Around 390 BC, a Gallic war band under their chieftain Brennus defeated a Roman army at the River Allia, north of the city, and then entered Rome, which had been largely abandoned. The Romans held out on the Capitoline Hill, where, according to legend, sacred geese woke the defenders during a night attack. The Gauls withdrew after Rome paid a ransom in gold, supposedly with Brennus adding his sword to the scales with the words 'Vae victis', woe to the vanquished. The humiliation lingered for centuries and led Rome to build the Servian Wall.
Before and after
- 5th century BCERise of Cynicism
- 15 February 399 BCEDeath of Socrates
- from 398 BCE to 378 BCETwenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt
- from 395 BCE to 387 BCECorinthian War
- c. 391 BCEThe Gauls sack Rome
- from 387 BCE to 529 CEConstruction of Platonic Academy
- 384 BCEBirth of Aristotle
- from 380 BCE to 343 BCEThirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 375 BCEWriting of The Republic
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 149 BCE to 146 BCEThird Punic War
- from 58 BCE to 51 BCEGallic War
- 49 BCECaesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
- from 66 CE to 74 CEFirst Jewish-Roman War
- from June 68 CE to December 69 CEYear of the Four Emperors
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 4th century BCE.