| ā | The thicker the hay; the easier mowed.
ā Alaric I
|
ā |
Alaric I (Gothic: š°š»š°šš“š¹šŗš , AlarÄ«ks, "ruler of all"; Latin: Alaricus) was the first King of the Visigoths from 395ā410, son of chieftain Rothestes, according to Christian Settipani. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire.
Alaric's first appearance was as the leader of a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples who invaded Thrace in 391, who were stopped by the half-Vandal Roman General Stilicho. Later joining the Roman army, he began his career under the Gothic soldier Gainas. In 394 Alaric led a Gothic force of 20,000 that helped the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius defeat the Frankish usurper Arbogast at the Battle of Frigidus. Despite sacrificing around 10,000 of his men, Alaric received little recognition from the Emperor. Disappointed, he left the army and was elected reiks of the Visigoths in 395, and marched toward Constantinople until he was diverted by Roman forces. He then moved southward into Greece, where he sacked Piraeus (the port of Athens) and destroyed Corinth, Megara, Argos, and Sparta. As a response, the Eastern emperor Flavius Arcadius appointed Alaric magister militum (āmaster of the soldiersā) in Illyricum.
In 401 Alaric invaded Italy, but he was defeated by Stilicho at Pollentia (modern Pollenza) on April 6, 402. A second invasion also ended in defeat at the Battle of Verona, though Alaric forced the Roman Senate to pay a large subsidy to the Visigoths. During the Italian invasion of Radagaisus Alaric remained idle in Illyria. In 408, Western Emperor Flavius Honorius ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, amid rumors that the general had made a deal with Alaric. Honorius then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of Goths serving in the Roman military. Subsequently, around 30,000 Gothic soldiers defected to Alaric and joined his march on Rome to avenge their murdered families.
Battle vs. Arminius (by MilenHD)[]
It was getting almost night time, as Alaric I was making his way to his camp, after he had hunted and killed a small deer and he was walking alone at the forest path, as he was walking everything was silent, no crickets were heard, no wind blew the air, only his footsteps were heard as he was walking over the twigs and leaves, snapping them under his foot. Near the trees behind the road stood Arminius holding his javelin in hand and Alaric approached him closer, the Cherusci warrior threw his javelin and missed, alerting the Visigoth king.
Alaric dropped his hunt and grabbed his francisca axe and shield and was ready for anything and anyone to come at him, as Arminius was approaching him with his framea, Alaric saw his silhouette and threw his axe, missing Arminius and preparing his board spear to stab Arminius and in the next moment both Germanic warriors clashed their spears and shields, for most of the time Alaric managed to hold Arminius busy due to having one extra foot on his spear. As Alaric thrust his spear at Arminius managing to hook his shield and pierce his shoulder. Grabbing his shoulder Arminius retreated at the woods, as Alaric followed him and as Arminius noticed him he threw his framea managing to pierce the Visigoth's shield, rendering it useless. As Alaric stepped deeper into the forest, Arminius jumped behind a bush and smashed his club into Alaric's helmet, only knocking the Gothic king down, as Alaric turned he tried to stab Arminius with his spear, only to get his spear's shaft smashed in two and as Alaric got up and pulled his sword.
The Cherusci and the Visigoth clashed and Arminius got his club knocked away from him, then he pulled his spatha and both warriors engaged in sword fight parrying each others blow after blow, then Arminius did a heavy overhead chop and the blow landed on Alaric's helmet, making him a little dizzy. Alaric was having non of it and pulled in his other hand his seax and began dueling the Cherusci, pushing his sword skills at the limit and his next attack Alaric swung his sword only to smash Arminius head with the iron grip and knock him down and as Arminius felt down he smashed his head on the ground becoming very dizzy.
The next moment Arminius felt and yelled in very sharp pain, As he lifted his upper body Alaric has decapitated his legs with his seax, now covered in blood. As Arminius tried to crawl away, Alaric stabbed him in the throat with his sword, killing him instantly.
As Alaric raised his bloody blades he gave a loud yell in victory.
Expet's Opinion[]
While Arminius defeated the Romans in the Teutoburg forest, and was a better tactician. Alaric had better weapons and was equally as good in tactics and having a helmet will not hurt at all. Another reason why Alaric won is that Arminius used too much ambush tactics and didn't fought face to face as Alaric.