It’s August in the year 410. The eternal city of Rome is captured and sacked by the Visigoth warlord Alaric. The Visigoths eventually left the city, but the western Roman Empire never recovered from this blow, triggering a sequence of events that would ensure it would not survive another century.
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
If you were an accidental time traveler to Rome during this terrible time, how could you survive making best use of current knowledge of the event? Author Cody Cassidy has advice. His newly published book, How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History’s Deadliest Catastrophes, has specific, detailed advice with a focus on European history.
Cassidy has published a summary in Smithsonian magazine, including helpful tips for living through the 410 sack of Rome (there were numerous sacks of Rome, so it’s important be specific). Your best option is to flee the city toward the south and hide in the hills. You’ll need to do so for only a few days because the Visigoths left the city quickly. If you’re unable to get out of the city, hide in a church, as many of them were spared by the invaders.
Other calamities listed in Cassidy’s article include the 1453 fall of Constantinople and the famine of 536. How can we escape a Tyrannosaurus Rex? We’ll probably have to read the complete book to find out.
-via Nag on the Lake | Image: Andre Durenceau
Source: neatorama