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

by Douglas Boin
@douglasboin

Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire.

Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent “barbarians” who destroyed “civilization,” at least in the conventional story of Rome’s collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive.

Alaric grew up near the river border that separated Gothic territory from Roman. He survived a border policy that separated migrant children from their parents, and he was denied benefits he likely expected from military service.

Interview with the Author

History Ago Go 
Alaric the Goth: An Outsider’s History of the Fall of Rome (Douglas Boin)
12/14/20          58 min

Tides of History 
Alaric, the Goths, and the Sack of Rome: Interview with Professor Douglas Boin
6/4/20          48 min

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