Attila And The Huns Essay, Research Paper
Originating in central Asia, the Huns were a Mongolian tribe who invaded southeastern Europe c. AD 370 and managed to build a remarkable empire. In their nomadic endeavors, the Huns crossed paths with the Ostrogoths and Visigoths and were able to maintain their dominance, especially at the Danubian frontier of the Roman empire.
This clan of Asiatic warriors invaded Gaul in 451, which became the unofficial center of their civilization. Although the Huns were seemingly primitive pastoralists, they did maintain a distinct, multifaceted society. The frontier along the Danube became the site for trade, where the Huns obtained silk and wine through annual fairs. Slaves captured in battle helped to define this civilization by bolstering the economy, whether it be through the strong output of their menial labor or through the slave market in Rome. Hunnic art added an interesting dimension to the culture as well. Art was expressed in the forms of bronze cauldrons and vessels. Hunnic women donned the latest in necklaces and bracelets, the jewels being anything from coral, carnelian, mother-of-pearl, quartz, pyrite, lapis and even Egyptian paste, which may have been obtained through their nomadic travels.
It is unquestionable, however, that although the Huns made noteworthy achievements in both the arts and economics, their unparalleled warring strategies remain most remembered. Armed with their signature bow and arrow, the Huns fought the Germans under King Ruglia, whose successors (Atilla and Bleda) ruled together. However, Atilla’s aggressive foreign policies (including having issued an ultimatum to the Eastern Roman empire demanding monetary tribute) led to a series of wars that had mixed results.
About 445, Atilla assassinated his brother and took upon himself the challenge of suppressing the Roman advances. There were series of attacks made by both parties. While the Huns were not exactly successful, the expeditions did introduce wealth (through the acquisition of gold), which consequently brought structure to a previously ambiguous governmental system. Now, Atilla adopted autocratic methods and even declared when his people would enter war and remain in peace. Also, the leader had an administration whom he chose (comparable to a political cabinet) and commenced a system of collecting food and tribute from his subjects.
Atilla continued his military undertakings in Gaul (present day France) but was finally defeated at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains by concerted Roman and Visigothic forces. Yet surprisingly, that was his only defeat. In 452 the tribe sacked several Italian cities; however, they left due to the lack of resources needed to feed his people. They were even routed in 455 by a combination of tribes (including the Gepidae, Ostrogoths, Heruli, and others) in a great battle on the river Nedao and were ultimately ostracized by the Eastern Roman empire. From that point on, the Huns remained voiceless in the changing face of history.
Atiila the Hun “ Im a Barbarian”
One of the most fascinating features of the story of Attila and the Huns is that the background to their potent penetration of Roman Gaul and the decisive Battle of Ch?lons is every bit as spellbinding as the actual combat itself. Although parts of the story are nearly incredible, the evidence for it is reasonably good – as good, at least, as evidence ever is for the fifth century AD. It is a tale of lust for sex and power, for money and land, and the principal actors are as colourful as any who ever lived.
The Huns themselves were a people of mystery and terror. Arriving on the fringes of the Roman Empire in the late fourth century, riding their war horses out of the great steppes of Asia, they struck fear into Germanic Barbarians and Romans alike. Some scholars believe that they had earlier moved against the Chinese Empire but were turned away and swept towards Rome instead. As they approached the Black Sea and conquered the Ostrogoths, they also drove the Visigoths across the Danube into the Roman Empire and caused the crisis that led to the astounding defeat of the Roman army under the Emperor Valens at Adrianople in 378 AD.
Those early Huns, using the traditional tactics of mounted archers, seemed like monsters from the darkness to their more civilized contemporaries. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, writing at the end of the fourth century, described their savage customs and elaborated on their military tactics:
The nation of the Huns . . . surpasses all other Barbarians in wildness of life . . . And though [the Huns] do just bear the likeness of men (of a very ugly pattern), they are so little advanced in civilization that they make no use of fire, nor any kind of relish, in the preparation of their food, but feed upon the roots which they find in the fields, and the half-raw flesh of any sort of animal.
