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The Gaulish Invasion of Rome |
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Just as a continuance of the meeting, I thought I'd post a quick summary of Livy's account of the sack of Rome: Basically, it's those same partisan politics that were causing so much civil unrest in rome, that brought on the invasion. The latest round of Gauls migrating found the area south of the mountains to be already settled, and moved further south into the peninsula. There they encountered an Etruscan city, who sent to Rome for help. (the etruscans at this point had been at war with rome for decades, but this particular group had not participated in the rading) Rome, after years of fighting, decided the olive branch was a good idea, and sent 3 military tribunes to be their ambassadors. Sadly, they were hotheaded young aristocrats.
The Gauls claimed that if the Etruscans had to send elsewhere for help, they obviously had more land than they could hold, and if they gave up a section they would be left in peace. Or if they refused the Gauls would fight them and take it anyway. (hey, no one said they were the good guys in this story *grin*) The tribunes broke the sacred rule of ambassadors, no violence done to them, and they do none themselves. They fought right along side the Etruscans, killed a tribal cheif and stripped him of his arms and goods. This, needless to say, ticked off the Celts. And to make matters worse, when the Gaulish ambassadors went to Rome, the offenders were not only left unpunished, they were re-elected as tribunes, one of the highest offices in the land. The romans had had trouble with letting their youth get away with murder (literally in some cases) and were still favoring them regardless of their crime. After this slap in the face, the Gauls forgot the Etruscans, made a bee-line for Rome and nearly destroyed the entire city, before the romans could re-unite their scattered troops and evict them. And thus the 100 years or so of fighting between Rome and the Gauls in the peninsula started, ending with the subjugation of the gauls and the start of the roman expansion. -Raffaella |
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