Huns

=**The Huns **= = By Taylor Ensminger and Parker Bach =  The Huns lived in a unique and amazing world that no other culture has been able to replicate. It was an empire full of great leaders and had the kingdom to prove it. From the Hun civilization sprang great military advances and a handful of fearsome historical figures which have had an enormous impact on the way we live today. However, neither of these would have appeared without the diverse cultural background of the Huns that developed from their varied geography as a result of their nomadic lifestyle.

Geography
The geography of where the Huns lived may seem unusual, but it is one reason why they were such an important civilization. Their geography is more than a location, it includes interactions with the environment, movement, and impact on culture. The Huns were a nomadic people, they had to rely on different means of making a living than most other civilizations at the time. (Ingram, page 10)

===Location === The Huns had many different locations where they lived and were spread out all over Eurasia. The Huns were spread along an area from Asia to the edge of Europe. (Ingram. 10) This area is known as the Steppes. (9) They were also in the area of the eastern Roman Empire. (10) The location of the Huns headquarters was in Szeged off of the Danube River. (32) The home land that the Huns had was a strip of land called Pannonia. (35) The Hunnish Empire stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to Persia in the south. (Tower. 28) The Huns were known for moving over great distances of land in a few years. (Leone. 44) The border of their empire also stretched from North of Crimeg, Russia and on the border of The Maeotic Sea. (44)

Interaction with the Environment
The Huns interaction with the environment was different from most other cultures as it was based on the practical aspects of thier lifestyle. The Huns being a nomadic tribe hunted large herds of animals as they moved. (Lyttle. 15) The Huns needed pastures for their horses and to find herds of animals to hunt.The Huns constantly searched for new land that had wide open spaces. (13) When the Huns met farmers on land that they needed for herds, they made the farmers move by force. The plowed hills of the farmers in time turned to lush grassland for herds of animals. (16) In this way, the Huns created the land they needed. (17) After time, the Huns became farmers and settled down in one spot of land. They no longer hunted large herds of animals for their main food source. (21)

Movement
A major characteristic of the Huns’ lifestyle was movement because they were groups of nomadic tribes. The Huns started out as a nomadic tribes, but after many years settled in one place. (Lyttle. 20) The Huns traveled from place to place. They would move when the herds moved or when they needed more land. (16) The Huns had found that they needed more land so they continued to move and expand the space they covered. (16) During the Hunnish Empire, the Huns moved a large amount until they settled in Pannonia. (15-16) The Huns pattern of movement was east to west. (17) They started out in Asia and moved to Europe over the years. (16) Eventually they migrated into the Roman Empire and after a treaty, left the Romans alone. (20)

Impact on Culture
The Huns impacted many other civilizations’ cultures when they migrated and made their way from Asia and Europe. One of the main cultures the Huns impacted was Rome. (Lyttle. 13) The Huns helped cause the fall of the Roman Empire. (14) The growth of the Hunnish Empire resulted in the separatation of Rome and Constantinople from each other; causing Rome to become weaker. (Ingram. 37) The Huns also made the Romans pay a tribute to them which the Roman empire paid out of fear. (33) As the Huns moved West, they forced many other nomadic tribes into Roman territory. This resulted in many wars between the Roman Empire and the displaced tribes.(Lyttle. 11-13) Additionaly, as the Huns moved towards Rome, many of the people living in cities within the Roman Empire abandoned these cities out of fear of the Huns. (Leone. 46-48) Another nation that they affected was China. The Huns were one of the main reasons that China built the Great Wall. China's construction of the Great Wall prevented the Huns from entering China and caused them instead to expand their Empire to the west and into Europe. (Ingram, 11) They also influenced religion. While most nations at the time were converting to Christianity and the belief in one God (Catholicism), the Huns kept their beliefs in many natural gods. The Huns also inspired other people and tribes to expand and create thier own empires. One tribe they inspired was the Mongols. Even though the Mongol empire did not come about for many years later, the Huns set the stage for Mongolian rampage through Asia. (Lyttle, 14)

Culture
The diverse and unique culture of the Huns is the background from which the military prowess and major historical figures emerged and had supremely singular, religion, arts, education, architecture, and customs. It is interesting to see the belligerent background of the Huns reflected in the decisions of Hun figures and Hun military tactics.

