Alaric arrived; he besieged, threw into confusion and broke into trembling Rome — having first given orders, however, that any who had fled to holy places, and especially to the basilicas of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, should above all be left inviolate and safe, and then that, as far as they could, though greedy for plunder, they should refrain from blood.
1 adest Alaricus, trepidam Romam obsidet turbat inrumpit, dato tamen praecepto prius, ut si qui in sancta loca praecipueque in sanctorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli basilicas confugissent, hos inprimis inuiolatos securosque esse sinerent, tum deinde in quantum possent praedae inhiantes a sanguine temperarent.
It happened too — so that this breaking into the City might be the more clearly proved to have been brought about by the indignation of God rather than by the strength of the enemy — that the blessed Innocent, bishop of the city of Rome, like righteous Lot withdrawn from Sodom, was then at Ravenna by the hidden providence of God, and did not see the destruction of a sinful people.
2 accidit quoque, quo magis illa urbis inruptio indignatione Dei acta quam hostis fortitudine probaretur, ut beatus Innocentius, Romanae urbis episcopus, tamquam iustus Loth subtractus a Sodomis occulta prouidentia Dei apud Rauennam tunc positus, peccatoris populi non uideret excidium.
As the barbarians were rushing about the City, it chanced that one of the Goths, a man of power and a Christian, found in a certain church building a virgin consecrated to God, now advanced in years; and when he courteously asked her for gold and silver,
3 discurrentibus per urbem barbaris forte unus Gothorum idemque potens et Christianus sacram Deo uirginem iam aetate prouectam, in quadam ecclesiastica domo reperit, cumque ab ea aurum argentumque honeste exposceret,
she, with faithful steadfastness, promised that she had a great deal of it with her and would bring it out at once; and she brought it out. And when she saw the barbarian astonished, as the treasures were laid out, at their size, weight and beauty, and even at the unfamiliar character of the vessels, the virgin of Christ said to the barbarian:
4 illa fideli constantia esse apud se plurimum et mox proferendum spopondit ac protulit, cumque expositis opibus attonitum barbarum magnitudine pondere pulchritudine, ignota etiam uasorum qualitate intellegeret, uirgo Christi ad barbarum ait:
“These are the sacred vessels of the apostle Peter. Take them, if you dare; the deed will be yours to answer for. As for me, since I cannot defend them, I dare not keep them.”
5 haec Petri apostoli sacra ministeria sunt. praesume, si audes; de facto tu uideris. ego quia defendere nequeo, tenere non audeo.
The barbarian, moved to reverence for religion by the fear of God and by the faith of the virgin, reported these things to Alaric by a messenger; and Alaric at once ordered all the vessels to be carried back, just as they were, to the basilica of the apostle,
6 barbarus uero ad reuerentiam religionis timore Dei et fide uirginis motus ad Alaricum haec per nuntium rettulit: qui continuo reportari ad apostoli basilicam uniuersa ut erant uasa imperauit,
and the virgin too, and with her all the Christians who might join themselves to her, to be escorted there under protection. That house, so they say, was far from the holy places, with half the City lying between.
7 uirginem etiam simulque omnes qui se adiungerent Christianos eodem cum defensione deduci. ea domus a sanctis sedibus longe ut ferunt et medio interiectu urbis aberat.
And so, to the great wonder of all who watched, the gold and silver vessels were distributed one to each person, raised above their heads, and carried openly; the holy procession was guarded on every side by swords drawn in its defence;
8 itaque magno spectaculo omnium disposita per singulos singula et super capita elata palam aurea atque argentea uasa portantur; exertis undique ad defensionem gladiis pia pompa munitur;
a hymn to God was sung publicly, Romans and barbarians singing it together; the trumpet of salvation sounded far and wide amid the sack of the City, and summoned and roused all, even those hiding in secret places;
9 hymnum Deo Romanis barbarisque concinentibus publice canitur; personat late in excidio urbis salutis tuba omnesque etiam in abditis latentes inuitat ac pulsat;
from every side they ran together to the vessels of Peter, the vessels of Christ; very many pagans too mingled with the Christians, by profession if not by faith, and in this way nevertheless escaped for a time — the more to be confounded; and the more abundantly the Romans flocked together as fugitives, the more eagerly the barbarians poured around them as their defenders.