I say half-raw, because they give it a kind of cooking by placing it between their own thighs and the backs of their horses….
When attacked, they will sometimes engage in regular battle. Then, going into the fight in order of columns, they fill the air with varied and discordant cries. More often, however, they fight in no regular order of battle, but by being extremely swift and sudden in their movements, they disperse, and then rapidly come together again in loose array, spread havoc over vast plains, and flying over the rampart, they pillage the camp of their enemy almost before he has become aware of their approach. It must be owned that they are the most terrible of warriors because they fight at a distance with missile weapons having sharpened bones admirably fastened to the shaft. When in close combat with swords, they fight without regard to their own safety, and while their enemy is intent upon parrying the thrust of the swords, they throw a net over him and so entangle his limbs that he loses all power of walking or riding.
Obviously, when the Huns first appeared on the edges of the Roman Empire, they made a strong impression, but after their initial threats they settled down along the Danube, particularly in the Great Hungarian Plain, and for almost fifty years they served the Romans as allies more often than they attacked them as enemies. In return, the Eastern Emperor, beginning in the 420’s, paid them an annual subsidy. On the whole, this uneasy relationship worked well although there were times when the Huns threatened to intervene directly in imperial affairs.
TheThe Back to top
Attila the Hun (circa 406-53), king of the Huns (circa 433-53)
TheThe Back to top
The decisive turn of events came with the accession of Attila as King of the Huns. The new ruler was much more aggressive and ambitious than his predecessors had been, and arrogance sometimes made him unpredictable.
One of the most feared and notorious barbarians of all time, Attila is believed to be of distant Mongol stock, he ravaged much of the European continent during the 5th century AD. Apparently Attila was as great a menace to the Teutonic tribespeople as he was to the Romans.
There is a story that he claimed to own the actual sword of Mars, and that other Barbarian chiefs could not look the King of the Huns directly in the eyes without flinching. Attila was a striking figure, and Edward Gibbon in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire offered a famous description of the personality and appearance of the Hun, based on an ancient account:
His features, according to the observation of a Gothic historian, bore the stamp of his national origin . . . a large head, a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, of a nervous strength, though of a disproportioned form. The haughty step and demeanour of the king of the Huns expressed the consciousness of his superiority above the rest of mankind; and he had a custom of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he wished to enjoy the terror which he inspired….He delighted in war; but, after he had ascended the throne in a mature age, his head, rather than his hand, achieved the conquest of the North; and the fame of an adventurous soldier was usefully exchanged for that of a prudent and successful general.
In his own day he and his Huns were known as the “Scourge of God,” and the devastation they caused in Gaul before the great Battle of Ch?lons in 451 AD became a part of medieval folklore and tradition.
The rumors of his cannibalistic practices are not unfounded; he is supposed to have eaten two of his sons. The circumstances of this act, however, may be more accurately depicted in the Edda poems where his revengeful wife serves him the meat of his sons under the guise that it was the meat of a young animal.
The first years
The river banks were covered with human bones, and the stench of death was so great that no one could enter the city.
TheThe Back to top
From the year 433 Attila shared the throne with his brother Bleda, but killed him in 445.
At the outset of his reign, Attila demanded more money, and the Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, obligingly doubled the annual subsidy. For various reasons, however, the new king began in the late 440’s to look to the West as the main area of opportunity for the Huns. For the next decade and a half after his accession Attila was the most powerful foreign potentate in the affairs of the Western Roman Empire. His Huns had become a sedentary nation and were no longer the horse nomads of the earlier days. The Great Hungarian Plain did not offer as much room as the steppes of Asia for grazing horses, and the Huns were forced to develop an infantry to supplement their now much smaller cavalry. As one leading authority has recently said, “When the Huns first appeared on the steppe north of the Black Sea, they were nomads and most of them may have been mounted warriors. In Europe, however, they could graze only a fraction of their former horse power, and their chiefs soon fielded armies which resembled the sedentary forces of Rome.”
By the time of Attila the army of the Huns had become like that of most Barbarian nations in Europe. It was, however, very large, as we shall see, and capable of conducting siege operations, which most other Barbarian armies could not do effectively.
