Attila was a fifth-century warrior, born around 406 AD, who helped unite the Hun kingdom, in an area that is now Hungary. He led his Huns on a series of conquests, looting and pillaging wherever he went. Atilla acquired a vast empire, that stretched through parts of what is now Germany, Russia, Poland, and much of south-eastern Europe. Attila invaded the eastern half of the Roman empire in the 440s, forcing Theodosius II, the East Roman Emperor, to negotiate a peace treaty of an annual fee of 660 pounds of gold in 434. Treaties and payments (in gold and land) temporarily stopped the Huns repeated attacks on the empire. However, an unsuccessful campaign in Persia prompted a second invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire in 441, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He passed unhindered through Austria and Germany, across the Rhine and into Gaul. Plundering and devastating all in his path, with a ferocity unparalleled in the records of barbarian invasions, Attila compelled those he overcame to augment his mighty army. In 450, he attacked Gaul of the Western Empire, and the west is where he focused much of his attention in his final years. Aetius, Roman general, united forces with the Visigoths in response to the invasion, and the Huns were stopped at Orleans. The Western Empire also won the Battle of the Catalunian Plains, and Attila turned his attentions to Italy, but was forced to turn back, due to the presence of an epidemic. He came to be known as the Scourge of God, because of the devastation he brought on the Roman Empire. Atilla died following the celebration of his marriage to Idico in 453 AD, and his empire crumbled soon after his death.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 23:24:39 +0000