Battle of the Allia facts for kids
The Battle of the Allia was a big fight that happened a long time ago, around 387 BC. It was between the Senones, a group of Gauls (ancient people from what is now France), led by a chief named Brennus, and the Roman Republic.
The battle took place near the Allia brook, not far from Rome. The Romans lost badly, and after this defeat, the Gauls went on to sack (or raid) the city of Rome itself. Historians think this raid might not have destroyed the city completely, but it was a huge shock for the Romans.
The exact date of the battle is a bit fuzzy. Some old Roman writers said it was in 390 BC, but a Greek historian named Polybius suggested 387 BC, which many modern historians agree is more likely. It happened on July 18th.
Quick facts for kids Battle of the Allia |
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| Part of the Roman–Gallic wars | |||||||
 The Servian Wall according to Titus Livius 6.32 the censors ordered its rebuilding after the sack |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Roman Republic | Gauls • Senones • Boii • Insubres |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Quintus Sulpicius Longus | Brennus | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| The estimates are: 15,000, 24,000, 35,000, and 40,000 | The estimates are: 12,000, more than 40,000, and 30–70,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy | Light | ||||||
Contents
Why Did the Battle Happen?
The Senones were a Gallic tribe who had recently moved into northern Italy. They settled near what is now Rimini. According to Roman stories, they were invited to the Etruscan town of Clusium by a man named Aruns. He wanted revenge against someone who had wronged his family.
When the Senones arrived, the people of Clusium felt threatened. They asked Rome for help. Rome sent three important brothers from the Fabia family as ambassadors. These ambassadors told the Gauls not to attack Clusium. They also said that if the Gauls did attack, Rome would fight to protect the town.
A fight broke out, and one of the Roman ambassadors killed a Gallic leader. This was a big problem because ambassadors were supposed to be neutral. The Gauls were very angry that their leader had been killed and that the Roman ambassadors had broken the rules. They demanded that the Fabii brothers be handed over to them for punishment.
The Roman Senate (a council of leaders) was pressured by the powerful Fabia family not to punish the brothers. Instead, they let the Roman people decide. The people then chose the very same Fabii brothers as important leaders for the next year! This made the Gauls even angrier. They decided to march straight to Rome, about 130 km (81 miles) away. The Gauls moved so fast that many towns were terrified and people fled as they passed.
How Many Soldiers Fought?
It's hard to know exactly how many soldiers fought in this battle. Ancient writers often exaggerated numbers.
- Some sources say the Romans had around 40,000 men, but many were untrained.
- Others suggest about 24,000 or 35,000 Romans.
- Modern historians guess the Romans had about 15,000 soldiers.
- For the Gauls, estimates range from 12,000 to as many as 70,000.
It's likely that both armies were smaller than the largest numbers given by ancient writers. The Roman army at this time was mostly made up of farmers who were called to fight when needed. They didn't have much time to prepare for this battle because the Gauls marched so quickly. The Gallic army was also probably not as huge as some numbers suggest.
The Roman army was led by a general named Quintus Sulpicius Longus.
The Battle Itself
There are a few old stories about the battle, but they are a bit different from each other.
According to the Roman historian Livy, the Romans didn't take any special steps to prepare. They gathered their army quickly, but it wasn't bigger than usual. The Gauls moved so fast that the Romans barely had time to get their army ready and march out to meet them.
The battle happened where the Tiber River and the Allia brook meet. The Romans were probably outnumbered. They didn't even set up a proper camp or perform their usual religious rituals before the fight. They spread their soldiers out to make their battle line seem longer, but this made it very thin and weak in the middle. They put some reserve soldiers on a hill to their right.
Brennus, the Gallic chief, thought the Romans were trying to trick him. He believed the soldiers on the hill would attack his army from behind. So, he attacked the hill first.