In any event the Hunnic invasion of Gaul was a huge undertaking. The Huns had a reputation for cruelty that was not undeserved. In the 440’s one of Attila’s attacks against the East in the Balkans aimed at a city in the Danubian provinces, Naissus (441-42). It was located about a hundred miles south of the Danube on the Nischava River. The Huns so devastated the place that when Roman ambassadors passed through to meet with Attila several years later, they had to camp outside the city on the river. The river banks were covered with human bones, and the stench of death was so great that no one could enter the city. Many cities of Gaul would soon suffer the same fate.
After securing a strong position on the Roman side of the Danube the Huns were checked by the famous Eastern Roman general, Aspar, as they raided Thrace (442) By 447 he advanced through Illyria and devastated the whole region between the Black and the Mediterranean seas. Those of the conquered who were not destroyed were compelled to serve in his armies. He defeated the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II; Constantinople was saved only because the Hunnish army, primarily a cavalry force, lacked the technique of besieging a great city. The Huns marched as far as Thermopylae and stopped only when the Eastern Emperor, Thodosius II, begged for terms.
Attila accepted payment of all tribute in arrears and a new annual tribute of 2,100 pounds of gold. The Huns were also given considerable territory south of the Danube. One source says of this campaign, “There was so much killing and bloodletting that no one could number the dead. The Huns pillaged the churches and monasteries, and slew the monks and virgins . . . They so devastated Thrace that it will never rise again and be as it was before.” This strong victory in the East left Attila free to plan the attack on the West that culminated in the invasion of Gaul.
Theodosius, however, was compelled to cede a portion of territory south of the Danube River and to pay a tribute and annual subsidy.
Two other considerations proved especially important.One was the death of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II, who fell from his horse and died in 450. His successor, Marcian (450-7), took a hard line on Barbarian encroachment in the Balkans and refused to pay Attila the usual subsidy. The fury of the Hun was monstrous, but he decided to take out his wrath on the West, because it was weaker than the East,and because one of history’s most peculiar scandals gave Attila a justification for war with the Western Emperor. Honoria, Emperor Valentinian’s sister, had been discovered in 449 in an affair with her steward. The unfortunate lover was executed, and Honoria, who was probably pregnant, was kept in seclusion. In a rage she smuggled a ring and a message to the King of the Huns and asked Attila to become her champion. He treated this as a marriage proposal and asked for half of the Western Empire as her dowry. So when he crossed the Rhine, he could claim that he merely sought by force what was his by right of betrothal to Honoria.
After massive preparations Attila invaded the Rhine with a large army of Huns and allied Barbarian tribes. In his force was a sizable body of Ostrogoths and other Germanic warriors, including Burgundians and Alans who lived on the Barbarian side of the frontier. The Franks were split between pro- and anti-Roman factions. As early as April Attila took Metz, and fear swept through Gaul. Ancient accounts give figures that range between 300,000 and 700,000 for the army of the Huns.
Whatever the size, it was clearly enormous for the fifth century AD. Some of the greatest cities of Europe were sacked and put to the torch: Rheims, Mainz, Strasbourg, Cologne, Worms and Trier. Paris fortunately had the advantage of having a saint in the city and was spared because of the ministrations of St. Genvieve.
Medieval Sourcebook:
Priscus at the court of Attila
We set out with the barbarians, and arrived at Sardica, which is thirteen days for a fast traveller from Constantinople. Halting there we considered it advisable to invite Edecon and the barbarians with him to dinner. The inhabitants of the place sold us sheep and oxen, which we slaughtered, and we prepared a meal. In the course of the feast, as the barbarians lauded Attila and we lauded the Emperor, Bigilas remarked that it was not fair to compare a man and a god, meaning Attila by the man and Theodosius by the god. The Huns grew excited and hot at this remark. But we turned the conversation in another direction, and soothed their wounded feelings; and after dinner, when we separated, Maximin presented Edecon and Orestes with silk garments and Indian gems….