10 concurrunt undique ad uasa Petri uasa Christi, plurimi etiam pagani Christianis professione etsi non fide admiscentur et per hoc tamen ad tempus, quo magis confundantur, euadunt; quanto copiosius adgregantur Romani confugientes, tanto auidius circumfunduntur barbari defensores.
O holy and ineffable discernment of the divine judgement! O that holy and saving river, which, rising in a small house, as it flowed along its blessed channel towards the dwelling places of the saints, swept wandering and imperilled souls into the bosom of salvation with a holy rapacity!
11 o sacra et ineffabilis diuini iudicii discretio! o sanctum istud et salutare flumen, quod parua exortum domo, dum beato alueo in sanctorum sedes tendit, oberrantes periclitantesque animas in salutis sinum pia rapacitate peruexit!
O that glorious trumpet of the Christian warfare, which, summoning all alike to life with its sweetest melody, left without excuse for death those whom, in their disobedience, it did not rouse to salvation!
12 o praeclara illa Christianae militiae tuba, quae generaliter cunctos dulcissimo ad uitam modulamine inuitans, quos ad salutem inoboedientes non suscitauit, inexcusabiles reliquit ad mortem.
This mystery, which lay in the carrying of the vessels, the singing of hymns and the leading of the people, was, I believe, like a great sieve, through which, out of the gathered people of Rome, as from a great heap of grain, the living grains flowed out through every hole of their hiding places from the whole circuit of the City, moved either by opportunity or by truth;
13 mysterium hoc, quod in transferendis uasis, dicendis hymnis, ducendis populis fuit, tamquam magnum cribrum fuisse arbitror, per quod ex congregatione populi Romani tamquam ex magna massa frumenti per omnia ex uniuerso ambitu ciuitatis latebrarum foramina effluxere grana uiua siue occasione siue ueritate commota;
yet all that believed in present salvation were received from the granary of the Lord’s preparation, while the rest, like dung and like chaff, already judged by their very unbelief or disobedience, were left for extermination and burning. Who could weigh these things with the wonder they deserve? Who could proclaim them with worthy praise?
14 omnia tamen de praesenti salute credentia ex horreo dominicae praeparationis accepta sunt, reliqua uero uelut stercora et uelut paleae, ipsa uel incredulitate uel inoboedientia praeiudicata, ad exterminium atque incendium remanserunt. quis haec perpendere plenis miraculis, quis praedicare dignis laudibus queat?
On the third day after they had entered the City, the barbarians departed of their own accord, having indeed set fire to a certain number of buildings, but not even so great a fire as chance had caused in the year 700 from its founding.
15 Tertia die barbari quam ingressi urbem fuerant sponte discedunt, facto quidem aliquantarum aedium incendio sed ne tanto quidem quantum septingentesimo conditionis eius anno casus effecerat.
For if I recall the conflagration that Nero, its own emperor, put on as a spectacle, then beyond doubt this fire, which the anger of the conqueror has now brought, will bear no comparison with that which the wantonness of the prince had kindled.
16 nam si exhibitam Neronis imperatoris sui spectaculis inflammationem recenseam, procul dubio nulla conparatione aequiperabitur secundum id, quod excitauerat lasciuia principis, hoc, quod nunc intulit ira uictoris.
Nor indeed ought I, in a comparison of this kind, to mention the Gauls, who for almost the space of a whole year held without a break the trampled ashes of the burned and overthrown City.
17 neque uero Gallorum meminisse in huiusmodi conlatione debeo, qui continuo paene anni spatio incensae euersaeque urbis adtritos cineres possederunt.
And lest anyone should perhaps doubt that the enemy had been permitted to do this for the chastisement of a proud, wanton and blasphemous City, at that same time the most famous places of the City, which the enemy had been unable to set alight, were destroyed by lightning.
18 et ne quisquam forte dubitaret ad correptionem superbae lasciuae et blasphemae ciuitatis hostibus fuisse permissum, eodem tempore clarissima urbis loca fulminibus diruta sunt, quae inflammari ab hostibus nequiuerunt.