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Alaric - The First Teutonic Viking to Sack Rome

EARLY TEUTONIC VIKINGS: THE OSTROGOTHS

We need to rewrite the entirety of our Scandinavian, Germanic, and Celtic past. There are many competing theories as to whether or not the European people originally came from Asia.

The reality is that the Nordic, Germanic, and Celtic peoples all migrated southward from the Arctic in separate waves. They hailed from a place only known as Thule.

They arrived in and eventually colonized the areas that would become Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, and India.

Most of Europe south of the Danube, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Britannia were all ruled by the Mediterranean-descent Romans.

The Teutons, an umbrella term for the Germanic peoples who lived in what is now eastern Germany, began moving westward when they were at the height of their dominance.

The Goths, a strong tribe, were the first to set their sights on sacking Rome. The Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths, settled near the coast of the Black Sea. Then there were the Visigoths, or Western Goths, who settled along the Danube's western bank. They were both planning invasions and assaults on Rome.

The Goths strengthened over time while the Romans declined.

After training under Roman soldiers, Alaric ultimately led the Visigoths. First, he invaded Greece with his warriors, sacked Athens, and amassed a huge fortune.

Then he waited six years and saw Rome fall apart before his eyes. At a time when the Roman Empire was at its weakest, Alaric marched directly up to the walls of Rome. The Roman Empire in the East, Constantinople, was governed by a boy emperor.

He cut off the city's food supply, surrounded it, and ordered the citizens to submit.

Behind their high wall, the wealthy Romans mocked him and dared him to attempt to capture their city.

Alaric hung around the entranceways. The starving and sick Romans, pleading for mercy, asked for favorable conditions of surrender.

He scoffed at them and ordered that all the city's precious metals be brought to him.

When they begged and pleaded with him, he consented to take 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4,000 silk robes, 3,000 scarlet viking woman costume, and 3,000 pounds of pepper.

He set out on his own to discover and plunder Italy. Then he returned to Rome, and without a word of protest, the city's gates were thrown open to him. They arrived in the metropolis in droves.

Everyone who stood in their way or attempted to hide their wealth was brutally put to death. Wagons full of precious metals, expensive fabrics, and priceless baubles accompanied them as they departed.

The invasion of Sicily was next on Alaric's agenda before he fell sick and died.

His troops veered away from a narrow waterway. They buried him on the bank of the dry river, along with a large amount of treasure for him to transport to Valhalla, and wrapped him in the finest silk.

The river was diverted so that it would flow over his grave, obscuring it eternally from view and potential thieves.

Many different Teutonic Viking groups attacked Rome, including Alaric and the Visigoths. The southward expansion of Scandinavian, Germanic, and Celtic peoples from Thule included the aforementioned Goths and Teutons. The common goal of these blood relatives was plunder, war, and conquest.