Ancient Rome: An Introductory History (16 page)

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Chapter 10
The Gauls Sack Rome

In 390
B.C.
arrived one of early Rome's darkest hours. The Gauls, a Celtic people who were migrating westward from central Europe, swept down upon Italy; one of their victims was Rome. Supposedly they had recently drunk wine for the first time and liked it so much that they wanted the country that produced it. Another story says that the Gauls attacked Rome in revenge after a Roman envoy killed a Gallic envoy because of his arrogant words. The Romans had been warned of the Gauls' coming: A plebeian had heard one night a divine voice ordering him to let the magistrates know of the impending danger, but those whom he told simply laughed at him.

The Gallic and Roman armies met at the juncture of the Allia and Tiber Rivers. The Roman army fell apart, because of bad leadership (the generals had not constructed any defenses, chosen an area for a camp, or checked the auspices) and fear of the Gauls' superior numbers. The Gauls' victory was so devastating that the Romans afterward cursed the day of the battle, July 18, so that no business could ever be conducted on dies alliensis, "the day of the Allia." The Gauls massacred the fleeing Romans and descended upon Rome. No Roman army hindered them, and their entry into Rome was so easy that they thought the Romans were laying a trap for them.

The Romans had evacuated the city, some fleeing into the countryside and others taking refuge in the citadel, the Capitol. It was a pitiful sight to see the Vestal Virgins carrying the images of the gods out of the city to safety in friendly cities; the Etruscan city

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Caere received the Romans' gods and sacred objects, and the Romans were grateful for Caere's help.

The Siege of the Capitol

After a few days, the Gauls laid siege to the Capitol, which had been fortified and provisioned. To lure the Romans out of the Capitol, which remained the last free part of the city and the bastion of Roman civilization, the Gauls started destroying the buildings and houses, until half the city was in ruins. The original Twelve Tables are said to have perished in the destruction.

Meanwhile at Rome the siege was bogged down and not much was happening on either side, which was the Gauls' intention, to keep any Romans from breaking through the posts [and communicating with other Romans who had fled]. Suddenly a Roman youth turned the attention of both Romans and Gauls onto himself. It was the custom of the Fabian clan to perform a sacrifice on the Quirinal Hill. When Fabius descended from the Capitol to go perform the sacrifice, wearing his clothes in ceremonial fashion and carrying the holy objects, he walked right through the middle of the Gauls' posts to the Quirinal, paying no attention at all to the threats and shouts. After solemnly performing all the sacred rites, he returned the same way that he had come, with an unwavering step and calm face, expecting that the gods would be kind to those who have not been kept from worship even by their fear of death. Thus he returned to his family on the Capitol, leaving the Gauls either astonished by his audacity or moved by his piety; after all, they themselves are hardly negligent of religious matters. (Livy V.46.1-3)

Camillus, the hero in the Romans' defeat of Veil and Falerii a few years earlier, had gone into exile at Ardea after being accused of mishandling spoils taken from Veii. The man whom Rome most needed was in exile, and rather bitter about his city's treatment of him. Despite his anger, Camillus now made preparations to rescue his city from its present danger. He was appointed dictator in absentia, and he approached neighboring cities with pleas for help against the Gauls.

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The Sacred Geese of Juno

Meanwhile the citadel of Rome and the Capitol were in great danger. The Gauls had either noticed human tracks where the messenger had come from Veii [where some Romans had fled for safety and were now waiting for an opportunity to save Rome], or on their own had noticed, next to the Temple of Carmentis, a rock suitable for climbing. At any rate, one night they first sent one unarmed man to try the way; then, by passing their weapons along where the going was rough, leaning on one another, and lifting others in turn and pulling them up, as the lay of the land demanded, they arrived at the summit in such silence that they not only fooled the guards, but did not awaken even the dogs, animals attentive to sounds in the night. They did not fool the sacred geese of Juno, however; even in the middle of a great shortage of food, the Romans had kept their hands off the sacred geese. This saved Rome: Their honking and flapping of wings awoke M. Manlius, distinguished in war and consul three years before. He snatched up his weapons and, at the same time that he urged others to get their weapons, while the others were in a panic, with his shield he hit one Gaul (who by now was standing at the top) and sent him down the hill. Falling, that Gaul knocked down those closest to him, and Manlius killed other frightened Gauls who had dropped their weapons to hold onto the rocks. By now other Romans had joined Manlius and, with javelins and missiles, sent the enemies falling down the rocks. As they fell, they knocked other Gauls down the hill, head first. (Livy V.47)

Because of this display of heroism, M. Manlius received a nickname, Capitolinus (Of the Capitol), which he passed down to his descendants. The soldier whose negligence had allowed the Gauls to come that close to seizing the citadel was thrown from the Capitol to his death.

"Ferro, Non Auto"

The siege was wearing out both the besiegers and the besieged. After occupying Rome for seven months, the Gauls were suffering from hunger and disease, while the Romans in the Capitol were

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The Dying Gaul, from Pergamum, third century B.C. (Courtesy of the Archer M. Huntington
Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin, William J. Battle Collection of Plaster Casts)

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running low on provisions. The Romans are nonetheless said to have thrown loaves of bread from the walls of the citadel to the Gauls below, to prove that they were not short of food. In these dire circumstances the Romans agreed to pay, and the Gauls agreed to accept, a ransom of a thousand pounds of gold so the Gauls would leave. Since the treasury did not have enough gold, the women of Rome voluntarily contributed their jewelry to the ransom. When the Roman commander objected to the heavier weight standard being used by the Gauls, the Gallic chieftain Brennus is said to have thrown his sword on the scale while saying the words hateful to Roman ears, "Vae victis!" (Woe to the vanquished!).

During the weighing of the gold, Camillus appeared. He said that the agreement was invalid because it had been made contrary to his orders as dictator. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to recover their city "ferro, non auto" (with iron, not gold). He warned the Gauls to prepare to fight. The Romans won the battles that followed, even capturing the Gauls' camp and annihilating that particular tribe of Gauls, the Senones.

"Hic Manebimus Optime"

When the Romans saw the ruins of their city, the tribunes began urging the common people to vote not to rebuild Rome and instead to move to the site of Veii, which had not been destroyed and would be more easily defended in the future. Undoubtedly the tribunes also hoped that in the new location there would be a fairer distribution of land between the plebeians and patricians. Although Camillus' stirring and impassioned speech convinced many to stay, many others remained undecided. What convinced them was a sign from the gods: As the Senate was debating whether or not to move, some soldiers were passing through the Forum after guard duty; the senators overheard the centurion give his soldiers the orders to halt, saying, "Hic manebimus optime" (Here will be the best place for us to stay). That was their sign to stay.

The Romans learned from their military mistakes and reformed the army so that they would never again experience another Allia.

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To make the army more flexible, each legion was divided into thirty
maniples
(literally, "handfuls"), each of which contained one hundred twenty to two hundred men. The strength of the reformed army was soon tested, for many of Rome's enemies, encouraged by the Gauls' initial victory, chose that moment to renew war with Rome. The Latins and Hernici revolted from their alliance, and the Volscians and Etruscans were armed and ready to attack. The Romans named as dictator the man who had rescued them from the previous peril, Camillus. He conquered the Volscians so thoroughly that they surrendered, after seventy years of warfare. He then turned to the Aequi and captured their army camp and their main city, Bolae. He next took on the Etruscans, who were marching on Sutrium, a city allied to Rome. The Etruscans took Sutrium, but on the same day Gamillus recaptured it and gave it back to its inhabitants: All in one day Sutrium had been free, captured by the enemy, and then recaptured and restored to its citizens. Gamillus then returned to Rome and celebrated a well-deserved triumph.

Shortly afterward, in 386, Etruria once again prepared for war. His dictatorship having lapsed, Gamillus was now only a military tribune, one of several equal in authority; nonetheless, the other military tribunes volunteered to subordinate themselves and their power to him. Once the Roman soldiers had seen the size of the enemy army, they became afraid and reluctant to fight, despite Gamillus' order to attack. He harangued the soldiers, again gave the signal to attack, and, despite his age (he was so old and frail that he had to be lifted onto his horse), led the attack. He even threw the standards (
signum
, a bronze or gold eagle on a pole, which preceded the soldiers into battle, like a flag) into the midst of the enemy ranks. By this act he forced his soldiers to fight, for losing the standards was the sign of utter defeat and a great dishonor to soldiers. The Romans won that battle, led by the aged Gamillus.

In 382
B.C.
the Volscians joined with the people of Praeneste and attacked a Roman colony. Again the Romans turned to Camillus, with one Lucius Furius to assist him. Seeing the enemy army, the soldiers and Lucius Furius were eager to fight, but Gamillus would not permit it. Lucius Furius argued with Camillus, who told his assistant that he could not hold him back, but that he would pray

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