Eight Times Rome was Sacked, Pillaged, and Destroyed

When Americans visit Rome, they are impressed by the beautiful architecture that's old, sturdy, and well-crafted. So this is what the Roman Empire was like! Not exactly. The buildings that make up Rome are several hundred years old, which impresses Americans, but in the history of Rome they aren't all that old. The Eternal City has been in place for more than two thousand years, but it's been destroyed over and over and rose from its ashes to live again. Archaeological digs happen in Rome any time a building is replaced, and underneath there are foundations of the city's previous iterations that were razed and built over.

Roman expansion made for a lot of enemies over time, and many of those enemies managed to take the city and ransack it but good. Rome was taken by the Galls, the Visigoths, the Vandals, Germanic barbarians, the Ostrogoths, Arab raiders, the Normans, and the Holy Roman Empire. That last one seems like a civil war, but it included most of Europe marching against Rome. Read about each of these conflicts, which together show how Rome, as a city, managed to weather the violence and rise again, even as the empire was destroyed.

(Image credit: Karl Bryullov)