Brennus

• Brennus was the King of the Senones who invaded Italy in 390 BCE with an army of Cisalpine Gauls and challenged the Roman Republican army near Rome.
• He appears to be the same person referred to as Brennius by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ (History of the Kings of Britain).

Battle of the Allia (390 BCE)

• On the 18 July 390 BCE Brennus completely routed the Roman Republican Army at the Battle of the Allia and then marched through Rome which was left undefended.
• However, some of the defendants had regrouped on the Capitoline Hill which the Gauls now surrounded and laid siege to.
• The defendants were able to communicate with a nearby exiled Roman General called Camillus and his army via a secret path on the vertical cliff side of the Capitoline.
• The Gauls discovered this secret path and waited for a full moon before sending their men to scale the cliff.

The Geese of the Temple of Juno

• The Temple of Juno had always kept Geese which were considered a sacred animal. Whilst the Roman soldiers were sleeping, the first Gallic soldiers climbed over the top of the cliff, but the geese started honking loudly.
• This woke up the sleeping Roman soldiers who were then able to repulse the Gauls, who were vulnerable as they climbed the cliff and the attack failed.

Livy's Story in the ‘History’, Book V, chapters 47-49.

• Battle of the Allia
  • The Battle between the Gauls and the Romans in 390 BCE is referred to as the Battle of the Allia.
  • The Gallic Army entered Rome but was unable to capture the citadel on the Capitoline hill. When the Gauls attempted to scale a secret footpath in the middle of the night, the defending Romans were alerted by the Geese on the Capitoline Hill.
  • As the siege had become a stalemate, both sides decided to agree to a truce and the Romans agreed to pay the Gauls to retire by giving them a large amount of gold.
  • As the gold was being weighed, the Romans accused the Gauls of falsely adding weights to extract more gold.
  • At this point Brennus cried Vae Victis, ‘Woe to the Vanquished’, and threw his sword on to the scales tipping the balance in favour of the Gauls
  • The retired Roman General Camillus finally interceded and stopped the exchange of gold declaring the Romans would prefer to fight the Gauls rather than to pay.
  • The two sides drew up for battle and this time the Romans defeated the Gauls and Rome was saved.

Sources

• Livy
  • ‘History’, Book V, Chapters 47-49.
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
  • ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ (History of the Kings of Britain).