When Alaric, King of the Visigoths, sacked Rome in 410 AD, he did something that, for centuries, was thought impossible. But this took place at the tail end of the Western Roman Empire. This Rome was far from the political, cultural, and military center that had dominated Europe and beyond for so many years. It was weak and vulnerable and it was sacked several times more after Alaric.
However, one man managed to do it 800 years earlier. It still wasn’t Rome at the peak of its power, but it was a Rome in an unstoppable ascension. At least, that’s what everyone thought…until Brennus came along.
Rome in the 4th Century BC
The story of how Brennus conquered Rome is one steeped in legend and uncertainty because it happened long before Rome established itself as the dominant power in the region. Although there are actually plenty of ancient historians who have given their accounts of this formative event in Roman history such as Livy, Plutarch, Polybius, and Diodorus, they all lived centuries after the fact.
We’re talking about the outset of the 4th century BC when even the Roman Republic was in its early stages. Although Rome’s power and influence were steadily growing, it was still just one of many civilizations in Italy.
Oddly enough, we’re going to start our bio about Brennus by talking about a completely different man – Marcus Furius Camillus. Arguably, the first hero, if you will, of the Roman Republic, Camillus’s exploits were so legendary that many modern historians debate whether or not he even existed at all, let alone if he was responsible for all the things he supposedly did. Assuming he was all that great, we’re introducing him now so you won’t be surprised when he rides in like the cavalry, at the end of the story, to save the day.
According to Plutarch, Camillus celebrated four triumphs in his military career – the same as Caesar and one more than Pompey – and he was chosen dictator five times. We know that “chosen dictator” sounds a bit weird; it’s not really the kind of thing you usually hold elections for. But back then being a dictator meant something a bit different – it was a temporary position of great power given to a magistrate in order to deal with a specific issue and only that issue. Once the threat was resolved, the dictator was expected to cede power immediately.
Anyway, the greatest thing Camillus did as dictator was to win the Battle of Veii in 396 BC. Veii was an Etruscan city – a rich and powerful one, in fact – and, located roughly ten miles from Rome, it had been a serious thorn in their side for centuries, ever since the kingdom days. Therefore, when Camillus became the one to permanently conquer Rome’s bitter rival, he was hailed as a great hero…at least for a little while. Soon after, he was charged with theft for keeping too many of the spoils of war for himself. Camillus was prosecuted, found guilty, and exiled.
And so…he left Rome…for the time being. And then…the Gauls invaded.
The Gauls Invade
Even though multiple historians detailed Brennus’s invasion, they all start in medias res when the Gauls were already on the warpath. Therefore, we know nothing of Brennus or his life before the war with Rome. All we can tell you is that he was the leader of the Senones, a Gallic tribe that migrated to Italy at some point, drove away the Umbrians, and settled on the coast of the Adriatic by founding the town of Sena Gallica, or Senigallia, to give it its modern name. Then, at the beginning of the 4th century BC, when Brennus was in charge, the Senones decided that it was time to say “hi” to the neighbors, so in 387 BC they crossed the Appenine Mountains and invaded the central Italian region known as Etruria.
The first city that was lucky enough to receive a visit (that we know of) was called Clusium. Because they weren’t strong enough to turn away these uninvited guests, Clusium turned to Rome for help. However, why exactly they would do that and why would Rome bother to assist them is something that puzzles modern historians who think that this whole thing might have been made up to make Rome look more heroic by standing up to a tyrannical invader.
Anyway, Rome did help…sort of. Instead of sending an army, it sent three ambassadors to have a chat with Brennus. They were three brothers – Quintus, Numerius, and Caeso – the sons of the pontifex maximus Marcus Fabius Ambustus.
The Senones rolled out the red carpet for the ambassadors, even though Brennus stated that it was the first time he heard “the name of Romans.” He reasoned that they must be brave men if Clusium would beg their help in times of danger. Brennus agreed to lift the siege while their negotiations took place and politely requested that the Clusines give them a piece of land, especially since they had more than they could cultivate. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that polite, and it was more of a demand than a request. The ambassadors then asked the Senones “What right they had to demand, under threat of war, territory from those who were its owners,” which is absolutely rich coming from the Romans, but Brennus replied that it was only natural that the “stronger seeks to have more than the weaker.”
