Attila the Hun

Hunnish khan (r. 435-453 c.e.)

• Born: c. 406
• Birthplace: Pannonia (now primarily in Hungary)
• Died: 453
• Place of death: Probably Jazberin (now in Hungary)

By uniting all the Hunnish tribes from the northern Caucasus to the upper Danube River, rendering the Romans a tributary state, Attila fashioned the most powerful empire of the West in the fifth century.

Early Life

The movement of the Huns from Asia westward through the steppes in the fourth century caused the Great Migration of Germans and Alans into Europe. By 420, the Huns had found a home in Pannonia, the seat of the main body of the nation, which was divided into three ulus, each ruled by a khan. Here was a strategic base for later operations in Italy and the Balkans. The Huns’ superior cavalry tactics were well publicized, and the Romans of the East and West soon realized the need to appease them.

When Khan Roila died in 435 c.e., two of his nephews, Attila (AT-tih-lah) and his brother Bleda, were elected as joint rulers. Nothing is known of the early life of Attila or of his grandparents and mother. He was the son of Mundjuk, brother of Roila and Oktar. Mundjuk may have been a co-khan with Roila, but the evidence is unclear. What is certain is that Mundjuk and Oktar died before Roila did and that Attila became the chief khan, subordinating his older brother from the start.

The Roman statesman and writer Cassiodorus described Attila as Asian in appearance, beardless, flat-nosed, and swarthy. His body was short and square, with broad shoulders. He was adept at terrorizing enemies with the use of his deep-set eyes. Edward Gibbon, in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788), says that he was feared as much for his magic as for his militarism.

Life’s Work

The death of Roila brought relief to Constantinople, because the king of the Huns had been planning an invasion of Eastern Rome. Bishops attributed his death to the intervention of God. Attila quickly exhibited a genius for leadership and statesmanship. His first task was to settle the disputes with the Romans at Constantinople, demanding an end to the use of Huns in their service. Attila and Bleda met Roman envoys from both empires at the River Morava to sign a treaty in 434. Negotiating from horseback, as was the Hunnic custom, they secured from Emperor Theodosius II the promise to end the use of Hunnish warriors, the return of those in his service, free access to border towns for Hunnish merchants, and the doubling of the annual tribute of gold from 350 to 700 pounds. Two of the fugitives handed back to the Huns were young boys, Mama and Atakam, relatives of the khans, who summarily were crucified. The Roman Flavius Aetius continued to use Huns and Alans against Germans in the West.

After this treaty of Margus with Theodosius, Attila and Bleda devoted their efforts to consolidating the eastern possessions. Striving to unite all the ulus under their rule, the khans forged an empire from the northern Caucasus to central Europe. Within five years this objective was reached, and the brothers divided their administration into two sections.

Meanwhile Persians attacked Roman Armenia in 438 in a war that lasted fifteen years, and the Romans were hoping to recover Carthage in North Africa from the Vandals, who posed a danger to Roman shipping. Partly because of other problems, the Roman emperor neglected payments to the Hun and was preparing new operations against the Vandal Gaiseric, or Genseric and the Sāsānian shah in Persia, allies of Attila. With the opportunity at hand, Attila launched an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire in 441. Gibbon says that this move was prompted by Genseric. In any case, Attila’s forces moved rapidly across the Morava, seizing Margus, Constantia, Singidunum (Belgrade), and Sirmium, the key to the defense of the Danube. A puzzling one-year truce followed, enabling the Romans to prepare for defense. An angry Attila launched a new offensive in 443, destroying Ratiaria and Naissus, birthplace of Constantine, and Sardica (Sophia), thus opening the highway to the capital. Roman armies led by Aspar, an Alan, contested the Huns but were no match for the swiftly moving forces of Attila. Although Constantinople was well defended by troops and terrain, Theodosius decided to sue for peace and so paid six thousand pounds of gold to Attila to make up for his arrears of tribute. The treaty of Anatolius was signed on August 27, 443.

Within two years, Bleda was officially removed from power and soon after was killed by Attila himself. No details exist about the power struggle between the brothers. Attila was master of the entire Hunnish world empire and would have no more rivals.