The Romans panicked. Their left side quickly dropped their weapons and ran towards the Tiber River. Many soldiers got in each other's way, and the Gauls killed them. Those who couldn't swim or were weighed down by their armor drowned. Most of the survivors fled to Veii, a nearby Etruscan city that Rome had recently conquered. They didn't even send a messenger to warn Rome. The Roman soldiers on the right side, closer to the hill, ran back to Rome. The Gauls were surprised by how easily they won.
Another historian, Diodorus Siculus, said the Romans crossed the Tiber River. He wrote that the Romans put their best soldiers on the plain and their weaker ones on the hill. The Gauls put their best men on the hill and easily won that part of the fight. Most of the Roman soldiers on the plain ran to the river in a messy way. The Gauls killed many of them. Some Romans tried to swim across with their armor, but it weighed them down, and they drowned. Eventually, they threw their armor away and swam. Most survivors went to Veii, but some returned to Rome to report the disaster.
Sack of Rome
After their easy victory, the Gauls were confused and didn't move for a while. They thought it might be a trick. They then started taking valuables from the dead Roman soldiers. When they saw no one was attacking them, they marched towards Rome and arrived before sunset. They found the city gates open and the walls empty. This surprised them again. They decided not to enter the city at night and camped outside.
The people of Rome were in a complete panic. They didn't know that most of their army had fled to Veii. They thought only a few soldiers had made it back to Rome, and they had almost no defense. They decided to send all the fighting-age men, strong senators, and their families to the Capitoline Hill. This hill was like a fortress, and they planned to defend it with weapons and food.
The priests and priestesses were told to take the sacred items of the state to safety. Many elderly people were left behind in the city, but some followed their sons to the Capitoline Hill. Many other people fled to the countryside or other towns. A kind man named Lucius Albinus, who was leaving the city in a wagon, saw the priests walking. He made his family get off and gave the priests and their sacred items a ride to Caere, a friendly Etruscan city.
The next day, the Senones entered Rome through the open Colline Gate. They went to the Roman Forum, which was the main public square. They left a small group of guards there and then spread out to search for valuables. They didn't find anyone.
The Gauls wanted to scare the people on the Capitoline Hill into surrendering. They started burning and destroying houses. The people on the Capitoline Hill could hear the shouts, the screams of women and children, and the sound of buildings collapsing. But they were determined to defend the hill. After a few days, the Gauls realized the Romans on the hill wouldn't give up. So, they attacked the Capitoline Hill at dawn. The Roman defenders let the Gauls climb partway up the steep hill, then pushed them back down. The Gauls suffered heavy losses and never tried to take the hill by force again.
Instead, the Gauls decided to surround the hill and wait. They split their forces: one group besieged the Capitoline, and the other went to find food in nearby areas.
Meanwhile, a great Roman general named Marcus Furius Camillus had been exiled (sent away from Rome). He was in a town called Ardea. When he heard about the Gauls, he gathered the people of Ardea and attacked the Gallic camp by surprise at night, killing many of them.
Back in Rome, the siege continued. The Gauls were not very strict with their siege. A Roman nobleman named Gaius Fabius Dorsuo bravely walked down the Capitoline Hill, carrying sacred items, right past the Gallic guards. He performed a yearly sacrifice on the Quirinal Hill and then returned to the Capitoline. The Gauls were so surprised by his boldness, or perhaps they respected his religious act, that they let him pass.
The Roman soldiers who had fled to Veii started to gather. They chose a leader and defeated some Etruscans who were raiding Roman land. Their numbers grew as more Romans and volunteers joined them. They wanted Camillus to lead them. A messenger named Cominius Pontius was sent to Rome to get the Senate's approval. He swam down the Tiber River and climbed a very steep part of the Capitoline Hill that the Gauls had left unguarded. The Senate agreed to make Camillus the dictator (commander-in-chief). Camillus was brought from Ardea to Veii.
