The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527 by the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, marked a crucial imperial victory in the conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the League of Cognac (1526–1529) — the alliance of France, Milan, Venice, Florence and the Papacy.

The Sack of Rome occurred on August 24, 410. The city was attacked by the Visigoths, led by Alaric I. The Roman capital had been moved to the Italian city of Ravenna by the young emperor Honorius, after the Visigoths entered Italy.

The Sack of Rome of May 1084 was a Norman sack, the result of the pope's call for aid from the duke of Apulia, Robert Guiscard.

One of many sacks of Rome, that of the year 846 was the only instance of Muslims sacking the capital of the Christian church.

The second of three barbarian sacks of Rome, the sack of 455 was at the hands of the Vandals, then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus.