Battle of the Allia

The Battle of the Allia was fought c. 387 BC between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded Northern Italy – and the Roman Republic.

The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber River and Allia brook, 11 Roman miles (16 km, 10 mi) north of Rome. The Romans were routed and subsequently Rome was sacked by the Senones.

Quotes

• Hic manebimus optime.
  • This is the best place to halt. (i.e. We can't do better than remain here.)
    • Livy, 5, 55
    • In the sack of Rome by Brennus (390 BC), when it was being debated in Senate whether the government should not be transferred to Veii, it so happened that the guard of the day passed through the Forum, and the captain ordered the ensign, "Plant the colours here! This is the best place to stop." (Signifer, statue signum, hic manebimus optime.) The word of command reached the ears of the senators in the Curia, and was at once interpreted as an omen in favour of remaining in the city.
    • Reported in: Classical and Foreign Quotations, 3rd ed. (1904), no. 900.

• Væ victis!
  • So much the worse for (or Woe to) the conquered!
    • Livy, 5, 48, 9.
    • Exclamation of Brennus, chief of the Senonian Gauls (390 BC), on throwing his sword into the balance as a make-weight, when settling the price of peace with Rome. It is copied by Saurin (Œuvres, 2 vols., Paris, 1783), Spartacus 3, 3, where Messala says to Spartacus: La loi de l'univers, c'est malheur aux vaincus! ("Woe to the conquered is the law of the world!").
    • Reported in: Classical and Foreign Quotations, 3rd ed. (1904), no. 2868.