SACK OF ROME BY THE GAULS (390 B.C.).--We have already mentioned how, in
very remote times, the tribes of Gaul crossed the Alps and established
themselves in Northern Italy (see p. 223). While the Romans were
conquering the towns of Etruria, these barbarian hordes were moving
southward, and overrunning and devastating the countries of Central Italy.

[Illustration: GAULS IN SIGHT OF ROME.]

News was brought to Rome that they were advancing upon that city. A Roman
army met them on the banks of the river Allia, eleven miles from the
capital. The Romans were driven in great panic from the field. It would be
impossible to picture the consternation and despair that reigned at Rome
when the fugitives brought to the city intelligence of the terrible
disaster. It was never forgotten, and the day of the battle of Allia was
ever after a black day in the Roman calendar. The sacred vessels of the
temples were buried; the eternal fires of Vesta were hurriedly borne by
their virgin keepers to a place of safety in Etruria; and a large part of
the population fled in dismay across the Tiber. No attempt was made to
defend any portion of the city save the citadel. This stronghold was kept
by a little garrison, under the command of the hero Marius Manlius. A
tradition tells how, when the barbarians, under cover of the darkness of
night, had climbed the steep rock and had almost effected an entrance to
the citadel, the defenders were awakened by the cackling of some geese,
which the piety of the famishing soldiers had spared, because these birds
were sacred to Juno.

News was now brought the Gauls that the Venetians were overrunning their
possessions in Northern Italy. This led them to open negotiations with the
Romans. For one thousand pounds of gold, according to the historian Livy,
the Gauls agreed to retire from the city. As the story runs, while the