For Sidonia Apollinaire and his beloved native city of Clermont, the
year 471 could hardly have brought more misery. Goths surrounded the
proud Roman city. Morale was low. Defeat seemed inevitable. Then, quite
literally, the cavalry arrived. A small group of men—just
nineteen—charged across the plain to scatter the Gothic host. The sheer
audacity of the surprise attack must have stunned the besieging army.
The Goths, who are said to have numbered in the thousands, suffered
heavy losses, and the city was delivered.
