t for his troops. By the advice of Stilicho his demands,
which included a payment of 4000 pounds of gold, were complied with.
Shortly afterwards, Stilicho fell a victim to a plot hatched by the court
officials who were jealous of his influence (408 A. D.).

*The Visigoths in Italy.* The death of Stilicho removed the only capable
defender of Italy and, when Honorius refused to carry out the agreement
with Alaric, the latter crossed the Alps. Honorius shut himself up in
Ravenna, and the Goths marched on Rome, which ransomed itself at a heavy
price. As Honorius still refused to make him master of the soldiers and to
give him lands and supplies for his men, Alaric returned to Rome and set
up a new emperor, named Attalus. Yet Honorius, supported by troops from
the eastern empire, remained obdurate, and a disagreement between Alaric
and Attalus led to the latter's deposition. Rome was then occupied by the
Goths who plundered it for three days (410 A. D.). Alaric's next move was
to march to south Italy with the intention of crossing to Sicily and
Africa. But his flotilla was destroyed by a storm, and while retracing his
steps northwards he suddenly took sick and died.

*The Goths in Gaul and Spain.* Alaric's successor was his brother-in-law,
Ataulf, who led the Visigoths into Gaul (412 A. D.), where he at first
allied himself with a usurper, Jovinus, but soon deserted him to take
service with the Romans. However, when Honorius failed to furnish him
supplies, he seized Narbonne and other towns in southern Gaul and married
the emperor's sister, Placidia, whom the Goths had carried off captive
from Rome. He again attempted to come to terms with the Romans, but
failed, and Constantius, the Roman master of the soldiers, who had
succeeded to the position and influence of Stilicho, forced him to abandon
Gaul. Ataulf and the Goths crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, where he died
in 415 A. D. His successor Wallia, being hard pressed by famine and
failing in an attempt to invade Africa, came to terms with the Romans. He
surrendered Placidia and in the name of the emperor attacked the Vandals
and Alans who had occupied parts of Spain. Alarmed by his success
Constantius recalled the Goths to Gaul, where they were settled in
southern Aquitania (418 A. D.).

*The Visigothic kingdom in Gaul.* The status of the Goths in Gaul was that
of _foederati_, bound to render military aid to Rome, but governed by
their own kings. The latter, however, had