The sacred geese have attempted to save Rome, but the siege of the Gauls is still not over! What could possibly happen next? We continue our deep dive into the events purported to all take place In 390 BCE.

Despite the Romans apparently being surprised by the Gauls turning up on their doorstep, the Gauls have been in northern Italy for some time as far as we can trace archaeological evidence. The rumours that the Gauls came to central Italy in the search for cooler weather, but instead what they find is a city of Romans, and as the siege drags on, hygiene starts to emerge as a problem.

Maybe we can come to an arrangement?

The siege is getting tedious for both sides, so amidst the military encounters, conversations start about maybe bringing the siege to a close through mutual agreement. The details of the siege consequences include lack of food, issues with cadavers, and spread of disease. And it seems neither the Romans or the Gauls want to keep going with this situation.

“Woe to the Conquered!”

Those Gauls are pretty cheeky in the moment of coming to a monetary agreement to ensure they’ll pack up their siege and leave Roman territory. Not only to they ask for 1000 pounds of gold, but they have the nerve to add some extra items to the scales to encourage the Romans to pay even more than this sum. Perhaps even worse, are our sources really telling us a story of Rome resisting the Gauls, or could it be the case that ALL the city was taken and the Romans were legitimately and completely defeated? We explore the possibilities. 

Where in the world is Camillus?

Is he in Ardea pumping out a training montage with the locals in preparation to swoop in and rescue Rome? Or is waiting in the wings but misses his cue to come on stage leaving Rome to deal with the Gauls all by themselves? Our sources have some disagreements which we’ll delve into.

Things to listen out for:

• An origin story for Jupiter Pistor (Jupiter ‘the baker’)
• The centrality or not of Camillus to the siege narrative
• Important references to “Eye of the Tiger” 
• What are the Gauls interested in?
• What might colour the Romans’ perceptions of the Gauls?
• Where did the Romans find 1000 POUNDS of gold????
• The role of the Roman matrons in saving the City
• The tricky legacy of who paid the ransom to the Gauls and what happens afterwards…

For our full show notes and edited transcripts, head on over to https://partialhistorians.com/

Support the show

Patreon

Ko-Fi

Read our books

Rex: The Seven Kings of Rome

Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.