When we arrived at Naissus we found the city deserted, as though it had been sacked; only a few sick persons lay in the churches. We halted at a short distance from the river, in an open space, for all the ground adjacent to the bank was full of the bones of men slain in war. On the morrow we came to the station of Agintheus, the commander-in-chief of the Illyrian armies (magister militum per Illyricum), who was posted not far from Naissus, to announce to him the Imperial commands, and to receive five of those seventeen deserters, about whom Attila had written to the Emperor. We had an interview with him, and having treated the deserters with kindness, he committed them to us. The next day we proceeded from the district of Naissus towards the Danube; we entered a covered valley with many bends and windings and circuitous paths. We thought we were travelling due west, but when the day dawned the sun rose in front; and some of us unacquainted with the topography cried out that the sun was going the wrong way, and portending unusual events. The fact was that that part of the road faced the east, owing to the irregularity of the ground. Having passed these rough places we arrived at a plain which was also well wooded. At the river we were received by barbarian ferrymen, who rowed us across the river in boats made by themselves out of single trees hewn and hollowed. These preparations had not been made for our sake, but to convey across a company of Huns; for Attila pretended that he wished to hunt in Roman territory, but his intent was really hostile, because all the deserters had not been given up to him. Having crossed the Danube, and proceeded with the barbarians about seventy stadia, we were compelled to wait in a certain plain, that Edecon and his party might go on in front and inform Attila of our arrival. As we were dining in the evening we heard the sound of horses approaching, and two Scythians arrived with directions that we were to set out to Attila. We asked them first to partake of our meal, and they dismounted and made good cheer. On the next day, under their guidance, we arrived at the tents of Attila, which were numerous, about three o’clock, and when we wished to pitch our tent on a hill the barbarians who met us prevented us, because the tent of Attila was on low ground, so we halted where the Scythians desired…. (Then a message is received from Attila, who was aware of the nature of their embassy, saying that if they had nothing further to communicate to him he would not receive them, so they reluctantly prepared to return.) When the baggage had been packed on the beasts of burden, and we were perforce preparing to start in the night time, messengers came from Attila bidding us wait on account of the late hour. Then men arrived with an ox and river fish, sent to us by Attila, and when we had dined we retired to sleep. When it was day we expected a gentle and courteous message from the barbarian, but he again bade us depart if we had no further mandates beyond what he already knew. We made no reply, and prepared to set out, though Bigilas insisted that we should feign to have some other communication to make. When I saw that Maximin was very dejected, I went to Scottas (one of the Hun nobles, brother of Onegesius), taking with me Rusticius, who understood the Hun language. He had come with us to Scythia, not as a member of the embassy, but on business with Constantius, an Italian whom Aetius had sent to Attila to be that monarch’s private secretary. I informed Scottas, Rusticius acting as interpreter, that Maximin would give him many presents if he would procure him an interview with Attila; and, moreover, that the embassy would not only conduce to the public interests of the two powers, but to the private interest of Onegesius, for the Emperor desired that he should be sent as an ambassador to Byzantium, to arrange the disputes of the Huns and Romans, and that there he would receive splendid gifts. As Onegesius was not present it was for Scottas, I said, to help us, or rather help his brother, and at the same time prove that the report was true which ascribed to him an influence with Attila equal to that possessed by his brother. Scottas mounted his horse and rode to Attila’s tent, while I returned to Maximin and found him in a state of perplexity and anxiety, lying on the grass with Bigilas. I described my interview with Scottas, and bade him make preparations for an audience of Attila. They both jumped up, approving of what I had done, and recalled the men who had started with the beasts of burden. As we were considering what to say to Attila, and how to present the Emperor’s gifts, Scottas came to fetch us, and we entered Attila’s tent, which was surrounded by a multitude of barbarians. We found Attila sitting on a wooden chair. We stood at a little distance and Maximin advanced and saluted the barbarian, to whom he gave the Emperor’s letter, saying that the Emperor prayed for the safety of him and his. The king replied, “It shall be unto the Romans as they wish it to be unto me,” and immediately addressed Bigilas, calling him a shameless beast, and asking him why he ventured to come when all the deserters had not been given up. . . .