Alaric

Alaric (370-410) was King of the Visigoths, 395-410.

On his election as king, he unsuccessfully invaded Greece. As a bribe to keep him peaceful he was made governor of Illyria. However, he went on the warpath again in 401, attacking Italy.

He led the Visigoths in theur sieges of Rome in 408 and 409, and their successful sack of Rome in 410. This act, the first conquest of Rome in 800 years, was a major landmark in the fall of the Roman Empire. As an Arian Christian, he forbade his troops to rape women or destroy religious buildings.

He then tried to invade Sicily, but died before succeeding.