Religion
The religion of the Huns was the basis on which they based all of their major decisions. Hence, it played a major role in the raids and battles of the Huns, as well as the decision-making behind Hunnish major historical figures.

Little is known about the Hunnish gods, but most historians have some traces of evidence that lead them to believe that the Huns worshiped nature deities. (Lyttle, page 15) The Romans wrote that in the late sixth century, after the major fall of the Huns, the Huns worshiped trees. (Sinor) However, it is likely that the other Hunnish deities represented such forces of nature as wind, rain, lighting, and more. (Price, page 48) We do know for certain that the Huns sacrificed to a giant monster called T'angri Khan. This is the same god that the Persians worshiped as Aspandiat. There was also Tengri, the god of the sky and heaven, who was originally from the religion of the Turco-Mongols. We are sure that the Huns sacrificed to gods of fire, water, major roads, the moon, and to creatures that the Huns considered spectacular. (Sinor)

The Hunnish people evidently had legends and/or prophecies due to the story of Attila's "Sword of the War God." One day, out in the fields, a herdsman saw a cow limping badly with blood dripping from its hoof. The herdsman followed the trail of blood and saw an old, rusty sword lying half-buried in the ground. This sword was immediately brought to Attila, who declared the sword was lost treasure; the famed Sword of the War God, in fact. The Sword of the War God is talked about in a legend of the Huns, which says that the carrier of the sword will win every battle and have the power to conquer the entire Earth. It is because of this sword's story that we know the Huns had legends. (Price, page 44)

While other civilizations had priests that interpreted their deities' wills, the Huns had shamans and fortune tellers as their religious leaders.The shamans acted as healers, omen-readers, and interpreters of dreams. Being so important, each Hun tribe had at least one shaman. (Lyttle, page 15) Attila himself put much trust in the shamans and fortune-tellers. At one point, Rome lay wide open for the taking, but a fortune teller told Attila that Rome meant disaster for the Huns. The fortune teller also mentioned that if Attila attacked Rome, he would share the fate of the last barbarian king to sack the city. Alaric, the Visigoth king, ha overrun Rome in 410 AD and had died shortly afterward. Even with such a great prize as the city of Rome dangling in front of him, Attila heeded the fortune teller's advice, leaving Rome as it was. This shows how much trust the Huns had in their fortune tellers. (Price, page 109) Attila also demonstrated his trust in Hunnish religious leaders when he made his youngest son, Ernak, his favorite when a fortune tellers made a prediction for him. This prediction said that when Attila died, the Hun race would fall and only Ernak could bring them back to their former glory. (48)

Although the shamans had many other jobs, the most important was their position as the leader of Hunnish rituals. One of the most important of these rituals was the one involving the shoulder blades of a freshly killed animal. This particular ritual was used when deciding on a major decision,such as crossing a river or going to battle. This unnamed ritual is much like the one of Chinese fame involving the shell of a tortoise. In the Hunnish ritual, the shoulder blade is thrown into a fire (Lyttle, page 15) and is only fished out once all of the flesh has burned off. The shaman then "reads" the lines and cracks in the bone to see if the decision in question will be a success. (16)

Another ritual was the process of cutting the heads of horses and putting the on poles. No one is sure exactly what this was meant to do for the Huns, but most believe it was a practice used to keep evil spirits away. (Price, page 48)

Arts
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other than the art of war, the Huns had a handful of other arts they practiced in their free time or as an occupation. While the first, bow-craft, does relate to war, and the second, cooking, is an art that all cultures had, embroidering, at least, was practiced for enjoyment.

The art probably considered most important in the Hun culture was bow-craft, due to the Hunnish focus on war. Craftsmen devoted their live to the art, as Hunnish bows are impossibly hard to perfect. This is because the bow is untraditionally unsymmetrical, with the top longer than the bottom. Hence, the bow had to be reinforced by varying thicknesses of bone and sinew for balance. Making the bow in a perfunctory way requires only four of five days of work, but tuning it to perfection, as the Huns did, takes several months. Because of this, bow s were not buried with warriors like the other Hunnish weapons. (Lyttle, page 19)

