Schism · 410 · 24 August

Sack of Rome by Alaric

The sack of Rome shook the Christian imagination because Rome was supposed to be permanent. Pagan critics blamed Christianity for weakening the old gods' protection, and frightened Christians had to ask what history meant if the city fell. Augustine answered in City of God by distinguishing the earthly city from the city of God. The fall of Rome therefore became the occasion for the church's most important theology of history.

Manuscript illumination of sacred vessels carried to safety during Alaric's sack of Rome. — The sack of Rome forced Christians to ask what hope means when the earthly city falls. Maitre Francois, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

At a glance

Type: Schism
Date remembered: 24 August, AD 410
What kind of event is this?: A break in communion where an unresolved argument became a visible division.
Key line: Rome can fall; the city of God cannot.

Highlights

Rome was sacked in 410.
Pagans blamed Christians.
Augustine wrote City of God.
Christian history was reimagined.

How it happened

What happened

Alaric's Goths sacked Rome, shocking Christians and pagans across the empire.

The argument

Did Christianity cause Rome's fall by abandoning the old gods, or had Christians misunderstood what earthly cities can promise?

What changed

Augustine answered the crisis with City of God, reframing history around two loves and two cities.

Why it matters

The event pushed Christian theology to explain political collapse without losing hope.

Aftermath

City of God became one of the foundational texts of Western political and historical theology.

People in the story

Augustine of Hippo354 – 430Bishop of Hippo and the most influential Latin Father. Author of Confessions, City of God, On the Trinity, and the anti-Pelagian works.