Sack of Rome: Did you mean...?

An infographic of the seven times the city of Rome was sacked. Across more than 1,900 years (390 BCE–1527 CE), the sacks of Rome reveal not a single moment of collapse, but a recurring pattern of vulnerability shaped by...

Constantinople at first had much in common with the temporary capitals of the 2nd and 3rd century CE and the tetrarchic capitals. It was an existing city of medium size, well located on the road network...

A 16th century CE painting by Palma Le Jeune depicting the attack on Constantinople in 1204 CE during the Fourth Crusade.

Marcus Furius Camillus (c. 445/446-365 BCE) was the first great general of the Roman Republic to also prove himself an able administrator and honorable politician. He was chosen as dictator five times, celebrated four triumphs, and...

Brennus (c. 390 BCE) was the Gallic war chief of the Senones who sacked and occupied Rome in 390 BCE. Nothing is known of him outside of the accounts given of this event which immortalized him as coining the phrase, “Woe to the Vanquished”...

The Goths were a Germanic tribe who are frequently referenced for their part in the fall of the Roman Empire and their subsequent rise to power in the region of northern Europe, initially in Italy. Prior to their contact with Rome...

Tukulti-Ninurta I (reigned 1244-1208 BCE) was a king of the Assyrian Empire during the period known as the Middle Empire. He was the son of Shalmaneser I (reigned 1274-1245 BCE) who had completed the work of his father, Adad...

Authority in ancient Rome was complex, and as one can expect from Rome, full of tradition, myth, and awareness of their own storied history. Perhaps the ultimate authority was...

Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) first assumed the role of dictator in 49 BCE, however, once he had secured his election as consul for the following year, he resigned after 11 days. After defeating...

To many historians, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE has always been viewed as the end of the ancient world and the onset of the Middle Ages, often improperly called the Dark Ages, despite...