attila

Attila the Hun (c. 406–453) was the ruler of the Huns from the mid-430s until his death in 453. He and his brother Bleda co-ruled after the death of their uncle Mundzuk, and Attila became sole ruler after Bleda’s death, around 445. Under Attila, the Hunnic confederation grew into a major power in Europe, uniting various tribes under centralized leadership and pressing both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

Attila conducted a series of campaigns that exploited Roman weakness and often yielded tribute. In the Balkans he defeated and pressured the Eastern Roman Empire for concessions; in the West he crossed into Gaul in 451, where a Roman–Visigothic coalition led by Flavius Aetius halted his advance at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. In 452 he crossed the Alps and invaded northern Italy, devastating several towns and extracting large payments, but he did not capture Rome.

Attila died in 453, reportedly on his wedding night, though the circumstances are uncertain. The death precipitated the rapid fragmentation of the Hunnic empire as its diverse subjects and rival leaders asserted independence. Attila’s campaigns disrupted both Roman frontiers and the broader late-antique world, contributing to the transformations of Europe in the period.

Name and epithet: The meaning of Attila’s name is uncertain; later Christian writers called him the Scourge of God, a title not used during his lifetime.