Alaric the Goth

An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome

By: Douglas Boin

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

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

Nice short book that tries to upend the story of Alaric

The title is a little misleading, the author admits there are very few contemporary accounts of Alaric and the Goths and all of them are biased towards the Romans. This book focuses more on describing the cultural and political atmosphere of the Roman Empire in the late 300s-early 400s AD. Specifically their attitudes toward and treatment of immigrant groups such as the Goths. The author makes some reasonable inferences about Alaric (he led raids from an early age and rose in the ranks of the Roman military which suggests he was a capable strategist and reasonably charismatic) but doesn’t go too far into speculation about his character.
I most enjoyed the way the author re-contextualized the popular perception of the Goths, they were not marauding, German raiders, but closer to wandering Romanian refugees. They were stuck in an untenable position between raiding tribes from the north and the powerful, exploitive and increasingly xenophobic Roman Empire to the South. Overall, a nice focused history on a subject I did not know much about prior to listening to this.

great story told from a different perspective

if you want to learn more about the goths told from their perspective this is a great place to start. well organized and well written. enjoyable read

Wonderful Read

Truly a great book for someone who wasn’t as familiar with the Gothic culture. Alaric is a fascinating character lost in history until now.

lots of good history!!

I enjoyed this way more then I expected. it had explanations for things I didn't think to connect. it's got more then gothic history, as would be right because they were a tribe on the move. I liked the info about the religious subjects and forming of the christianity.
I highly recommend it. the author adds well researched takes on issues and events I believe we previously misrepresented.
I enjoyed it

Opinion more than history

Too often the author uses phrases such as "So and so might have done this" or "might have seen or met this or that." As with news channel opinion programs, the author speculates too often. Also he takes a negative attitude to the Christians of the era under study as a default position. I learned some new things, but was suspicious of the opinionated approach.