Alaric
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Alaric. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
al'a-rik (376?-410), king of the Visigoths. The name is from the Gothic al reiks, all ruler. The date of his birth is uncertain, but Alaric was born on the island of Peuce in the Danube. He belonged to a princely family, members of a Gothic horde in the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire. In 394 we find Alaric, at the head of a body of Gothic auxiliaries, employed by Emperor Theodosius the Great in putting down a revolt at the head of the Adriatic, in what is now Austrian territory. Theodosius, dying, left his empire to be ruled jointly by his two sons-Arcadius to rule the east at Constantinople; Honorius to rule the west at Ravenna. Both were weak. Alaric was declared king of the Visigoths and threw off allegiance to the empire. He began a series of invasions. He entered Greece in 396, but was met by Stilicho, a huge Vandal in the service of Honorius, and was compelled to withdraw. Seemingly to keep him still, Alaric was made prefect of a large district on the Danube. In 400 Alaric appeared in northern Italy at the head of a large force. He was met by Stilicho again, and was so far defeated that he accepted a second prefecture. Honorius, like many weak rulers, was jealous and suspicious. He caused Stilicho, the one mind in his service, to be murdered. In 408 Alaric rose again. For the first time since the day of Hannibal, Rome saw a hostile army at the gates. The inhabitants were reduced to the verge of starvation. Asked to name terms, Alaric offered to withdraw if given "all the gold and silver in the city, whether public or private property; all portable property of value, and all slaves of barbarian origin." Finally the Goth was induced to accept "five thousand pounds of gold, thirty thousand of silver, four thousand silken robes, three thousand pieces of scarlet cloth, and three thousand pounds of pepper." The last item suggests the scarcity of the latter article, and the esteem in which it was held. To raise the whole ransom required the most strenuous exertions on the part of the city. The ransom was arranged in 409. A short year later, Honorius and Alaric fell out, and the Goth marched into the city August 24, 410, and gave his soldiers liberty to plunder for six days. Though called barbarians, the Goths had been converted to nominal Christianity. Comparatively few lives were taken. The churches were spared and church property was not molested. By a curious coincidence Alaric's pillage occurred just eight hundred years later than the sack of Rome by Brennus, the Gaul. From Rome Alaric led his host southward, intending to subjugate Sicily and to found an empire in Africa. Death cut short his plans. His followers made their slaves turn aside the stream of the Busentinus, in southern Italy. In the bed of the river the body of the chieftain was buried, and the stream restored to its course. The slaves who had done the work were then killed, that no enemy might know the burial-place of the great leader. The followers of Alaric, it may be said, made terms with the Roman emperor and went westward into Gaul and Spain, where they founded a Visigothic kingdom which came to an end early in the eighth century. It is not known to what extent Alaric was influenced by Christianity and by civilization. He was a leader of ability and ambition. He taught the hordes of Europe the road to Rome, and paved the way for subsequent invasions. See Goths ; Vandals ; Stilicho 2026 Editor's Note: Alaric's sack of Rome in 410 so shattered the ancient world's confidence that St. Augustine wrote The City of God to answer it. Legend says he was buried with his plunder beneath the diverted riverbed of the Busento, and the slaves who dug the grave were killed to keep it secret — a treasure still hunted today. (Ed: BR 2026-07-15)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a celebrated conqueror, King of the Visigoths. He was a commander of the Goths in the service mm コ பப THE ALAMO, SAN of Rome, and in 395 revolted and invaded Greece, capturing Athens. He was opposed by Stilicho, and retreated to Epirus; was then made prefect of Illyricum by the Emperor Arcadius, and was elected king by his own people. In 400 he invaded the Western Empire, reaching Milan in 403. He besieged the Emperor Honorius in Asto, who was relieved by Stilicho, and a drawn battle was fought at Pollentia; soon afterward he suffered a serious defeat at Verona. He was again appointed prefect of Illyricum. On the death of Stilicho, Honorius repudiated his obligations to Alaric, who immediately marched upon Rome and laid siege to it (408); but was induced to leave by the promise of 5,000 pounds of gold and 30,000 pounds of silver. Enraged by further breach of covenant, he advanced on Rome a third time (410), and his troops pillaged the city for six days, Alaric, who was an Arian Christian; like his people, forbidding his soldiers to dishonor women or destroy religious buildings. When Alaric quitted Rome, it was only to prosecute the conquest of Sicily. In 410 he died at Cosenza, in Calabria. ALARIC II., eighth King of the Visigoths, ruled, from 484 onward, Gaul S. of the Loire, and most of Spain. An Arian, he was attacked, completely routed