Another art that all cultures practice is the art of cooking. However, what makes the Hunnish version of cooking interesting as opposed to all the others is not so much the preparation of the meal, but the equipment used in the preparation. The Hun kitchen had to be portable, as they were nomadic up until a few decades before the end of their empire. Because of this wandering lifestyle, the Hunnish kitchen took the form of a cauldron with a pedestal on the bottom. This cauldron was usually made of iron or bronze, which hints that the Huns also had some skill in the art of metal-working. These metal cauldrons are considered art today because although very primitive, the cauldron was sometimes very artistic. Because it was made of metal, the cauldron was able to carry hot coals, as well as warm food, from camp to camp. Again, the cauldron had to be portable, so the pedestal was formed to be able to sit easily on a horse's rump. (17)

The last major art of the Huns was one practiced only by women: embroidering. Our only information on this art comes from the Roman diplomat, Priscus, who was sent to negotiate with the Huns. This is what he wrote about one of Attila's many wives: "(I) came upon her lying on a soft spread. The floor was covered with mats of felted wool. A number of servants were waiting on her in a circle, and the maidservants, sitting on the floor in front of her, were embroidering fine linens to be placed as ornament over their barbarian clothes." (Price, pages 62, 63)

Education
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although not educated in the traditional sense, the Hunnish education prepared young Huns for future battles. This also gave them a leg up on their opponents in battle who almost always had a formal education, rather than a martial one.

[[image:Attila_Court.GIF width="274" height="288" align="left" caption="Attila's Court (allempires.net)"]]
Most of a Hun's education began in the toddler years, when they were given their first riding lesson. At this time, male toddlers were given sheep to ride, as they were far too small for regular horses. They then were each handed a miniature bow, with which they were tasked with shooting rodents and birds. When they were finally deemed skilled enough at this, older students were graduated to their own horse and the assignment of shooting hares and foxes. The Huns were educated in this hunting until they finally reached manhood, which only happened when they were strong enough to be able to use a full man's bow. (Hinds, page 12)

An important perspective of this type of education that is often overlooked is that this meant Huns never learned to read or write. With only a miniscule percentage of literate Huns, there are no recovered records written by the Huns, so all written information about their society is tainted with bias, usually Roman. (Lyttle, page 14) Because of the lack of literate Huns, Attila often invited scholars from many different empires to his court to teach him about the world. He did this not because he was particularly interested, but because he felt it was necessary to be able to conquer the entire world successfully, his life goal. (23) In his court, Attila's closest advisers were not Huns. They were those who spoke and wrote both Greek and Latin well. The main function of these literates was too allow Attila to converse with his foreign foes. (Price, page 62)

Homes
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even though the Huns were generally nomadic, some description of their unique homes remains. The downside of this information is that all of comes from Priscus, a Roman, in the house of Attila and the house of one of his wives, so it is somewhat limiting. This information does, however, give us a general idea of how upper-class Huns lived in the age of Attila.

According to Priscus, Attila's house had a bedroom large enough to be a full dining hall, and because of this, it was sometimes used for that purpose. At the banquet, food was served on plates of fine silver - although Attila preferred to use a wooden plate. (Price, page 64) In the house of Kreka, the chief wife of Attila, the entire place was adorned artistically with beautiful decoration, including "mats of felted wool". (62)

Customs
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The brutal customs of the Huns is largely what gave them the fierce reputation they have today. These stories have been passed down through the generations to today's world, and they are what make the Huns a villain in almost all pop culture references.

In the time of the Huns, and even still sometimes today, many rumors of Hun monstrosities and their terrible practices float around as terrifying images. But did Huns //really// turn cannibal every now and then or pull enemies limb from limb? Although some of these rumors are true, the majority are just stories from scared Romans to justify their fears. But rather than being offended by these stories, the Huns encouraged them as a way of psychological warfare. They knew that a scared enemy was half defeated already.

A few rumors have been proven true, including ones which say Huns sometimes drank human blood, slaughtered children, and violated young ladies and nuns. However no custom is more prominent than the tradition of slashing the cheeks of baby Huns. (Lyttle, page 12) This painful custom was performed only on male infants, and the slashing was done with the blade of a sword. (14) Although the Huns did this to every baby boy, it was not because they took delight in the pain of others, it was to harden the child against the pain he would feel in battle in the years to come. (12) Cheek-slashing achieved this lofty goal, because if the baby wanted milk because it was hungry, it would have to persevere through the pain that came with sucking. As the Roman historian Jordanes wrote, "For they cut the cheeks of the males with a sword, so that before they receive the nourishment of milk, they must learn to endure wounds." (14)

**<span style="color: #ff0b00; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Military **
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Huns’ military techniques set a foundation on which the greatest military leaders of all time built their own tactics and strategies. B eing that the entire culture of the Huns revolved around war-making, the topic of Hunnish military is intriguing, especially when noting cause and effect between it and other part of the Hun culture.

