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Alaric the Goth

An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome

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Alaric the Goth

By: Douglas Boin
Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
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About this listen

Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire. Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent "barbarians" who destroyed "civilization," at least in the conventional story of Rome's collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive.

Alaric grew up near the river border that separated Gothic territory from Roman. He survived a border policy that separated migrant children from their parents, and he was denied benefits he likely expected from military service. In stark contrast to the rising bigotry, intolerance, and zealotry among Romans during Alaric's lifetime, the Goths, as practicing Christians, valued religious pluralism and tolerance.

The marginalized Goths preserved virtues of the ancient world that we take for granted. The three nights of riots Alaric and the Goths brought to the capital struck fear into the hearts of the powerful, but the riots were not without cause. Combining vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Douglas Boin reveals the Goths' complex and fascinating legacy in shaping our world.

©2020 Douglas Boin (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Ancient Historical Rome Middle ages Italy Ancient History Africa Imperialism Middle East Ancient Greece

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A thorough guided tour through Roman history, both from the eyes of romans, the Goth, and even other ethnicities and cultures. Massively fascinating, but it does not follow a clear line. No irrelevant parts, but it moves all over, so you learn a lot about a lot rather than a lot about one single subject/event. Narrator was doing a good job as well.

Roman history is always interesting.

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This had the potential to be really interesting, but there's a lack of focus that leaves it meandering all over the place. Rather than being a biography (because there's very little material available), it sketches a profile of life in the late Roman empire to suggest the sorts of experiences he might have had. In particular it looks at the long-standing Roman xenophobia and increasing religious intolerance of the reigns of Theodosius and his sons, and the effects that had on Gothic immigrants like Alaric.

The book seems aimed at a reader unfamiliar with the period, so there's a huge amount of background, and parallels with the present, to try to provide context for the times. The trouble is that the actual narrative gets a bit lost in frequent asides and examples. It has the depth and detail of a sprawling epic and tries to fit it to the running time of a brief overview. It's a shame, because somewhere in all this are insights into Alaric and how he was perceived by his contemporaries and subsequent ages which were genuinely interesting and well thought out.

On top of that, the narration was quite dull, with some pretty dodgy or inconsistent pronunciation.

a bit confused

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This book opens up to life of a man born on the edges of a huge empire whose people marginalised at the best he often follow worse. He rises in the Empire and whether he wants to or not, he becomes one of the man who knocked the empire off its perch and began its topple.

Detailed and expansive. A tour de force of an outsider’s life on the edge of civilisation.

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Very little insightful about Alaric but it is a passably good general history of the time of Alaric and the lead up to the Gothic sack.
The author clearly has passionate views of illegal immigration and asylum which he can’t keep separate from events 1600 years ago.
One wonders if he has thought of the consequences of drawing comparisons of modern refugees in Europe and the armed men who sacked Rome?

A modern parable glossed over history

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