This was a period in history that was plagued by war, famine, illness, and death. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, to the people that inhabited the continent of Europe at the time, it was the end of the world. The sickness known simply as the Black Plague spread across the entire continent killing millions of, people not caring of their social class. To the growing number of Christians that inhabited Europe, it was an honest belief that the four horsemen had roamed the Earth: War reached to the far corners of their Earth, Famine was running a muck through the crowded villages and towns, Pestilence was everywhere around them, and Death seemed to be inescapable. Life was literal hell, and the Christians believed that God himself was punishing all of them. Bodies of the dead filled the streets, the nauseating smell of sickness never left the nostrils of the living, and fear was inhabiting …show more content…
The Visigoths, a band of dirty, terrifying barbarians, entered the Roman Empire, declaring the end of Roman domination throughout the western world. For the first time in over 800 years, the heart of Rome was under siege, and it was rather ironic that Rome, a country credited with beauty and strength, would be brought to its knees by a vulgar group of barbarians. “Rome had not ever been concord by a foreign enemy in the Imperial Period,” said Michael Kulikowski, an American historian and tenured professor at Pennsylvania State University, “The psychological effect of the greatest city of the ancient world was absolutely crushing (Cassel, 2007).” For three days, the Visigoths, lead by King Alaric, pillaged the city, burning down anything that would catch fire and looting everything they could get their hands on. The plethora of enslaved people rose up to defeat their Roman masters and the streets of Rome ran red with the blood of its own citizens as the empire that once stood strong, toppled over in defeat (Cassel,