To be honest, neither civilization was going for a diplomatic victory here. The Senones made it clear that there could be no peace without a grant of land, and the Romans came to the bargaining table eager for a punch-up. Therefore, once they were back in Clusium, the Roman ambassadors convinced the locals that they had to fight. So they did…and the three Roman brothers even joined in on the action. Unfortunately, the Senones recognized one of them as he was plunging his spear into a Gallic chieftain and word was passed down to Brennus who became incensed at the idea that the so-called ambassadors betrayed them.
Just like that, Brennus gave the order to lift the siege on Clusium because now he had a new target in mind – Rome. So, theoretically, the ambassadors did their jobs and got the Senones to leave Clusium alone. It was a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it paid off for them.
Battle of the Allia
The Gauls were actually more diplomatic than the Romans here, and didn’t charge head-first into a war. Instead, they sent their own ambassadors to Rome to make a formal complaint and demand the surrender of the Fabii brothers.
This didn’t go well. Even though the Senate and the priesthood denounced the actions of the brothers, they ultimately put it to the public to decide their fate. The people of Rome, however, thought this was great, and that it would be even funnier if, instead of punishing the Fabii siblings, they would be appointed as military tribunes for the following year. Admittedly, it was an amusing middle finger to the Gauls, but they might not be laughing for very long.
Clearly, the Romans were severely underestimating Brennus and the Senones, even though they realized that a fight had become almost inevitable. With the power of hindsight, Livy criticized them for not taking any extraordinary measures against this new threat, such as appointing a dictator or raising military levies. But no, the Romans simply went on with their day, confident that “they got this!”
Unsurprisingly, Brennus became furious with rage when he found out how his ambassadors were treated and immediately set off for Rome. The Italian countryside was petrified with fear, as town after town armed its men and sent the women and children away, expecting the worst. But it never came, as the Senones put their blinders on and had eyes only for Rome.
By this point, word of an angry Gallic force barrelling down towards them had reached the Romans, who thought that it was time to take things a bit more seriously. They hastily levied an army to pit against the Senones, although size estimates are all over the map. Diodorus wrote that the Romans only had 24,000 soldiers while Brennus had 70,000. Plutarch gave even numbers, saying that each side had roughly 40,000 soldiers, but he pointed out that most of the Roman soldiers were untrained and had never held a weapon in their lives.
Neither historian liked Rome’s chances…and they were right. The Romans got slaughtered. The Battle of the Allia took place circa July 387 BC, near the point where the Allia and Tiber rivers meet. Take it away, Plutarch:
“There the Barbarians came suddenly upon them, and after a disorderly and shameful struggle, they were routed. Their left wing was at once driven into the river by the Gauls and destroyed; their right wing was less cut up, because it withdrew before the enemy’s onset from the plain to the hills, from which most of them made their way back to the city. The rest, as many escaped the enemy’s hands, which were weary with slaughter, fled by night to Veii. They thought that Rome was lost and all her people slain.”
The Romans got absolutely trounced in this fight, and that actually worked out in their favor, in a weird sort of way. Livy explains:
“The Gauls for their part were almost dumb with astonishment at so sudden and extraordinary a victory. At first they did not dare to move from the spot, as though puzzled by what had happened, then they began to fear a surprise, at last they began to despoil the dead, and, as their custom is, to pile up the arms in heaps.”
The Sack of Rome
If the Senones had followed through immediately, they could have completely annihilated the entire Roman army. Instead, they allowed the remaining troops to retreat as they celebrated their overwhelming victory, then collected spoils from the battle and distributed them in camp. This bought the Romans time to prepare for the inevitable invasion by gathering their valuables in the city center on Capitoline Hill and then reinforcing it with ramparts.
