The following year, 860, after a diversion up the Rhône River, the Viking expedition anchored off the coast of Italy, where the most colourful of the Viking exploits took place: the looting of Luni, near the modern Italian city of La Spezia. Founded by the Romans, Luni had become prosperous during the Middle Ages and had a strong system of defences. According to the main source for this story, the early 12th- century chronicler Dudo of Saint-Quentin, the Vikings mistook Luni, in its splendour, for Rome.
Faced with Luni’s mighty fortifications, the Vikings relied, Dudo claimed, on trickery to get inside. After faking Hastein’s death, the Northmen sent several messengers to the city gates asking if their leader, who had converted to Christianity, could be buried in hallowed ground within the city walls: “Wailing is heard [from the Vikings] the clamour of deceitful grief. The Bishop summons the people from throughout the city. The clergy came dressed in their vestments . . . the women came in throngs, soon to be led into exile.”
With the trap sprung, the “corpse” of Hastein sprang to life, killed the bishop, slew the people, and opened to his shipmates the gates of what they took to be Rome. On discovering it was not the Eternal City, the Vikings supposedly lost heart and embarked for the long voyage home.