Attila the Hun: a Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome Free

FREE ATTILA THE HUN: A BARBARIAN KING AND THE FALL OF ROME PDF John Man | 416 pages | 17 Apr 2006 | Transworld Publishers Ltd | 9780553816587 | English | London, United Kingdom Attila The Hun: Who Was The “Scourge Of God” Who Terrorised The Romans? - HistoryExtra Attila the Hun c— was the leader of the ancient nomadic people known as the Huns from to AD and ruler of the Hunnic Empire. He was a Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome warlord and an astute politician, keeping a diverse confederation of tribes together for decades. He was also a successful crime lord, extorting money from his enemies with a ruthlessness that exceeded any later mafia don, says Miles Russell. Unfortunately we know very little of the man himself, for the Huns failed to write their own version of history. Born into Hunnic aristocracy early in the fifth century, Attila and his elder brother Bleda were nephews of King Rugila. The Huns were a nomadic, pastoralist society who, from the fourth century AD, had been migrating west towards the Roman Empire. Growing up, Bleda and Attila would have learnt to ride almost as soon as they could walk. They would also have been trained as archers, for the Huns were renowned for being able to dispatch arrows with great accuracy from horseback in battle. He was certainly known to have had many wives, polygamy helping to bind the Hunnic clans together. When King Rugila died inhe was succeeded by his nephews. Inhowever, Bleda was dead. Yet given what he achieved, it is hard to understand why, says John Man. His empire was at its height for a mere eight years, never included more than a few acres of Roman soil, and vanished instantly after his death in He was, in the end, a failure. So why his fearsome reputation? The Huns sprang from obscurity on the steppes of Central Asia in the fourth century. Possibly, their ancestors were a people called the Xiongnu — Hun-nu in Mongolian — who ruled a sizeable empire in Mongolia for years, until China broke them apart in the second century AD. If the Huns were the Xiongnu, they seem to have forgotten their former glory as they moved westwards. They first came to the attention of the Greeks in about as pastoral nomads and experts in mounted archery, able to shoot with extraordinary accuracy and power while at full gallop. For a century, the empire had been falling apart. The split grew after each half acquired its own emperor in Ties of family and history were not enough to defend a divided empire against the menace of Germanic tribes pressing in from beyond the Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome and Danube. This barbarian threat intensified when the Huns, with their very different Turkish roots, emerged from what is now the Ukraine. Their skills carried them into modern-day Hungary, where in due course Attila killed his co-ruler and brother Bleda to seize sole power in or Other tribes were soon co-opted as allies, allowing Attila to deploy forces the like of which no one had ever seen before, his mounted warriors being reinforced with infantry and siege-machines. Earthquake damages the walls of Constantinople. Huns besiege and take Naissus and many other cities, and probably advance to Constantinople, to find the walls have been repaired. The envoy includes would-be assassins. His advance is stopped by Aetius at Orleans. He takes Aquileia, and advances along the Po Valley. Western Roman Emperor Valentinian murders the popular military leader Aetius. By the mid-fifth century, Attila had created an empire that reached from the Baltic to the Balkans, from the Rhine to the Black Sea. Hun warriors who crossed the Balkans on their way to Constantinople in could have watered their horses in the Loire inand then the next year bathed in the Po. In fact, so generous could he be to his supporters that, Priscus noted, many considered life with the Huns to be better than in the Roman Empire; corruption, injustice and taxation all being unknown. While Attila lived, his empire was a successful business operation. The Huns soon discovered that large amounts of cash could be extorted from the Roman Empire merely from threats, both direct and implied. Throughout the s and 30s, the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II paid the Huns Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome of gold a year just to stay away. Bythis had increased to 1,lb. When, inTheodosius refused to pay, Attila took an army directly into the Balkans and began burning towns. Theodosius swiftly capitulated, immediately agreeing to settle arrears and restart payment, Attila raising the annual sum to 2,lb of gold. The Hunnic King was evidently not a man to cross. Mindful of the effect that