Three days later, Brennus arrived in Rome, only to find its gates open and its walls defenseless. Again, the Senones feared a trap, and it took them a while until they realized that, in fact, there wasn’t one. Besides the Capitol, the rest of Rome was completely theirs. So they began pillaging and plundering, showing no mercy and putting to the sword all those they captured. Again, Plutarch gives us a vivid account of the initial chaos:
“When he had occupied Rome, Brennus surrounded the Capitol with a guard. He himself went down through the forum, and was amazed to see the men sitting there in public state and perfect silence. They neither rose up to meet their enemies when they approached, nor did they change countenance or colour, but sat there quietly, at ease and without fear, leaning on their staves and gazing into one another’s faces. The Gauls were amazed and perplexed at the unwonted sight, and for a long time hesitated to approach and touch them…But at last one of them, plucking up his courage, drew near Papirius Marcus, and stretching out his hand, gently grasped his chin and stroked his long beard, whereupon Papirius, with his staff, smote him a crushing blow on the head. Then the Barbarian drew his sword and killed him. After that, they fell upon the rest and slew them, made away with every one else they met, sacked and plundered the houses of the city for many days together, and finally burned them down and levelled them with the ground, in their wrath at the defenders of the Capitol. For these would not surrender at their summons, but when they were attacked, actually repulsed their foes from the ramparts. Therefore the Gauls inflicted every outrage upon the city, and put to the sword all whom they captured, men and women, old and young alike.”
For 360 years, since its founding, Rome had known only glory…but now, its streets were drenched in Roman blood and its buildings were in flames. But the Capitol was still in Roman hands and it was holding up well against the Gallic attacks. The extra time after the Battle of the Allia allowed them to gather all the food, weapons, and ammo inside the Capitol, where the Senators were barricaded alongside their families, the priests and the Vestal priestesses, all the able-bodied men of Rome, and the soldiers who returned to the city after the battle.
By comparison, the Senones were not as well-supplied and the siege was taking a lot longer than expected. Plutarch said that the entire ordeal lasted for seven months, so it was not a “get in & get out” affair. Eventually, Brennus had to come up with a better plan than just to keep attacking the fortified Capitol because his people needed food. He divided his army. Part of it stayed behind with him and kept up the siege on the Capitol, while the rest went out into the Italian countryside again, plundering the settlements they had overlooked on the way to Rome. One of the cities that fell on their radar was called Ardea, and it also happened to be the place where Camillus went into exile.
When the former Roman general heard of the Gallic army that had taken Rome and begun ransacking all the towns in its way, he mobilized the Ardeans with a rousing speech. He said:
“Men of Ardea! friends of old, and now my fellow-citizens —for this your kindness has granted, this my fortunes have compelled —let none of you imagine that I have come here in forgetfulness of my position. The force of circumstances and the common danger constrain every man to contribute what help he can to meet the crisis…When shall I ever be of any use to you if not in war? It was by that that I held my position in my native City as having never known defeat…Now the chance is offered to you, men of Ardea, of proving your gratitude for all the kindness that Rome has shown you…If it is your intention to defend your walls and not to allow all this country to become a second Gaul, seize your arms and muster in force by the first watch and follow me to what will be a massacre, not a battle. If I do not deliver them, whilst enchained by sleep, into your hands to be slaughtered like cattle, I am ready to accept the same fate in Ardea which I met with in Rome.”
The Romans Fight Back
Camillus’s words won over the Ardeans, who were now eager for a fight. He armed everyone old enough to swing a sword and gave them a crash course in combat, but he knew that his greatest advantage was the element of surprise. The Senones had gotten cocky and complacent. Their victory over the Romans at the Battle of the Allia was so dominant that they basically expected nobody else to stand up to them. They split up into smaller companies once they left Rome so they could attack multiple settlements at once. Then, when dusk set, they “gorged with food and the wine they drink so greedily, they throw themselves down like wild beasts, on the approach of night, in all directions by the streams, without entrenching themselves, or setting any outposts or pickets on guard.”
Clearly, the Senones were not expecting any resistance, but they were in for a rude awakening at Ardea. They did the same thing – when night came, they all fell asleep or passed out drunk in a shoddy camp outside the city. But under the cloak of darkness, Camillus led a surprise attack that saw most of the Senones get slaughtered before they even had a chance to realize what was happening:
“A few of them were sobered by fear, armed themselves, and made resistance to Camillus and his men, so that they fell fighting; but most were still mastered by sleep and wine when they were fallen upon and slain without their arms. A few only ran from the camp, under cover of darkness, and when day came, were seen straggling about the fields, but horsemen pursued them and cut them to pieces.”
Word of Camillus’s success started spreading to other nearby cities, including Veii which, you may recall, was where part of the Roman army fled after the Battle of the Allia. They had serious exiler’s remorse, lamenting “What a leader has heaven robbed Rome in Camillus, only to adorn Ardea with his victories!”
