Battle of the Allia

Long time, no posted. Last time I posted I talked about the Greeks, so this time I thought I would to the Romans. However, instead of talking about them being victorious, I will talk about their defeat at the hands of the Gaul, so without further ado…

The Battle of the Allia involved the first invasion of Rome by the Celts. It was fought near the river of the same name in 387 B.C, and it ended in a Roman defeat.

According to Ellis, author of The Celts: A History, before the battle happened, the Senones, the Celtic band in question,settled outside the city of Clausium. This upset the citizens, who called upon Rome for help, who in turn sent in three ambassadors to talk things over. When it did not work out, the Clausians decided to force the Senones to leave. It is said the Romans broke an oath of neutrality by siding with the Clausians. In the conflict, Quintus Fabius, one of the ambassadors, killed a Gaelic chieftain.

Livy notes that, afterwards, when the Celts sent their own ambassador to Rome to demand justice in the form of the surrender of the murderer, they were enraged to find that not only would there be no justice, but that the ones who should be punished were rewarded instead by being given higher ranks. In the end, the Celts marched on Rome to take revenge.

Now, one would think that, with the Romans numbering 24,000 and the Celts being half that number, the Romans would win (Elis, Celts And Roman: The Celts in Italy). However, due to having the best equipped people in the center of the formation, and those with lesser quality equipment on the sides, it ended with a center massacre, and the survivors fled either to Veii or to Rome.

Meanwhile, citizens of Rome barricaded themselves on Capitoline Hill. Although the Senones tried a direct assault, they were unsuccessful due to quick thinking and a straight-on charge from the Romans, and as a result lost many of their numbers. Also, the rest of the city was plundered, and nearly all of the records were lost. An epidemic broke out among the Celts, which was likely due to them not being adequately prepared for a siege (reason being they did not bury the dead). The siege ended when the Romans negotiated to pay 1000 pounds of gold to the other side. The defeat did bring about two good things: the construction of the Servian Wall to protect the city and the restructuring of the military (exchanged Greek phalanx for something furnished with better armor and weapons.) (Livy, V. 48)

Weighing of Gold- ancienthistory.about.com

According to Will Straw, when it comes to communication, speed is an important factor and is seen as a fundamental value, a goal, and an end in itself. Media scholar Todd Gitlin says this: “never have so many communicated so much, on so many screens, through so many channels, absorbing so many hours of irreplaceable human attention”, talking about the number of ways we obtain information (books, magazines, internet, television) and also how the media of today is more adaptable to mobility (Mp3 on our ears when we go out, reading newspapers on the bus, updating our Facebook status wherever there is an available connection, and so on). Also, if a natural disaster happens in an area of a country, people can stay connected and thus reassure themselves that everything will be alright. If speed is such an important aspect of communication, as in the faster we receive the information the better, then how important was this concept when the Romans sent a runner to request aid when some of them were trapped at Veii? No matter how fast he must have gone, he is still a human being, and thus limited by the terrain around him, not to mention his own body. But I cannot help but wonder, what would happen if the Ancient Romans could send emails and text messages the same way we could, or at least in a similar fashion? For one, they could send messages and receive replies faster than with using a human, although I imagine if they were sending a message to the Senate asking for help, they would probably wait awhile for a reply. For another, rebellions and assassination plots would be put down faster, easier to track down and all; although they could just as easily be developed and concealed. I wonder what their MSN screen name would be....

 It was the first defeat of the Romans at the hands of the Celts, but it would not be the last. Don’t believe me? Just ask Asterix….