Alaric the Goth: An Outsider’s History of the Fall of Rome

In this eye-opening revisionist history, St. Louis University historian Boin (Coming Out Christian in the Roman World) recounts the life and times of Alaric, the Gothic ruler who sacked Rome in 410 CE after laying siege to the city on two previous occasions. According to Boin, the Goths, a Germanic people from present-day Romania and Ukraine, saw their status as Roman citizens disappear in the fourth and fifth centuries due to territorial losses and the adoption and cementing of Christianity as the empire’s sole religion. Drawing on contemporaneous and early medieval records, Boin chronicles Alaric’s transformation from loyal general in the Roman army to disillusioned enemy of the state, and stresses that Goth invaders treated Romans humanely when they finally penetrated the city. Taking issue with depictions of Alaric and the Goths as violent barbarians in histories by Edward Gibbon and Rodolfo Lanciani, Boin discusses how the term Gothic has been erroneously appropriated over the centuries to describe anything “weird” and “scary.” His brisk and well-documented account reveals the Roman Empire 50 years before its collapse as a decadent society rife with xenophobia and political conflict. This invigorating rehash of ancient times speaks clearly to the modern world. (July)