minded emperor procured the assassination of his minister, the only Roman who had proved himself able to cope with the Gothic forces, and broke all the treaties which Stilicho had made with Alaric. The latter at once marched upon Rome (408) by the Via Flaminia, and laid siege to the city. On coming to treat with him, the Romans found his demands so extravagant that they threatened a desperate resistance, to which Alaric made the well-known reply, “The closer hay is pressed, the easier is it mown.” At last the barbarian was induced to retire by the promise of 5000 pounds of gold and 30,000 pounds of silver, besides other treasure. The respite, however, was but for a time. Honorius, who had left Rome for Ravenna, refused to ratify by treaty certain conditions, moderate in themselves, on which Alaric firmly insisted, and the capital was again at the mercy of the enemy. With commendable forbearance, Alaric contented himself at first with taking possession of Ostia, from which, he summoned the city to surrender, threatening the immediate destruction of the food stores in case of refusal. The terrified people at once opened their gates, and agreed that the conqueror should appoint another emperor in place of Honorius. Alaric’s choice fell upon Attalus, the prefect of the city, who, though well received at first, soon proved himself thoroughly incompetent, and Honorius had to be restored. While the conferences as to the restoration were still being carried on at Ravenna, the treachery of Honorius occasioned yet another and more disastrous siege of Rome by the Goths. Sarus, a barbarian and a hereditary enemy of the house of Balti, was permitted by the emperor to attack the camp of the Goths and return in triumph to Ravenna. Alaric was naturally indignant, laid siege to Rome for the third time, and gained an entrance by the Salarian gate on the night of the 24th August 410. For six days the city was given over to the horrors of a pillage, which the humane orders of Alaric did but little to mitigate. On the 29th August Alaric withdrew his troops from Rome, and led them into southern Italy, which he ravaged for several months. Towards the close of the year, while engaged in the siege of Cosentia (Cosenza), he was seized with an illness which proved fatal after a very short duration. He was buried with his treasures in the bed of the river Busentinus, which was diverted from its channel for that purpose, and all the prisoners who were engaged in the work were put to death in order that the place of his sepulture might remain unknown. The character of Alaric has been somewhat variously represented by historians. In forming an estimate of it many have been misled by the use of the term barbarian, which, as applied to him, it should be remembered, indicates a national and not a personal distinction. Many proofs may be found of his humanity and moderation in trying circumstances, while, on the other hand, the charges of cruelty brought against him are not borne out by evidence. His marked respect for Christianity is explained by the fact that, if he was not himself a Christian, he had come early under Christian influence, having had frequent intercourse with Arian teachers.
ALARIC II., eighth king of the Goths in Spain, succeeded his father Euric or Evaric about 484. His dominions not only included the greater part of Spain (Hispania Tarraconensis and Bætica), but extended into Gaul as far as the rivers Rhone and Loire. In religion Alaric was an Arian, but that he was tolerant of the orthodox Catholics is shown by the decrees of the Council of Agde, summoned by him in 506. He displayed similar wisdom and liberality in political affairs by appointing a commission to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which should form the authoritative code for his dominions. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum. It contains six books of the code of Theodosius, and is therefore sometimes called the Corpus Theodosii. The full text has been given by Savigny. Alaric was of a peaceful disposition, and endeavoured strictly to maintain the treaty which his father had concluded with the Franks. Clovis, however, desiring to obtain the Gothic province in Gaul, found a pretext for war in the Arianism of Alaric. The intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, proved unavailing. The two armies met in 507 at Voglade (Vouillé), near Poitiers, where the Goths were defeated, and their king, who took to flight, was overtaken and slain by Clovis himself.
ALASCO, John (in Polish, Lascki), a Polish nobleman, born in 1499, who travelled extensively in his youth, and during a residence in Zurich imbibed the doctrines of the Reformation from Zwingli. At Basel in 1525 he had frequent intercourse with Erasmus, who held him in great esteem, and bequeathed his library to him. On his return to his native country he was offered more than once ecclesiastical preferment, which the change in his religious opinions prevented him from accepting. With the view of securing more freedom, he quitted Poland, and after travelling for a time, became pastor of a Protestant congregation at Embden, in East Friesland, in 1542. Foreseeing persecution there, he went to London in 1551, on the invitation of Cranmer, and became superintendent of the congregation of foreign Protestants, most of whom were driven into exile like himself in consequence of the Interim. The revenues of the church of Augustin Friars were assigned to support him and four assistant ministers, who had to be approved by the king. On the accession of Mary in 1553, Alasco and all his congregation were banished. In 1556 he returned to Poland, where he died on the 13th January 1560. Alasco wrote a number of theological treatises, chiefly in defence of the doctrine of the sacraments as held by the Swiss Reformers, and he was one of the eighteen divines who prepared the Polish version of the Bible, which was published in 1563.
