Battle of the Allia
The
Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Italy. The battle was fought near the
Allia river: the defeat of the Roman army opened the route for the
Gauls to sack
Rome. It was fought in
390/
387 BCPrior to the battle, the
Gauls invaded the
Etruscan province of
Siena and attacked the town of
Clusium. The Clusians, overwhelmed by the size of the enemy in numbers and ferocity, called on
Rome for help, though they were not allies or friends. Rome, weakened by recent wars, sent a delegation to investigate the situation. Negotiations broke down, resulting in Quintus Fabius, a member of a powerful
patrician family, killing one of the Gallic leaders. The Gauls demanded the Fabians be handed over to them for justice. However, the defiant Romans not only refused, but, as
Livy writes, "those who ought to have been punished were instead appointed for the coming year military tribunes with consular powers (the highest that could be granted)." The enraged Gauls promised war against the Romans to avenge the insult that they had been dealt, resulting in the Battle of the Allia and the subsequent siege of Rome itself.
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. The Roman army at this time was very similar to a Greek phalanx battle line, with heavy hoplites in the center (representing the richer Roman citizens) and extending to flanks with poorer and poorly armed citizens (every soldier was required to supply his own equipment). When the Gauls attacked, the Roman flanks routed leaving the Roman center to be surrounded and slaughtered. Many of Rome's older citizens made up this center and they would be sorely missed in the coming calamity.
The remnants of 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.
It is conjectured that there was no effective wall around the larger city prior to the siege because Rome's earlier
Etruscan rulers may have forced the Romans to dismantle significant defenses. As a result of the siege and near total destruction of Rome, Rome built the much stronger
Servian Wall.
The Romans also began restructuring their military organization: They ceased using the Greek
phalanx style spear and adopted the
gladius and better armor, such as replacing the bronze helmet for polished iron, which caused swords to be deflected.
The legions were also reorganized. Recognizing the need for flexibility, the legion was organized into three lines of soldiers: the
hastati in front, the
principes in the middle, and the
triarii in the rear. Now the richer citizens, who made up the triarii would be safer as a reserve, leaving the main fighting to younger men. These reforms would be in place until
Publius Cornelius Scipio.
The defeat at the hands of the Gauls was the last time that the city of Rome was captured by non-Roman forces until the waning days of the
Roman Empire, more than seven centuries later.
*
The Roman Army*
The Gauls invade Rome*
Allia*Herm, Gerhard,
The Celts. The People who Came out of the Darkness, pp. 7–13. St. Martin's Press (1977). ISBN 0-312-12705-7.
