This video on Attila and the Huns is part of Project Pannonia a 10 video collaboration on the history of the Pannonian Basin
One of the most pivotal events in human history was the fall of the Western Roman Empire
this event did not have one overarching or encompassing cause
But many the most catastrophic and dramatic of these causes was the mass migration of Germanic peoples into the Roman Empire
They were not merely invading taking advantage of a weakened Rome but fleeing from an enemy
They viewed as a greater threat. They where the Huns the
Romans had never encountered anyone like them before
The face of an infant male hun was richly scarred at birth these deep cuts were made
With the intent of desensitizing him to pain only after this ritual was completed
The child was allowed to nurse with his mother as if a young son's life was not already tough enough
cranial deformation
Was also practiced where the child's head was bound giving him an elongated shape later in life
Dawn's were also known for their ruthlessness
Extreme even by ancient standards and their unparalleled skill with a whoreson bow
Which they would have begun to master from a young age and used every day for the rest of their life
The butterfly effect of cascading events that came to full fruition in the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries
Began on the other side of the world over five hundred years earlier
the warring states of China had recently been united and the
Construction of a Great Wall had begun to keep the many nomadic tribes of the north out of China this Chinese unity
motivated the many nomadic tribes and peoples of the north to do the same and in 209 BC the Xiong nu
Confederacy was formed during the early Chinese Han Dynasty the Xiong nu
Were able to bypass the Great Wall with seemingly little effort and raid the south with impunity
Thus young nu began to extract regular tribute from the Han Chinese
in exchange for not attacking them in addition to silk and other luxury items the two forms of tribute most demanded by Xiong nu
Where Chinese Brides some of whom were of noble birth and large amounts of wine both of which they had acquired a taste for?
During their southern raids the Han Empire did not sit idly by while paying the somewhat humiliating tribute
They closely studied in turn tribal politics and prejudices of the show new
Confederacy and began the subtly played them off against each other once a substantial number of allies was gained north of the wall
The Chinese stopped paying tribute to this young new and instead began paying the nomads to fight among themselves
And support Chinese campaigns north of the great wall
these extremely costly campaigns became more and more successful over time during the first century AD the Xiong nu
Confederacy split into three parts the southern Xiong nu became a Chinese vassal in the East
the sunbae who had previously been allied with a Xiong nu
defected and formed their own
Confederacy these ancestors of the later Mongols were paid a bounty for every severed head of a Xiong nu warrior that they brought the Chinese
the northern Xiong nu which consisted of around one hundred tribes able to field up to two hundred thousand men were dealt a series of
devastating defeats by the Han Chinese and the Zhan Bay who took most of their territory and drove them further west the Xiong nu
Broke apart into several smaller yet still formidable
Coalition's of tribes who were often hostile to each other and the Iranian speaking nomadic peoples that they displaced
Slaughtered or absorbed the Xia Knights Quetta rights and half the lights all moved to the south and began
Parasitical relationships with assassin and Persian Empire these three tribal Confederations have been called the Iranian Huns
however
There is a great deal of scholarly debate to what extent these three tribal
Confederations are related to the Huns that migrated westwards one important thing to point out about the Xiong nu and almost every other successful
Nomadic tribal confederation including the Huns is that they were not strictly ethnically homogeneous
Generally speaking the first tribes that would join together to form a nomadic coalition became the nobility
While the larger outer circle of tribes that join later had less prestige and less of a share in the spoils of war and tribute
especially if they were coerced to join by force all of these tribes were spread over an immense geographical territory and
Intermarried with the settled and other nomadic people's around them the xia knights Quetta rights and half delights
Often married speakers of an iranian language and adopted much of their culture the Huns who cross the Volga River in about 370 ad
Were initially allied with Iranian speaking islands before they started fighting each other and also began incorporating
Germanic peoples into their Ord who had not been slaughtered or fled to the west
The scary and the keppens or to Germanic tribes that were defeated by and then allied with the Huns
Against the Germanic Goths who had previously dominated them the Romans early interactions with the Huns were not entirely negative
after pillaging Roman territory causing a mass migration of Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire and sending a severed head to
