In 546, the king of the Ostrogoths plundered Rome after bribing its hungry guards
Starving and desperate, the guards of Rome opened the city gates to the Ostrogoth King Totila in 546, ending a brutal siege that had reduced the imperial capital to a shadow of its former glory.
In late 546, King Totila of the Ostrogoths achieved the impossible by capturing Rome, but he did not do it through a grand assault. Instead, he exploited the desperation of the city's defenders. The Roman garrison was so malnourished and unpaid that four Isaurian soldiers accepted a bribe to open the Asinarian Gate under the cover of night.
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