Armies
The army of the Huns had diversity and brutality as rarely seen before.The core of the Hun army's success lie in the Hun horses. These horses were able to scatter and come back together more easily than most horses throughout history. This tactic was used to confuse enemies, and worked very successfully. The pampered Roman horses where frail by comparison to the point that they became sick after a single night out in the rain. On the other hand, the tough Hun horse was able to survive in the winter completely on its own. These horses were squat enough to be somewhat level with enemy foot soldiers, so that the Huns could use their melee weapons more effectively. They were also ready for back-breaking work at any time. The Hunnish saddle was made of felt or leather and always had room to carry a number of weapons. (Lyttle, page 17) The Huns armies also conquered large amount of of land without fighting many battles. (15) The groups had no main leader and were fast moving. (16) The horses could also gather and regroup quickly. (16) This was the Huns main tactic. They would disperse, reunite, then disperse again. (46) The Huns wanted to surprise their enemies in battle. (45)

Significant Battles
The significant battles the Huns fought in left veritable craters in history itself and although the Huns fought in numerous battles, two in particular stick out. These were the Battle of Chalons and the siege of Aquileia.<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0b00; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">

The Battle of Chalons took place in late June, 451 AD on the fields of Catalaunia. The Hun forces were lead by Attila, and the opposing army by Theodoris and Aetius. (Ingram, page 72) Theodoric was killed in battle, and the fighting went on intensely for so long that blood flowed into the nearby creek, where soldiers attempted to drink a compound of gore and water. (74) Attila was forced to retreat for the first time in any of his military campaigns, where his next move was to build an enormous fire. He promised his troops that if necessary, he would throw himself into the fire rather than be taking hostage by his enemies. (75) Aetius was all for going for a siege against Attila, who was at that point, most likely going to lose the battle. However, the new Visigoth king, Thorismund, was eager to go home and claim his crown, so both he and Aetius withdrew from the battle, leaving no clear winner. (76)

The other significant battle was more drawn out and was technically a siege, not quite a battle. This siege was on the walled city of Aquileia, which was a vital city that Attila passed in his conquest of Italy. It was so important because it was along a chief, very narrow passage meant to keep out all non-Romans. (81) This siege ended up being a three-month holdout, and right as Attila was about to give up and leave, part of te city wall collapsed. The Huns charged in, killing all inhabitants and leaving the city in utter destruction so complete that the city was never rebuilt. (83)

Weapons
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Huns used powerful weapons that were made with wonderful craftsmanship and introduced new technology to warfare. The technology they introduced in Europe was used for many generations after, some even still today, from the categories of horse equipment to archery.

Three other important weapons were lances, lassos (Lyttle, 18) and nets. (Ingram, page 25) The lances were used to thrust against, and not to throw at, the opponent. (Lyttle, 19) With the point lowered on the Hun's rear braced on the saddle, it had a lot of power behind it used to impale enemies.The lasso was used to drag a fighter off his horse and to the ground. (20) The lassos entangled the enemy so they lost the power to walk or ride. (Leone. 47) It was used most effectively when slung onto the neck of a horse rider, so that they lost their steed and were choked by the pressure on their throat. (Lyttle, 20) The nets were used in a similar way to the lassos, slung over an enemy to entangle his limbs, This was usually done while the foe was busy parrying a sword. (Ingram, page 25)

The Huns also used bows and arrows. The bows were made of wood and were strengthened with pieces of bone or sinew. The bows were well crafted. (Lyttle, 18) The bows could take months to make but were not symmetrical. (19) The bow and string were flexible enough to have a one foot drawback, allowing the arrows to fly at least 1,000 feet, killing easily at 500. (Ingram, page 21) The arrows were made of wood and had a bone tip. (Marshall Cavendish Digital) The arrows were shot with great accuracy. (Lyttle, 18) Since the Huns were so accurate, one of the most effective battle maneuvers of the Huns was to pretend to retreat, then ride backwards on the Horse, shooting arrows as they went. At the beginning of a battle, each Hun started out with thirty arrows. These were used quickly, so a fletcher traveled with each unit in the army. (Ingram, page 22)

