The Visigoths surrounded Rome and starved them out. They then let the Goths in and to their surprise there was not much they wanted. The Goths left and the slaves killed there masters, i.e. Romans
Unless they were beating Gluteus Maximus with lead pipes or shooting him with lever action and a lead bullet you might want to reconsider you history lessons.
I have no real fascination with this era at least not until they started building some REALLY SWELL CHURCHES.
Third siege and sack[edit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(410)
An anachronistic fifteenth-century miniature depicting the sack of 410.
Alaric was on the verge of an agreement with Honorius when his forces were attacked by Sarus, a fellow Gothic commander who was allied to Honorius and who had a blood feud with Ataulf. In response, Alaric returned to Rome and laid siege to it a third time. On August 24, 410, slaves opened Rome's Salarian Gate and the Visigoths poured in and looted for three days. Many of the city's great buildings were ransacked, including the mausoleums of Augustus and Hadrian, in which many Roman Emperors of the past were buried; the ashes of the urns in both tombs were scattered. The Goths also removed a huge silver ciborium from the Lateran Palace but left the liturgical vessels of St.Peter's in situ. The sack was nonetheless, by the standards of the age, restrained. The two main basilicas of St.Peter and St.Paul were nominated places of sanctuary. Structural damage was largely limited to the area of the Salarian Gate (where the Gardens of Sallust sustained heavy damage), and the Basilica Aemilia / Basilica Julia. [6] The city's citizens were devastated. Many Romans were taken captive, including the Emperor's sister, Galla Placidia, who subsequently married Ataulf. Tens of thousands of Romans subsequently fled the economically ruined city into the countryside,[citation needed] with many of them seeking refuge in Africa.[7]
The historian Procopius recorded the following satire: the feeble-minded Emperor Honorius was informed by a eunuch that "Rome was destroyed" and, thinking the reference was to his favorite hen named "Roma", cried out in great consternation: "How could it be? She just ate out of my hand." Upon being informed of his mistake, the hapless emperor was greatly relieved.
Ostrogoths
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi or Austrogothi) were a branch of the later Goths (the other major branch being the Visigoths). The Ostrogoths, under Theoderic the Great, established a kingdom in Italy in the late 5th and 6th centuries. The Ostrogoths traced their origins to the Greutungi and a semi-legendary kingdom north of the Black Sea in the 3rd and 4th centuries. They were part of the Invasion of Rome. Invading southward from the Baltic Sea, the Ostrogoths, at the time known as the Greuthungi,[dubious – discuss] built up a huge empire stretching from the Dniester to the Volga River and from the Black Sea to the Baltic shores.[dubious – discuss] The Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century,[dubious – discuss] and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them in about 370.
After their subjugation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after which they reappear in Pannonia on the middle Danube River as federates of the Romans. However, a pocket remained behind in the Crimea when the bulk of them moved to central Europe, and these Crimean Ostrogoths existed until at least the 16th century. After the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao (453), the Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great first moved to Moesia (c. 475–488) and later conquered the Italian Kingdom of the German[dated info] warrior Odoacer. Theoderic became king of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493 and died in 526. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a kingdom in Italy in 56
Within the Roman Empire[edit]
Main article: Gothic and Vandal warfare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_tribes
Maximum extent of territories ruled by Theodoric the Great in 523.
Major sources for Gothic history include Ammianus Marcellinus' Res gestae, which mentions Gothic involvement in the civil war between emperors Procopius and Valens of 365 and recounts the Gothic refugee crisis and revolt of 376–82, and Procopius' de bello gothico, which describes the Gothic war of 535–52.
In 332 Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman Empire's border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Ariaricus, son of the King of the Goths, was captured. In 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000 Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes.[56][57][58] Both the Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Byzantines, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was mostly composed of Germans,[dated info] as the quality of the native Romans troops kept declining.[59] The Goths were converted to Arianism by Ulfila during this time.
Refugees and invaders in the Roman