Attila the Hun

Biography

Attila ruled the Hunnic Empire at its terrifying height, commanding a steppe confederation that stretched from the Rhine to the Caspian and extracting vast tribute from both halves of the Roman world. Called the 'Scourge of God' by terrified Christians, he was a shrewd politician as well as a feared warlord, playing the two empires against each other and against their own barbarian subjects. In 451 he invaded Gaul and was checked by Aetius's Roman-Gothic coalition at the Catalaunian Plains — his first great defeat. Undaunted, he invaded Italy the next year, sacking Aquileia and other cities, before turning back; tradition credits Pope Leo I's famous meeting with persuading him to spare Rome, though plague, famine, and supply problems likely mattered more. Attila died suddenly in 453 — reportedly of a hemorrhage on his wedding night — and his empire, held together only by his personality, splintered within a few years, its subject peoples rising in revolt.

Key Battles