The Gauls eventually found the path Cominius Pontius had used to climb the hill. They tried to sneak up the cliff at night. The Roman guards and dogs didn't hear them, but some geese, sacred to the goddess Juno, started honking loudly. This woke up the Romans! A former consul named Marcus Manlius Capitolinus rushed to the wall and pushed down the first Gaul who reached the top. He fell on the others behind him. Manlius and other Roman soldiers fought off the Gauls, who were forced to retreat. Manlius was praised for his bravery.
Both armies started to suffer from hunger. The Gauls also got sick because they were camped in a low area that was hot and unhealthy, especially after the fires. Many of them died from disease and heat. They started talking to the Romans, asking them to surrender because of the famine. They also hinted that they could be paid to leave. The Roman leaders, waiting for Camillus, refused.
But the starving Roman soldiers on the Capitoline Hill eventually pushed for a deal. So, the Roman general Quintus Sulpicius and Brennus, the Gallic leader, met. They agreed on a ransom of a thousand pounds of gold. However, when they weighed the gold, the Gauls cheated by using heavier weights. When the Romans complained, Brennus threw his sword onto the scales and famously said, "Vae victis!" which means "Woe to the conquered!"
Paying the Gauls to leave was a great humiliation for the Romans. But before the weighing was finished, Camillus arrived in Rome with his army. He ordered the gold not to be taken away. The Gauls said they had an agreement, but Camillus declared it invalid because it was made without him, the new dictator. Camillus then attacked the Gauls, who were easily defeated. He defeated them again a little further away from Rome. The Roman historian Livy wrote that the Gauls were completely wiped out.
Rome's Comeback
Rome Under Attack
The Gallic sack was a huge blow to Rome. It led to many wars with nearby peoples. Rome had spent a lot of the 5th century BC fighting the Volsci and Aequi tribes. Right after the sack, the Volsci and Etruscan cities attacked Rome again. Rome fought back aggressively. This caused problems with Rome's allies, the Latin League and the Hernici, and some Latin cities rebelled. Rome spent the next 32 years fighting the Volsci, Etruscans, and rebellious Latin cities.
- In 389 BC, Camillus defeated the Volsci and Aequi. He also drove the Etruscans out of a Roman colony called Sutrium.
- Rome continued to fight the Volsci, sometimes with help from rebellious Latins and Hernici.
- In 383 BC, the Latin city of Lanuvium rebelled.
- In 380 BC, the Praenestines (from another Latin city) marched to Rome's walls. The Romans defeated them and captured several towns.
- In 377 BC, a combined Latin and Volscian force was defeated by the Romans.
Ending Hostilities
Eventually, the wars with the Latins and Hernici ended. This was partly because of new rumors of Gallic attacks. The Latin League renewed its alliance with Rome, which had broken down after the sack. This alliance meant the Latins would provide soldiers to Rome. So, the Gauls were both the reason for the falling out and the reason for the reconciliation between Rome and its allies!
Rome continued to face challenges from other groups like the Volsci, Tibur, and Etruscans. However, Rome slowly regained its strength and continued to expand its territory.
Rome Rebuilds Its Walls
A few years after the sack, Rome started building new city walls. These walls were much stronger than the old ones. They used better stone from a quarry in the territory of Veii, which Rome had recently conquered. This was a massive project, as the wall was about 11 km (7 miles) long.
Fear of the Gauls
The Gallic sack left a deep and lasting fear of the Gauls in Rome. Even decades later, when Gauls appeared near Rome, it caused panic. In 350 and 349 BC, Gauls attacked Latium again. A famous Roman hero, Marcus Valerius Corvus, was said to have fought a duel with a Gallic champion during this time. Although Rome defeated the Senones in a big battle later (the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC), the fear of the Gauls remained for a long time.
Legend of Brennus
A medieval story, Historia Regum Britanniae, tells a different version of Brennus's story. In this tale, Brennus leads both Britons and Gauls to besiege Rome. The Romans defend the city bravely. Eventually, Brennus and his brother break through the walls, and the Britons and Gauls invade. The story says Brennus stayed in Rome and ruled harshly for the rest of his life. This is a fictional story, not a historical account.
Images for kids
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The Servian Wall