Constantinople as a way of saying I want to be friends the Romans quickly employed the Huns to fix the problem they had created
Over the next several decades, even though the Huns sporadically raided Roman territory
They were much more likely to fight alongside the Romans than against them in 406
they
Successfully helped defend Italy against a gothic invasion and were frequently employed as mercenaries by the Romans
To keep troublesome German tribes in line in 430 for the brothers Attila and Letta became joint rulers of the Huns
Their uncle ruga who had preceded them as ruler of the Huns
Maintained an alliance with the Romans in the West while attacking the Romans in the East the eastern Romans then
negotiated an annual bribe of
700 pounds of gold to pay ruga not to attack them for the first decade of Attila and his brothers rule
They generally followed the same policies as their uncle had and were more focused on a rivalry with each other this rivalry
Ended when atilla's brother bled ax bled out after a hunting accident Attila then began to immediately rape the east
prioritizing the capture of Roman engineers whom he used to create siege equipment now the Huns were able to take walled cities by
4:47 the eastern Romans had had enough and agreed to triple the annual tribute paid to the Huns to
2100 pounds of gold during the negotiations for the tribute Attila mockingly called them Baratheon osius his slave multiple times
The treaty also stipulated that Rome's borders be pushed down hundreds of miles away from the Danube
River leaving the Romans with no natural defensive barrier in the three years after this treaty
Attila ruthlessly expanded his influence and control over nearly all the people north of the roman empire at this point
Attila had reached the height of his power
Successfully creating a massive counter empire to the romans
Attila seemed content to develop and further consolidate his empire and history might have been very different and had not been for the western roman
Emperor's sister. She was betrothed to an elderly senator who she was not a fan of at all
So she got the brilliant idea to send her engagement ring to Attila the Hun along with the message
Pleading for help Attila interpreted all of this as a more formal marriage
Proposal and let the Western Roman Emperor know that he accepted and would also graciously
Accept a large chunk of the Western Roman Empire as a dowry the shocked and enraged Western Roman Emperor
Initially wanted to put his sister to death until convinced by his mom not to kill his sister and exile her instead
Attila was furious when he was told this was not a serious proposal and to forget about the whole thing
Attila then gathered together a massive army of all the Hun tribes in his empire as well as a horde of German infantry to support
Them in 451 Attila destroyed all the Roman cities bordering the Rhine River and completely destroyed a pro-gun
Daeun Kingdom allied with Rome some historians have argued that Attila was going to break his alliance with the Western Roman Empire
anyways
and used the engagement as an excuse to do so or
Sped up his timeline while Attila continued to destroy cities as he moved further into the Empire the Roman general
Flavius ATS gathered together his own coalition the Romans the Huns former ally the Allens and many German tribes
Notably the Visigoths Franks and Saxons after a massive battle between the two armies. That was largely
inconclusive Attila withdrew to his tenth capital city in the Pannonian Basin
Near modern Budapest where he spent the winter and planned a new campaign the following year attila waged a successful campaign in italy
plundering the countryside as his army advanced on rome the catholic pope left the city to meet attila and
According to roman sources he was miraculously able to convince Atilla to spare the city
perhaps attila spared the city because he was impressed by the unarmed old man's bravery or maybe a bribe was paid or a
Miracle let me know what you think down in the comments in any case attila returned to his capital tent city in the Pannonian Basin
Where he began to plot another campaign and marry a lovely German Fraulein
Attila died from a severe nosebleed on his wedding night while heavily intoxicated
Him passed out the hunnic Empire did not outlive Attila by many years as atilla's son squabbled over who should rule the Empire
the Germanic tribes
previously subordinate to them gathered together and overthrew the Huns the get bids established a new kingdom with ons base of
operations had been in the Pannonian Basin
Although the Huns might was ephemeral their legacy was long lasting Attila is a major character in three later norse sagas
the Magyars that later came to dominate the Pannonian Basin
were called the Huns by medieval chroniclers as a slur they however
Embraced the connotation and claimed to have the sword of Attila and carry on his legacy
Through the centuries Attila and the Huns was frequently referenced in positive and negative
connotations until this day Attila is a common name in central Eastern Europe and in Turkey where the Huns are considered a
closed Turkic relative
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And don't forget to check out my sirs video on Roman Pannonia and voices of the past video on dinner with Attila