The location of Attila’s court is only educated conjecture. Hungarians argue that it was located about thirty-six miles west of Buda, at Jazberin. Others suggest that the location was at Tokay or Agria, all in the plains of upper Hungary. This court included a wooden palace on a hill as well as another for his chief wife, Queen Cerca, houses for his adjutants, storehouses, service buildings, and even a stone bathhouse. All were enclosed by a wooden wall. At table, Attila ate only meat, used wooden utensils, and never tasted bread. Inside the spacious palace were servants of many nationalities: Alans, Greeks, Germans, Romans, and Slavs.

The same international character prevailed within the Hunnish borders, as Attila’s policy of no taxation attracted many settlers. Taxation was unnecessary, owing to the large tribute from Constantinople and annual collections of booty from warfare. Even the army comprised other nationalities. Persian engineers from the shah and deserters from the Romans helped Attila’s forces prepare for siege warfare against stone walls. Slavs, taught the methods of warfare by the Huns, formed special detachments in the khan’s armies, evidenced by references to the troops drinking kvass.

The Huns invaded Rome again in 447, but there are no sources indicating the motive—perhaps Attila needed more plunder. The Eastern Romans were besieged by famine and plagues and were not disposed to provoke the Huns. Nevertheless, Attila invaded with armies of subject peoples augmenting his Huns. In the midst of the campaign, a fierce earthquake struck the Eastern Roman world, destroying sections of the walls around Constantinople. The people summoned the determination to rebuild the fortifications hastily and even constructed another, outer wall to ward off the Huns. West of the capital a pitched battle took place at Utus. Although the Huns won the battle, it was fought so energetically by the Romans that the Huns suffered serious losses. Choosing to bypass the capital, Attila contented himself with enormous plunder in the Balkans. This would be his last victory over Roman forces.

That same year, the khan received news of a renegade Hunnish nation in Scythia. The Acatziri were corresponding with the emperor at Constantinople, posing a danger to Attila’s rearguard position. Consequently, Attila’s forces crushed the rebels, and Ellac, Attila’s son, was sent to rule over them. There followed the second peace of Anatolius, in 448.

Attila found it necessary to construct an intelligence network to combat Roman espionage. At one point his German agent, Edecon, was drawn into a scheme to assassinate Attila in 448. Sent to Constantinople on business, he was “bribed” by a Roman official of the emperor, the eunuch Chrysaphius, to join the plot. Loyal to Attila, Edecon feigned acceptance and exposed the affair to the khan, who then exploited the matter to obtain more tribute from Constantinople.

Attila next considered a plan to marry Honoria, the sister of Emperor Valentinian III. The Roman princess herself initiated the idea, perhaps in bitterness after having been placed in confinement by her mother for many years following a teenage pregnancy, or to avoid marrying an old Roman courtier and friend of her brother. The khan saw an opportunity to demand one-half of the Imperial lands as dowry for the marriage. When the emperor’s expected refusal arrived, Attila prepared for war. Honoria was sent to Ravenna, Italy, by Valentinian, who called on Aetius to defend the Imperial borders. Both sides sought allies as Aetius gained the support of Visigoths, Burgundians, and most of the Franks. Attila won the support of the younger of the two Frankish brother-rulers, as well as the Ostrogoths, Vandals, and Alans.

The Alans of Gaul were compelled to accede to Aetius, and the great battle of the nations (also known as the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains) occurred at Châlons in July, 451. The Huns were disheartened for failure to capture the city of Orléans and then weakened by guerrilla tactics as they made their way to plains more suited to their cavalry. Attila delivered an inspiring address to his soldiers on the eve of battle, but the opposing armies were strong. The coalitions fought a bloody encounter but the result was indecisive. Attila led his forces back to the Danube, and the Visigoths retreated to Toulouse. His plan to take the Western Empire failed, so Attila prepared to invade Italy. Aetius found it more difficult to defend this region because he feared the consequences of bringing Visigoths to Italy. In 452, Attila invaded across the Alps, coming to Milan, where he met Pope Leo (the Great) and two Roman senators, who convinced him to turn back. It was unlikely that idealism was the issue; rather, the epidemic of dysentery among his troops and the imminent arrival of Aetius’s forces via Ravenna more likely encouraged the retreat. It is also probable that Leo gave ransom for the release of prominent prisoners. Nevertheless, the Huns devastated the plains of Lombardy, forcing many to flee to the lagoons of the Adriatic Sea, where the Venetian republic arose. Returning home, Attila wished instead to strike at Byzantium.

Once back in the Danubian country, however, the khan, who had numerous wives, married again, this time to a German named Ildico. After the usual wedding party, Attila lay down to rest and was later found dead in his bed (453). Despite rumors that he was stabbed or poisoned by Ildico (who was found at his bedside), it is more likely that he simply choked to death on vomit or blood from a hemorrhage. Hunnish warriors immediately cut off part of their own hair and disfigured their own faces with deep wounds, as was their mourning custom.

The khanate was divided among Attila’s three sons: Dengizik, Ernack, and Ellac. The latter was killed the next year, when a rebellion occurred; the other two brothers took their ulus to Dacia and Bessarabia for a time. Other bands of Huns penetrated the right bank of the Danube, settling in the Roman world as allies. Most of the Alans supported the Byzantines when the forces of Dengizik were crushed in a war of 468-469. The Great Bulgarian nation of the Huns disintegrated in the East as well, as some joined Slavs to find their way to the southern Balkans to a land that bears their Hunnish name. Other Bulgar descendants of the Huns settled for a while on the upper Volga River until they were absorbed into the nomad empire of the Khazars.

Significance

Attila was never a divine-right monarch in the sense of a Persian shah or even the Macedonian Alexander the Great. He never posed as a god before his people but, rather, wore simple clothing without jewelry, mixing with his people—often without bodyguards. Attila did not create a permanent administrative structure for the Hunnish nation; his influence, while truly awesome, was temporary for the Huns. He seemed to profit little from cultural contacts with the Romans of the East or West; most artistic objects traced to Hunnish origins have been discovered in the Ukraine or Volga River regions, not from the Danubian plains. Nor did Attila’s Huns adopt the Roman proclivity for the plow, as some eastern Huns did.

Attila’s empire helped to hasten the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Although his forces did not destroy the Roman Imperial structure, they weakened the mystique of Rome by their continuous exactions of tribute. In the steppelands of the East, they destroyed the German and Iranian control of the Russian world, preparing the way for the next nomad empire, that of the Khazars, and even teaching the hitherto peaceful Slavs how to defend themselves from future invaders.

Ironically, by 451 the Roman tribute had ceased, and the aura of Attila’s invincibility had vanished. His armies had failed at Châlons, he could no longer intimidate subject nations, and his resources were quickly disappearing. Then, when the Italian campaign was cut short, his allies grew restive without the gold and booty of former days. Perhaps his timely death preserved his historical reputation.

Bibliography

Gibbon, Edward. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 1776-1788. Reprint. Edited by David Womersley. New York: Penguin, 1994. A vivid picture of Attila’s personality and his court is presented by this master eighteenth century historian, who culled a wealth of detail from limited sources.

Gordon, G. D. The Age of Attila: Fifth Century Byzantium and the Barbarians. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966. This work cleverly arranges selections of primary sources to relate the history of Attila’s age.

Howarth, Patrick. Attila, King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1995. Life of Attila details his eighteen-year rule, his accomplishments, and his character.

Ingram, Scott. Attila the Hun. Detroit: Blackbirch, 2002. Examines the collapse of the Roman Empire at the hands of the barbarian hordes led by Attila as well as Attila’s legacy. Aimed at young readers.

Jones, A. H. M. The Decline of the Ancient World. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Jones’s work includes a short but useful presentation of the relationships among Attila, Aetius, and Theodosius.

Mänchen-Helfen, Otto J. The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture. Edited by Max Knight. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. A scholarly treatment of the subject by a recognized authority who died before completing the manuscript. It is replete with excellent linguistic analysis of the sources.

Nicolle, David. Attila and the Nomad Hordes. Illustrated by Angus McBride. London: Osprey, 1990. A concise (64-page) overview of Attila’s short-lived empire and its aftermath. Chronology, illustrations.

Thompson, E. A. A History of Attila and the Huns. 1948. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1975. A readable and clear presentation of the life of Attila. Its scholarly treatment holds up well under later academic scrutiny.

Vernadsky, George. Ancient Russia. 5 vols. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1943-1969. The chapter on the Huns is a short but remarkably complete story that is not limited to the settlements in Southern Russia.