Roman luxuries could have on his people, Attila tightly controlled all movement across the frontier. Here Attila, dressed simply and without ornament, sat on a raised couch at the head of the company. His cup too was of wood, whilst the visitors drank from goblets of gold. From the few facts that can be established one thing is clear — we are dealing with an astonishing personality who grips the imagination, says John Man. Driven by overweening ambition and an addiction to booty, Attila attempted far more than he could ever achieve. Set on ruling as much of the world as he could grab, his ambition drove him to risk everything against overwhelming odds. Inhe was at the towering and utterly impenetrable walls of Constantinople, perhaps hoping Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome take advantage of damage caused by a recent earthquake. Too late: by the time he got there across the Balkans, the walls had been repaired. It was a political necessity. To keep his restless chieftains happy, he needed loot. At first that meant raids; then war; and finally, as his empire grew, large-scale conquest. But conquest would bring challenges of a different order. Attila would need to learn the arts of government, such as record keeping, taxation, and administration. Attila employed secretaries and envoys to play at politics, but as an illiterate barbarian war-leader he could not contemplate a settled life. This was the dilemma that Genghis Khan solved years later, but not Attila. His only answer was war, and more war. So in he conceived the idea of turning on the west. Nothing revealed his addiction to war more than the astonishing way in which he justified it. Honoria was an ambitious young woman, jealous of her brother, with her own apartments and entourage, but no real authority. Bored by her life of wealth, she had an affair with her chamberlain, Eugenius. The affair was discovered, Eugenius executed, and Honoria betrothed to a rich consul. In fact she was a scheming thirty-something. Seething with rage, she determined to exact vengeance on her brother and take power for herself. Knowing that Attila had plans to invade Gaul, she sent off a loyal eunuch, Hyacinthus, to Attila, asking him to rescue her from a loathsome marriage, promising cash. On his return, Hyacinthus was beheaded. Possibly originating from Mongolia, the Huns were a terrifying prospect for Rome. Most barbarian migrants desired food, land and territorial security, travelling in large, slow-moving groups. The Huns were different, being highly mobile and, for the Romans, who had little contact with the Asian Steppe, of unusual Worse, from a Roman perspective, they were unrepentantly pagan, displaying little desire to settle down and behave. Positioned at the northern fringe of the Roman world, they were a near and present danger, able to extort a large amount of the precious metal from their Mediterranean neighbours. The Roman Empire of the fifth century was divided into two. To the east an emperor ruled from Constantinople now Istanbulwhilst the West, a territory badly affected by invasion and civil war, was nominally held together by an emperor based in northern Italy. In theory, both leaders worked together for the good of the Empire; in reality, however, the relationship was strained, division being less of an amicable uncoupling, more a traumatic and acrimonious divorce. A disunited Empire played well for the Huns, for Rome divided meant that no single opponent was strong enough to stand against them. Meanwhile Attila had been preparing for invasion. Valentinian rejected these demands, and Attila had his excuse. In the spring of ADAttila crossed the river Rhine at the head of a vast army. The reasons for this sudden change of strategy, from extortion to military intervention, are unclear. It may be that, in order to stay in power, he required a major Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome of strength. History tells us that the catalyst was the letter from Honoria detailed above. Whatever the true reason, the Huns were now inside the Empire, burning, looting and killing large numbers of civilians. On the morning Attila the Hun: A Barbarian King and the Fall of Rome 20 Juneboth sides clashed on the Catalaunian Plains, near Troyes, northeast France. It was close, but the Huns were beaten. Here, Attila was preparing to immolate himself on a pyre of wooden saddles, when his opponent, the great Roman general Aetius, allowed him to go free. Possibly because he felt that the Huns may yet prove useful to him, says Miles Russell. Perhaps he was simply letting a respected opponent retreat with honour intact. Aetius had spent his youth as a hostage with the Huns and had grown up with Attila.

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