According to Augustine, Procopius, and other sources of the period: when the Goths reached the Roman walls, they reached an agreement to be allowed in peaceably. The agreement would spare the lives of civilians who hid in the churches during an organized three day sack of the city. The three day duration was according to customary rules of siege warfare during the period. The Romans would not resist, and the Goths would not wantonly murder.

While much of the focus of contemporaries lay in the humanitarian nature of this agreement, it is likely that both the short duration of the sack and the sparing of civilians who hid in the churches led to large hoards of gold and silver escaping the Gothic pillage. By contrast, when the Vandals entered Rome they apparently stayed for a longer period, engaging in more widespread atrocities and arson throughout their sack.