The sack marked a decisive end to the flourishing cultural period known as the High Renaissance. Rome had been the epicenter of artistic achievement, home to Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante.

The first sack of Rome wasn't when you think it was The Gauls—not the infamous Vandals or Visigoths—were the first to conquer Rome and plunder the city for its wealth. Their leader's words ...

Joseph-Noël Sylvestre's 1890 painting of the sack of Rome Public domain via Wikimedia Commons You have two options: run out of the city or run to a church. Your choice depends on who you believe.

Almost as soon as Alaric, ostensibly the victor, decamped to move across Italy, the pens of Rome’s greatest authors were moving across the page. Goths could write a bit but they couldn’t match ...

But it turns out the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that managed to take over Rome in 455, may not deserve that connotation. The first known written reference to the tribe was in A.D. 77, when Pliny ...

If accepted, new guards are sworn in every year on May 6, the anniversary of the Sack of Rome, in a pomp-filled ceremony. In all, there are 135 members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard.