Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Rome (First Invasion of the Gauls).

The first siege of Rome by the Gauls, under Brennus, took place B.C. 387. No attempt was made to defend the city, which was seized and burnt by the barbarians, the greater part of the population fleeing to Veii and other neighbouring cities. The Capitol, however, was held by the leading Patrician families, and it is said withstood a siege of six months, when Brennus accepted a heavy ransom and withdrew his army.