The Huns also used the javelin and spear as weapons. The javelin was wood with a large bone tip.(Leone, 47) When riding on a horse, the spear was strengthened by the stirrup, an invention of the Huns that allowed the full force of a galloping horse as well as the weight of a rider to stab the spear through the enemy. (Lyttle, 20)

Another part of the Huns weapons was armor. Back in their nomadic days, the Huns used scale armor. These scales were made of horse hooves. Later, the Huns used a bronze breast plate and helmet. This helmet had a front-plate large enough to protect the nose. However, it is possible that only upper-class Huns had bronze armor. (19) The Huns also used two types of shields. The first shield was larger and was used for foot soldiers. The second was a smaller shield used for fighting on horse back. This shield was made of leather stretched over wood. (20)

Decline
The decline of the Hunnish army triggered the fall of the entire empire and shocked the world of the time. The decline of the Huns started after Attila died. The army was handed down to Attila's sons but they couldn't hold the army together. (Lyttle, 23) The sons shared Attila's empire but the Hunnish people rebelled. (Marshall Cavendish Digital) Soon the army was passed down to the former subjects. After a few generations the army fell and declined. (Lyttle, 24)

The key behind this dramatic fall from power was the irresponsibility of Attila's sons. When Attila died, his oldest son, Ellak, took over kingship of the Huns. (Ingram, page 95) However, two of Attila's other sons wanted to rule jointly, as Attila had done with his brother, Bleda. Eventually Ellak relented a bit and gave each brother control over some of the Huns' conquered cities. The brothers eventually had a power squabble amongst themselves and sent their separate parts of the Hunnish empire to war with each other. Other tribes, especially ones under the control of the Huns, saw this as a golden opportunity to end the reign of the Huns once and for all. (96) In 455, Ellak and his significantly larger part of the Hun empire fell at the Neda River. (Ingram, page 97) Heather, writer of //Fall of the Roman Empire// wrote about this battle, "An encounter took place between the various nations Attila had held under his sway. Kingdoms with their peoples were divided, and out of one body were made many members... Being deprived of their head, the strove madly against each other... One might see the Goths fighting with pikes, the Gepids raging with the sword, the Ruga breaking off the spears in their own wounds, The Sueves [Suevi] fighting on foot, the Huns with bows, the Alans drawing up a battle-line of heavy-armed and the Herules of light-armed warriors." (Hinds, page 61)

Later, in 466, Attila's middle son, Dengzik, was killed by the East Roman Empire, and with his death came the fall of his part of the Hun empire. Finally Ernak, Attila's favorite son and the one predicted to bring power back to the Huns after Attila's death, requested Roman citizenship and a small piece of land in Romania. With this, the Hun empire ended. (Ingram, page 97)



Impact
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Huns, with all thoughts devoted to warfare, had lasting ideas that left a great impac**t** on armies of the future. They left great martial impact throughout Europe in the areas of archery and cavalry.

One of the two greatest area of impact on warfare was archery. After the decline of the Huns, bowmen started wearing corselets and greaves, just as the Huns did. (Hinds, page 63) Archers after the Huns also started becoming masterful horseman and adopted the technique of pulling the string along the side of the head, giving one more precise aim. It was the bowmen who followed these tactics of the Huns that made the Roman Empire so powerful. This empire eventually turned into the Byzantine Empire. (64)

The other area of martial strategy the Huns left a great impact in was cavalry. The Huns were the first to base their battle-plans on mostly cavalry. Before that, foot soldiers dominated armies, with the occasional horseman as well. One sighting of the cavalry-centered Hun army was all it took to set a pattern for all eastern nomads, the Mongols in particular. This trend began mainly back when Rome was first sacked by Hun mercenaries on horseback. (Lyttle, page 14) The Mongols, who came after the Huns, used many of the Huns ideas for their own civilization. (14)

<span style="color: #ff0b00; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Major Historical Figures
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The constantly belligerent cultural background of the Huns produced an array of colorful and unique major historical figures who achieved great things and had unique lives. These figures in particular were all related and brought the Hun empire to its largest extent.

