Arriving from northern Italy, the Visigoths hoped to reach Africa. On August 24, 410, they entered Rome after having besieged it. Good Christians, if we are to believe Saint Augustine, although Arians, they robbed, raped and killed less than the others. The hoped-for ships not being there when they arrived in southern Italy, they sailed north to seek a homeland. On the way, they again took the Eternal City.
The fault of the Christians
The fall of Rome was felt by contemporaries as an earthquake, a feeling analogous to that experienced by the French in June 1940. At a time of religious controversy, the polytheists blamed the Christians:their impiety towards of the gods had diverted the latter from their role as protectors. The Christians were destabilized, and they asked Saint Augustine what to answer.
The Bishop of Hippo wrote The City of God , where he lined up the arguments in defense. In short, he was explaining that the heavenly city was more important than the earthly city. And he asked Orosius to write his Stories against the pagans to show that Christians were not responsible for all the misfortunes of all times.