Greg: Rome was sacked by my ancestors, the Celts. They came down through the Po Valley looking for over-consumers. No, Celts are not from Ireland, they went TO Ireland through Hispania, Gaul, Austria and points East around the Black Sea.
Timothy McVey was one ovum".
Celts were probably centered near Hibernia before they spread to Gaul, Spain & the Isles, IIRC, and prior to that probably near the Caucus Mountains. They were found from Ireland to China and were well known north of Greece. They may well have had overland trade routes to China in their haydays and the gladius was a weapon used by the Celts in Spain (Spanish Gladius) before the Romans got a hold of it. The name comes from the Greek Keltoi or Celtos and they were found in many areas around the Mediterranean and their sacking of Rome ticked the Romans off so bad that for about a thousand years their armies were structured to defeat Celts primarily.
But all that does not mean that the Goths did not sack Rome (led by Alaric) nor any inconsistencies with the timetables mentioned by the previous poster. The Goths were one (well, in a way, many) of the germanic tribes that migrated ahead of the Mongols (Huns, Magyar and Mongols are all related tribes from Mongolia) and IIRC Alaric the Goth died about after Attila the Hun was born. Most of the Goths that sacked Rome with Alaric settled a gothic kingdom in Spain that lasted until the Muslim conquest and the fragments of which led the Reconquest.
The Vandals were another tribe that sacked Rome (and thus the modern term "vandalize") but traveled down the Iberian Peninsula, crossed into Africa, and settled in Carthage before spreading out to Sicily, etc, and hitting Rome itself.
So, there were at least 4 separate conquests of Rome, first by the Etruscans, then the Celts, then the Goths, and finally the Vandals. Hannibal tried, and did ravage the countryside, but never successfully sacked Rome. :icon_mrgreen:
The hot dog or the makers of said wieners?