Ruga and Octar
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ruga and Octar, Attila’s uncles, were the Huns who set the stage for Attila’s later greatness. These men were also most likely the ones responsible for raising Attila. (Price, page 18) Ruga and Octar had definitely become co-kings by 425 AD. (32) During their reign, Aetius payed them with large chests of gold to help in his war against East Rome. (33) After a while, the two and their troops were actually payed to leave and go home. Along with the gold, they gave the Huns the land of Pannonia.

Later, in 432, they fought the Burgundians by their own means. In one fight at the Rhine River, 10,000 Huns died including Octar, leaving Ruga to rule by himself. (34) In 433, Ruga helped Aetius again. (34-35) Again, it was in a civil war against East Rome and Theodosius, the king of the East Empire. In 434, he bullied East Rome into the same deal as the West. The price was 350 pounds of gold a year. In this glorious time, Ruga suddenly and unexpectedly died. Many Christians of the time said he was struck by lighting from God. (35)

King Ruga was important because he demanded tribute from Rome and Constantinople. (Lyttle. 22) He demanded to get gold treasure and threatened Rome if they didn't. (22) He was also important because he started to unite the Huns. (21) This would help Attila when he became the sole leader. (21)

Attila and Bleda
Bleda and Attila were two Hun brothers who achieved greatness as co-kings, furthering the importance of the Hun civilization in history. Bleda and Attila were raised by their co-king uncles, Ruga and Octar, as well as a little bit by their father, Mudzak, the older brother of Ruga. Attila was born in 406 AD and was the little brother of Bleda. They grew up in Hun royalty. (Ingram, page 32)

One day, a captive Roman named Aetius was brought back from Hun conquest. He was the son of a Roman noble, and thus, he was treated considerably well. He befriended Attila and Bleda to the point that they even rode and hunted together. Aetius grew so used to life with the Huns, he even learned the Hun language. But he did not live with the Huns forever; eventually his ransom was paid and he returned home. (33) Before the ransom was paid he had become Attila's friend.

This, however, was not the last time Attila would be tangled up with the Romans in his early life. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later, as collateral for a treaty, (Price, page 26) Attila was sent to Ravenna, chief city of the East Roman empire. Ravenna was 500 miles from Attila’s home, so it was easy to feel cut off. The Romans greatly enjoyed having Hun princes as collateral because they usually ended up becoming completely Romanized, and occasionally even converted to Christianity. Attila, however, remained stubbornly Hunnish. The only good thing for him about this time of separation from his home culture was that he gained a lot of inside information on the Roman Empire that would serve him well in the future. (27) The most important topic of information he gained was that of the East versus West Roman empire struggle, which later in life he used greatly to his advantage. Attila was soon returned home, but not without experience on the Roman Empire. (28)

Bleda was the heir to their uncle's throne and took over when Ruga died in 433, and agreed to let Attila rule with him (Ingram, page 35). Bleda and Attila ruled together for a short time. (Lyttle, page 22) During this time,they went to work on exterminating all Hun competition to secure their position. All surviving rivals fled for their lives. (37) These refugees included the cousins of Bleda and Atilla, Mamas and Atakam, who fled to Rome. Attila and his brother followed in hot pursuit. They ended up at Margus, where they made a treaty on horseback, making them more intimidating. Attila and Bleda made the treaty of Margus. (Lyttle, page, 37) They threatened Rome and got a bigger tribute. (Lyttle, pages 36-37) The money was raised from 350 to 700 pounds of gold.They also added that all Hun fugitives were sent back and raised the annual gold fee started by Ruga. Rome agreed and sent back all fugitives, including Mamas and Atakam. (Price, page 38) Attila had his cousins impaled on pointy wooden poles, which were then put upright. Attila’s cousins were in agony for hours until they finally died.

In 437 AD, Bleda and Attila helped their old Roman friend, Aetius, fight off barbarians, namely the Burgundians. The war was based mainly in southeast Gaul. As a team, Bleda, Attila, and Aetius killed thousands of Burgundians and drove the rest into the Alps. (40)

In a short time, Bleda died. Many people say that Attila killed him to gain sole power. Others say he was killed in a hunting accident. (Tower, 33) This left Attila as the sole king of the Huns.

