After the Gauls defeated the Romans at the confluence of the Tiber and the Allia rivers, the Gauls marched on to Rome. In late July 390 BCE, the undefended city fell to the invaders to be burnt and sacked. Only on the Capitol Hill, did a small number of Romans put up a valiant defense, holding out until famine forced them to surrender. The Romans were forced to pay the Gauls a hefty ransom of gold to depart. The Gauls too had been decimated, by starvation and by malaria. To prevent their city from being sacked again, the Romans improved their military and strengthened the city wall.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/910/the-sack-of-rome-by-the-gauls-390-bce/.
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