The Warriors of Tribal Europe: Attila the Hun

The legendary name of Attila the Hun struck fear into the very hearts and minds of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century. The great warrior king Attila, was able to capitalize on the disarray and weak leadership of the once mighty Roman Empire. The once united empire was split between the Rome led western empire and the eastern Byzantine Empire, and although the two Emperors were family they did not always work well together. In fact it was the lack of a joint coehisive plan of how to deal with the continious Hunnish assaults upon Roman interests, that contributed to Attila's military success.

The ancient warrior we know as Atilla the Hun was demonised by the early Roman church due to his assault on the crumbling Roman Empire which housed the embryonic Christian faith. Atilla was known as the Scourge of God by the citizens of the Roman Empire. We know that he did not follow the Christian faith, but it is very likely he had some knowledge of Rome's way of life from his time spent as "Hostage" within the Roman Empire as a youth. It was traditional for the client states of the Romans to send offspring to guarantee peaceful relations. Attila followed the pagan religions of his ancestors, he was more than likely a follower of the war god Astar who was worshipped by many of the peoples of the Eurasian plains. Most written sources usually infer that Attila was Godless, but this could have been an attempt to soil his reputation.

Attila the Hun was crowned the King and general of the Hun empire in A.D. 433. He succeed his uncle King Roas, and shared leadership of the Hunnish tribe with his brother Bleda. The two brothers ruled the tribal lands of the Hun's for over a decade together. In the decade of co-rule the brothers consolidated their position and gave discipline and order to a hoard that was traditionally rife with division. The two tribal leaders had dominion over lands that included the area's we know today as Southern Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

In 445A.D Attila's brother Bleda died suddenly, it is suggested from Roman sources that Attila may have had a hand in his brother's demise. The Roman historian's also speculate that Attila may have murdered his uncle Roas to claim control of the Hunnish nation. It is believed that Attila and his trusted adviser's consolidated his power for the next few years, while doing so Attila looked on at the wealth and weakness of the Roman Empire and saw opportunity.

Attila saw weakness in the ruler of the Byzantine Emperor Valentinian III, and as Byzantine had control of the lands his tribe desired the Byzantine Empire became Attila's main target. Attila was able to harass and raid Byzantine interests in the Balkans and threatened strategically important cities along the border of the two empires. Between 445-447AD Attila was able to use the wealth he took from the two empires to increase the number's of his tribe. Attila used what his men stole to hire mercenaries from the Germanic lands and forged loose alliances with the Vandal's who had tied up the Western Roman Empire in their conquest of parts of modern day Spain and North Africa. The loss of North African provinces deprived the Western Roman Empire of the wheat it needed to feed the legions of Rome.

In 447AD Attila grew strong enough to threaten the pride of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was new Rome and it was built to withstand the barbarians that coveted it. The Byzantine Emperor was desperate for peace, and handed 6,000 pounds in weight of Roman gold. This naively gave Attila more wealth to invest in his army, with this sum of gold Attila could construct great siege weaponry and buy the loyalty of the best warriors in Europe. The rather foolish Byzantine Emperor also agreed to pay over 2,000 pounds of Roman gold annually, which gave Attila even more of a war chest. Had the Byzantines used this sum on it's own defences and armies. Its is likely that the bloodthirsty rampage through both empires may have been averted.

By 449AD Attila and his military might is a thorn in the side of both Roman Empires, and it can be argued that the attempt on Attila's life by the Byzantine Empire increased Attila's hatred of the Roman Empire. Attila saw the Byzantine Empire as a weak and foolish man. Although Emperor Valentinian III was not a bad Emperor, he lacked the leadership qualities that previous great Emperor's possessed. Attila had very little love for Rome, he saw it as the heart of decadence. Attila had come from a people who had been forced out of their ancestral lands by the spread of the Roman Empire. For all the trappings of wealth you would expect from a tribal King like Attila, a number of Roman sources tell us he did not dine of plates of gold and silver. Attila saved that for his guests while he feasted off the crockery he had always used,

In 450AD , the Byzantine princess Honoria sent Attila a note and a ring. Honoria, was the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Valentinian III. In the note Honoria wrote and asked Attila to rescue her, as she had been promised in marriage to a man she didn't like or want to marry. Attila interpreted this as a marriage proposal, and happily accepted. After all Honoria's dowry was believed to include half of the provinces in the Western Roman Empire, which Attila was more than happy to accept into his emerging Hunnish Empire. Whether or not Honoria really offered Attila her hand in marriage will be a mystery, but it suited Attila's agenda and ambitions and pulled the Western European Empire into Attila's sights.

Attila forced the issue with the crumbling Western Empire and The Huns' swept through central Europe and into Gaul. Attila was halted at the Catalaunian Fieds, in northeastern France. There Attila's and his forces came up against the Romans under the command of his former friend and ally, the Roman General Aetius, along with a contingent of Germanic tribes aligned with Rome such as the Alan's and Visigoth's.

The battle was not conclusive between the two sides, and in some way's signaled the end for not just Attila but for the western half of the Roman Empire. The battle severely weakened the legions of Rome who had been stretched to the limit in the past century. Attila retreated from Gaul aware that he had to regroup in the relative safety of his lands.

Although he was not as successful as he had hoped, Attila remained committed to marrying Honoria and acquiring her dowry of the Western Empires provinces. In 452AD, the Huns invaded Italy, which had been weakened by a two-year long famine and epidemics of disease. They quickly captured Roman territory including the important Italian cities of Padua and Milan. Attila was unable to attack the walls of Rome as his army was impeded by lack of supplies and the disease his warriors where beginning to suffer from.

Attila's death in 453AD was not one of dying sword in hand on a battlefield, he in fact died on the night of his marriage. On that night Attila drank heavily in celebration of his new bride. In his wedding chambers Attila passed out flat on his back. While he was unconscious Attila had a massive nosebleed which caused him to choke on his own blood. Whether he met his end from a simple nosebleed, or he was poisoned is impossible to say. Plenty of rulers would have been happy with Attila's passing, as his nomadic horsemen where a threat to all of Europe and Asia.

Upon the death of Attila, his body was laid in a coffin of gold, silver and ornate wood. Attila was buried as a hero of the Hun nation. His followers diverted the course of a river and buried him in the river bed. The river was then diverted back to it's original path and the burial party was executed to keep the resting place of Rome's greatest threat a secret. Attila's actions in pursuing a claim in the Western Empire allowed the Byzantine Empire to survive long after Rome collapsed.