Alaric I (German: Alarich I; French: Alaric I; Latin: Alaricus, c. 370-410), also translated as Alaric I, was the King of Visigoth (reigned 395-410). It is generally believed that he was the founder of the Visigothic Kingdom.

Alaric I was born on a small island in the Danube Delta. In his youth, the Visigoths migrated westward on a large scale under the pressure of the Xiongnu. Emperor Theodosius I of the Roman Empire placed the Visigoths at the imperial border to appease them, while also using them to defend the border.
Alaric himself was the leader of this auxiliary army, first recorded in history in 394. After the death of Theodosius I in 395, the Visigoths severed their fragile alliance with Rome and elected Aralik as king.

Alaric led the Visigoths into Greece and plundered important cities such as Corinth, Argos, and Sparta; Athens was spared after paying a huge ransom.
In 397 AD, he occupied Illyria on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea, forcing the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius to appoint him as the governor of the area, and subsequently launched an attack on Italy.
While Aralik continued to ravage, he was defeated by the barbarian general of Rome, Styria (who was the only admirable commander of the late Roman Empire). Alaric hastily retreated with his spoils. He received a promise from the newly enthroned Eastern Empire Emperor Akadius not to invade the Eastern Empire on the condition of obtaining the province of Illyria.
In 402 AD, Alaric invaded Italy but was once again defeated by Stilico in the Battle of Bologna. Emperor Honorius of the Western Empire attempted to bribe Alaric and his barbarian army to use them to oppose the rule of Arcadius in the east. But after Arcadius passed away in 408, Honorius abandoned his plan to fight against the Eastern Empire and terminated his alliance with Aralik. Alaric therefore demanded 4000 Roman pounds of gold (approximately 1814 kilograms) as compensation. Honorius agreed to Alaric's request under the persuasion of Stilico. Shortly after, Honorius believed the slander and executed Stilico, which greatly angered the barbarian soldiers under Stilico who were skilled in warfare, resulting in almost all of them joining Alaric's army. Alaric immediately invaded Italy on the grounds of not receiving a ransom, surrounded Rome, and finally obtained a huge amount of gold.
In 410 AD, the Visigoths led by Alaric captured Rome and plundered it extensively. They were the first barbarian forces to conquer the "Eternal City" of Rome itself. Alaric attempted to invade Sicily and North Africa by taking advantage of his victory, but a storm prevented his plan. He passed away soon. His younger brother Adolphus inherited the throne of Visigoth. Due to Alaric's plunder of Rome, some Romans attributed the fall of Rome to conversion to Christianity. As a result, the famous theologian Saint Augustine wrote "The City of God", referring to Alaric, who believed in the Arianism, as the Whip of God and punishing those Romans who did not believe in Christianity.