What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lost Gold of Rome: The Hunt for Alaric's Treasure
In AD 410, the Roman world suffered a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions when a foreign army led by the Visigoth king Alaric sacked Rome and carried off the city’s most valuable treasures. Alaric played a significant role in the dismemberment of the western Roman Empire, but he died before he could leave the Italian peninsula. His followers buried him in a secret tomb laden with the plunder of Rome that may have included the sacred Temple treasures of the Jews. This gripping account traces the life and death of Alaric and explores the modern quest to discover his grave, covering such noted treasure hunters as the Nazi Heinrich Himmler. Despite the fact that some believe in the likelihood that the grave has now finally been found, no excavation has taken place due to political machinations. This is a fascinating approach to the epic story of the cataclysmic fall of Rome and its widespread effect.
- GenresHistory
256 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2007
20 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 13, 2014
Historical treasure-hunting expeditions, especially the search for long-lost archaeological sites, are guaranteed to fascinate. (Look at the Indiana Jones movies.) One of those is the unknown fate of the real Ark of the Covenant, the Great Menorah, and the other treasures liberated from the Second Temple in Jerusalem by Titus and brought back to Rome in A.D. 71. But the Temple artifacts are only part of what disappeared from Rome during a period of only a few days in August 410 when Alaric’s Goths cleaned out the city. Alaric himself died rather suddenly not long afterward, near the town of Cosenza, down the peninsula in Calabria, and was buried secretly -- supposedly under a river bed.
Costa’s prose is somewhat awkward and his narrative outline is a bit confusing, but he seems to be making the case that some of the most historic treasures taken from Rome became part of Alaric’s grave goods, which seems pretty unlikely. Taking booty was a business to the Goths, not unlike the Vikings a few centuries later, and while the king’s burial required a lavish potlatch of tribal wealth, there’s still a limit to what would be given up forever. (The fact that the burial was done in secret is accounted for by the fact that the migrating Goths knew they would be moving on and were not expecting to return; they did not want the grave of their leader to be disturbed.)
As with so many books of this sort, the meat of the story would have made a good pamphlet or journal article. To stretch it out to marketable book-length, Costa pads unmercifully, going into detail about the decline of Rome, the rise of Christianity, the takeover in the West by the Germanic tribes, later depredations upon St. Peter’s by Muslim raiders with the consequent scattering of holy relics, and fond recollections of the history of Cosenza itself. (Most of these accounts come from standard secondary works written by Heather, Wallace-Hadrill, Hitti, Wolfram, and others.) Then he spends a little time on earlier searches for Alaric’s tomb down the centuries, including especially the cursory inquiry into the matter by Himmler. Finally, he recounts a number of more recent rumors and stories, such as the discovery by Allied (or Axis) officers during World War II, the secret removal of the putative treasure during the late years of the last century, and (apparently) a recent search for the site sponsored by an Italian newspaper. Costa himself seems not have attempted a search himself, so this isn’t really a first-hand account, either.
One has to say, the author’s biases in this book show through very clearly. The chapter summarizing the Gothic culture makes frequent use of terms like “barbarian” and “savage” and makes a point of describing their sacrificial practices. The following chapters on early imperial Rome describe Constantine’s “heroic” support of Christianity and accept unquestioningly his supposed divine dream, following up with a detailed account of the churches he built and endowed, and whose riches Alaric later “stole.” (The treasures from the Temple, however, apparently belonged to Rome by right of conquest.) All in all, the idea for the book is an interesting one but its execution is badly flawed.
Costa’s prose is somewhat awkward and his narrative outline is a bit confusing, but he seems to be making the case that some of the most historic treasures taken from Rome became part of Alaric’s grave goods, which seems pretty unlikely. Taking booty was a business to the Goths, not unlike the Vikings a few centuries later, and while the king’s burial required a lavish potlatch of tribal wealth, there’s still a limit to what would be given up forever. (The fact that the burial was done in secret is accounted for by the fact that the migrating Goths knew they would be moving on and were not expecting to return; they did not want the grave of their leader to be disturbed.)
As with so many books of this sort, the meat of the story would have made a good pamphlet or journal article. To stretch it out to marketable book-length, Costa pads unmercifully, going into detail about the decline of Rome, the rise of Christianity, the takeover in the West by the Germanic tribes, later depredations upon St. Peter’s by Muslim raiders with the consequent scattering of holy relics, and fond recollections of the history of Cosenza itself. (Most of these accounts come from standard secondary works written by Heather, Wallace-Hadrill, Hitti, Wolfram, and others.) Then he spends a little time on earlier searches for Alaric’s tomb down the centuries, including especially the cursory inquiry into the matter by Himmler. Finally, he recounts a number of more recent rumors and stories, such as the discovery by Allied (or Axis) officers during World War II, the secret removal of the putative treasure during the late years of the last century, and (apparently) a recent search for the site sponsored by an Italian newspaper. Costa himself seems not have attempted a search himself, so this isn’t really a first-hand account, either.
One has to say, the author’s biases in this book show through very clearly. The chapter summarizing the Gothic culture makes frequent use of terms like “barbarian” and “savage” and makes a point of describing their sacrificial practices. The following chapters on early imperial Rome describe Constantine’s “heroic” support of Christianity and accept unquestioningly his supposed divine dream, following up with a detailed account of the churches he built and endowed, and whose riches Alaric later “stole.” (The treasures from the Temple, however, apparently belonged to Rome by right of conquest.) All in all, the idea for the book is an interesting one but its execution is badly flawed.
June 18, 2021
This book was a laundry list of historical events which were entirely unnecessary to the main subject of the book. Quite frankly the decline of Rome has been covered so many times, did we need yet another retelling? Maybe 20 pages of the book are actually concern the sacking of Rome by Alaric. And maybe one more chapter on attempts to discover the lost treasure.
This book is off topic, if you are looking for the history of Rome's decline there are better sources.
This book is off topic, if you are looking for the history of Rome's decline there are better sources.
August 18, 2025
Πολλά πληροφορίες για την εποχή άγνωστες οι περισσότερες για την πορεία της Ρώμης μετά τον Αλάριχο για αυτό παίρνει και τα αστέρια αλλά όσον αφορά τον τίτλο του βιβλίο καμία σχέση λίγο στο τέλος μόνο αναφέρει παραπάνω λεπτομέρειες
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews