attacked by Brennus, who routed the right wing, where the younger soldiers were posted, then broke the Roman center and left, putting them to flight with enormous losses.

The legions fled back to Rome in panic; as Livy states, "all hastened to Rome and took refuge in the Capitol without closing the gates." In Rome the citizens barricaded themselves on the Capitoline Hill, and according to legend Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was alerted to the Gallic attack by the sacred geese of Juno. The rest of the city was plundered and almost all of the Roman records were destroyed. As a result, all Roman history prior to this date is perhaps more legend than fact. Marcus Furius Camillus may have arrived with a relief army, but this may be Roman propaganda to help quell the humiliation of defeat. The Gauls may have been ill-prepared for the siege, and an epidemic broke out among them as a result of not burying the dead. Brennus and the Romans negotiated an end to the siege when the Romans agreed to pay one thousand pounds in gold.

According to tradition, to add insult to humiliation, it was discovered that Brennus was using heavier weights than standard for weighing the gold. When the Romans complained, Brennus is said to have exclaimed "vae victis" - "woe to the vanquished". It was in this very moment that Camillus arrived with a Roman army, and, after putting his sword on the steelyard, replied "Not gold, but steel redeems the native land", thus attacking and defeating the Gauls.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Roman Disaster", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki