MilitaryCampaigns

The Battle of Allia

The name of the battle was the Battle of the Allia. Prior to the battle, the Gauls went and attacked the weaker city of Clusium. Although this city was not an ally with Rome, they still called for help. Rome had become a weaker army from previous battles, and questioned if they should send someone to check out the situation. The negotiations did not turn out what the city of Clusium had thought, and the messenger for Rome, Quintus Fabius, ended up killing one of the Gallic leaders. The outraged Gauls demanded that Fabius should be hung. The Romans decided to anger the Gauls by not only sparing Fabius’s life, but they also allowed people who deserved punishment to be military tribunes and gave the tribunes consular power. Consulkar power was the highest power available. The Gauls were even more irate, and promised war on the Romans. This promised war ended up being the Battle of Allia and the siege of Rome. The 30,000 Gauls were led by Brennus, and the 40,000 to 70,000 Romans were led by Servius Fidenas, Sulpicius, and Cornelius Maluginesis. The battle took place in a tributary of the Tiber River and north of Fidenae, in 390 B.C. Brennus’s men went farther south in the Italian peninsula than any other Gallic tribe had been. They attacked the Romans army at the right wing, which was were the younger soldiers were. Then the tribe broke into center and left side of the army. The Roman legions were forced to retreat with horrible defeat, and some even swam across the Tiber River. The Gauls chose Rome as their next target. Had the Gauls not been spotted I time, the city of Rome could have been destroyed. To keep the Gauls out, the Romans were forced to pay the Gaul tribe under Brennus a very big amount of gold. This ending result of this disasterous battle led the neighbors of the Roman Empire to respect Romans less. Also they built a 12’ thick 24’ high solid stone wall around the five and a half miles around their city, and this battle led to the down fall and eventual end of the Empire.



__Sources__: Internet 1- Gill, N.S.. "Rome- Battle of Allia." About.com. 4 Dec 2008 .

Internet 2- "Battle of Allia." __Nation Matser__. 2003-5. 4 Dec 2008 <[|http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Battle-of-the-Allia-(390-BC])>.

Book- Corbishley, Mike. __Rome__ __and the Ancient World__. New York/city: Simon and Schuster Young Books, 1993.