Unsurprisingly, they wanted him back to lead their army and retake Gaul from Brennus. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a bureaucratic snafu – since Camillus wasn’t even a citizen of Rome, anymore, let alone a magistrate, his marching with an army inside Rome was just as illegal as what Brennus did, even if he was doing it to save the city. Camillus decided to be a stickler for the rules this time and refused to act without senatorial approval. The problem with that, of course, was that the entire Senate was trapped inside the Capitol, surrounded by Brennus and a bunch of angry Gauls.
A soldier named Pontius Cominius volunteered to go to Rome and try to sneak inside the Capitol during the night to inform the Senate of what happened. He was successful, and the Senate eagerly appointed Camillus dictator again, giving him the authority to act. By the time Cominius returned to Ardea with the good news, Camillus had already gathered 20,000 soldiers and there were more to be had in other towns. The Romans and the Senones were gearing up for the final showdown.
Vae Victis
While Camillus was getting ready for action, inside Rome the Senones had discovered that treachery was afoot. Brennus found the tracks left behind by Pontius Cominius and realized that there was a way to climb over the barricades and reach the Capitol, provided you were part mountain goat. He gathered his most nimble of men and sent them the same way Cominius went, hoping to launch a strike on the Capitol from the inside. Although they made it past the walls, the Senones were driven back by a brave Roman soldier with the fitting name of Manlius, who kept the invaders at bay until reinforcements arrived.
The attack had failed, but the truth was that neither side was faring too well. Both were out of supplies, but at least the Senones could send pillaging parties out to forage for more. On the other hand, apparently, the Senones were also weakened by a disease that had ravaged their camp, but the Romans inside the Capitol didn’t know that. Everyone had had enough of this siege, so they finally agreed to a truce – 1,000 lbs of gold and Brennus would pack up and leave the city. After all, he had sacked Rome. He had accomplished something that had never been done before and wouldn’t be done again for another 800 years. For Brennus, this was still solidly in the “win” column.
However, when it was time to weigh the gold, the Senones decided to play shenanigans by producing a crooked scale that was off-balance so more gold was needed to reach the 1,000-lb mark. When the Romans complained that it was unfair, Brennus reminded them who was calling the shots by removing his sword, dropping it onto the weights to make them even heavier, and delivering his iconic line – Vae Victis, or “woe to the vanquished.”
It was, undoubtedly, a badass moment for Brennus but, unfortunately for him, he didn’t get to follow through on his ominous remark. As the gold was still being weighed, Camillus reached Rome with his army. He made his way through the ruined streets, reached the Senones, and…had a talk with Brennus. Okay, that’s not where we thought this was going, but that’s what happened, apparently.
First, Camillus demanded that the Senones simply leave Rome, without the gold, of course. Brennus protested this idea, insisting that an agreement had already been reached. Then Camillus responded with some clever legalese, pointing out that since he was the dictator at the time, no valid compact could be made without his say-so. Therefore, the truce was not legally binding.
Presented with this irrefutable argument, Brennus apologized for the confusion and went on his way…Just kidding. Of course, he didn’t. Finally, swords were drawn, and the battle commenced, but they were all bunched up together on the streets of Rome. Even ravaged as they were, there wasn’t that much room for two large armies to properly spread out. The Romans, being more disciplined, gained the upper hand quickly, but Brennus signaled the retreat before any serious damage could be done.
After seven long months, the Senones had left Rome but, for some reason, they didn’t keep going. Instead, they camped near the city, “at the eighth milestone on the road to Gabii.” They probably still had the glitter of gold in their eyes and, somewhat justifiably, expected that another pitched battle against the Romans would end the same way as the first one. Then, once the army was defeated again, they could return to Rome and resume the plundering.
But this time, the Romans were led by Camillus. At dawn the next day, the Roman army attacked the Gallic camp “and after a long and fierce battle, routed the enemy with great slaughter and took their camp. Of the fugitives, some were at once pursued and cut down, but most of them scattered abroad, only to be fallen upon and slain by the people of the surrounding villages and cities.”
Camillus returned triumphantly to Rome and was hailed as “Romulus” and “the second founder of the city.” And as for Brennus, he was never mentioned again so, most likely, he was killed in the slaughter. But even if he lost in the end, he did something almost inconceivable and secured his legacy as the first conqueror of Rome.
