The Fall and Legacy of Rome

... the emperor. In 410 AD, they sacked Rome itself.

The first time in 800 years the city had fallen to a foreign enemy. The Vandals crossed

into North Africa and cut off Rome's grain supply. The Huns, led by Attila,

ravaged the Balkans and Gaul. The Roman military, once invincible, struggled to respond.

Borders collapsed. Provinces were lost. The empire's economy, already strained, could not support

the legions. The barbarian invasions did not destroy Rome in a single blow.

They were a slow, grinding pressure that exposed the empire's vulnerability and accelerated

its decline. The last Western Roman emperor was deposed in 476 AD. The end of the Western