On this day in history

On August 24, A.D. 410, tribesmen under the Visigoth King Alaric entered the city of Rome and started a three-day frenzy of burning, looting and pillage.  They came from what is now Germany and were basically immigrants, tired of oppressive Roman rule and wanting new land to settle on. Rebellious Roman slaves opened the gates to Alaric's guys in the middle of the night.

It's been called "one of the most civilized sacks of any city ever witnessed."  The palaces of the aristocracy were looted, Romans who resisted were killed, but not many monuments were destroyed.

The Visigoths were Arian Christians, and they treated Christian sites and relics with respect. It was the first of six major raids on the Eternal City and the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire, which had lasted for 507 years.

Oh yea, and inspiration for some lurid art in the centuries to come...