Attila, the Sole King
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Attila as a sole king remains one of the most feared figures in history, known for his brutality and his crusades that brought his civilization to the height of their power. In 445 A.D. Attila became the sole leader of the Huns. He controlled the whole empire.(Ingram. 37) Attila's goals as leader were to expand and enrich the empire in trade and alliances not warfare.(38) He wanted his empire to be like Rome.(38) He established trade for economic growth and developed agricultural techniques.(40) He also used advisers from all over to help him reach his goals.(40) He expanded the Hunnish Empire from the River Don in the East to the Rhine River in the west. (Lyttle.22) This is what many people believed he was meant to do.(22) This gave him power over most of the known world.(23) This also separated Rome and Constantinople.(26) Because of the separation Rome's empire almost came crashing down.(26) Attila would have been happy to take over the fallen empire.

Attila's first major accomplishment as sole king of the Huns was the treaty he made in 447, soon after Bleda died. He had made Constantinople nervous of him by demolishing most of the Balkan peninsula, including Thrace and Callipolis, and Thermopylae. (Hinds, 40-41) With this knowledge, Attila was able to raise the annual tribute from East Rome to 2,100 pounds of gold a year rather than the old 700. (69) He also gained a buffer zone between his own empire and East Rome that was five days worth of riding wide. (45)

In 451, Attila lead an invasion on Gaul, which was completely successful. That same year, he sieges Orleans, but later suffered much damage at the hands of Aetius and the Goths at the battle of Chalons. The next year, Attila captured Aquileia and later sacked Milan. (69) The travel from then on in his conquering became quite slow due to the immense treasures from Milan weighing the wagons down. (58)

Attila now had an open path to Rome, which he was about to take, until Pope Leo I and two Roman senators came to speak to him. Pope Leo's pleading was not working, when, according to a Christian legend, Saint Peter and Saint Paul appeared. These saints told Attila that if he did not cooperate, he would die. (Ingram, 85) According to the legend, Attila left promptly out of sheer terror. (85) After that day, Pope Leo I has often been known as Leo the Great for his deeds in defending Rome. (85) Skeptics say that the entire legend may be just that, a legend, and that Leo may have bribed Attila. These skeptics say staying in Italy was already hard for Attila, as there was disease in his army and a fortune-teller had earlier warned him not to take Rome. Because of this, Attila may have accepted the bribe, being about to leave anyway. (Price, 111-112) Nobody knows for sure what the truth is.

In the Autumn of 452, the same year he Attila had spoken with Pope Leo I, he decided to take on another wife - he had quite a few. He was marrying the daughter of a leading family that were most likely Attila's subjects or allies to strengthen bonds with that family. (Hinds, 59-60) The bride's name was Ildico and she was wed to Attila in early 453. According to the Roman historian Jordanes, "He had given himself up to excessive merry-making and he threw himself down on his back heavy with wine and sleep." Due to this, in the middle of the night, says Jordanes, "...the blood... flowed in its deadly course down his throat, killing him." Within no time, rumors had started popping up about Attila's death: Had Ildico killed him? Or was it Aetius? However, Attila's own people believed he died of natural causes. (60) The natural cause was too much alchol.(60)

Even though Attila is ranked one of the most hated men in history he had great leadership ability.(Tower. 8-10) He was a hero to the Hungarians for his courage and leadership. (Lyttle, 10) He is even mentioned in German mythology.(11) During Attila's rule he unified the Huns. He ruled over a unified empire.(33) Attila also brought the White Huns to the unified empire.(28) The White Huns help expand trade.(28) He also changed the eastern empire so that it won more battles and negotiations.(33) Attila had one dream and that was to rule Rome.(36) He wanted both halves of Rome for his expanding empire.(36) Because he spread fear all over and had no contenders for ruler of the Huns he saw this as possible.(33-34) He made the Roman Empire fear him and rest of the Huns.(32)

<span style="color: #ff0b00; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Conclusion
Up until a few years before the end of their empire, the Huns were nomads. Throughout their entire time as a leading power in Eurasia, they were one of the most war-centered civilizations the world has ever seen. These two characteristics of the Huns made their culture one of its kind throughout all of history. In turn, this culture produced such lasting historical figures as Attila, Bleda, and Ruga, all of whom have stories written or told about them that frighten people all over the world. It is not often that one hears that kind of legacy sprouting from any other culture. The Hunnish geography, culture, military, and historical figures are woven so tightly that none could have been so singular without the others. But from this web there is one fact that can be proven over and over again; the Huns were one of a kind.

<span style="color: #ff0b00; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Works Cited
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