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Attila, frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time; the Huns' arrival to Europe is associated with the migration westward of an Iranian people, the Alans. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, and by 430, they had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe, conquering the Goths and many other Germanic peoples living outside of Roman borders and causing many others to flee into Roman territory. The Huns, especially under their King Attila, made frequent and devastating raids into the Eastern Roman Empire. In 451, they invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul, where they fought a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, and in 452, they invaded Italy. After the death of Attila in 453, the Huns ceased to be a major threat to Rome and lost much of their empire following the Battle of Nedao. Descendants of the Huns, or successors with similar names, are recorded by neighboring populations to the south, east, and west as having occupied parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia from about the 4th to 6th centuries. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century.
Aetius was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433–454). He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian federates settled throughout the West. Notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied (foederati) army in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending a devastating invasion of Gaul by Attila in 451, though the Hun and his subjugated allies still managed to invade Italy the following year, an incursion best remembered for the ruthless Sack of Aquileia and the intercession of Pope Leo I.
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and by the Visigothic king Theodoric I – against the Huns and their vassals – commanded by their king Attila. It proved one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. Whether the battle was of strategic significance is disputed; historians generally agree that the Siege of Orleans was the decisive moment in the campaign and stopped the Huns' attempt to advance any further into Roman territory or establish vassals in Roman Gaul. However, the Huns successfully looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. Attila died only two years later, in 453; after the Battle of Nedao in 454, the coalition of the Huns and the incorporated Germanic vassals gradually disintegrated.
Bleda was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun.
Onegesius was a powerful Hunnic logades (minister) who supposedly held power second only to Attila the Hun. According to Priscus he "seated on a chair to the right of the king" i.e. Attila.
Priscus of Panium was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician.
Karadach or Kuridach was an important chieftain of the Akatziri tribe of the Hunnic confederation during the reign of Attila. According to Priscus he rose to prominence when he was courted by Roman diplomats in 448 AD as a potential ally against the Huns, but used the information to help his overlord foil a revolt among lesser chiefs of the Akatziri; thus Attila left his lands untouched while the remaining were taken.
The Akatziri or Akatzirs were a tribe that lived north of the Black Sea, though the Crimean city of Cherson seemed to be under their control in the sixth century. Jordanes called them a mighty people, not agriculturalists but cattle-breeders and hunters. Their ethnicity is undetermined: the 5th-century historian Priscus describes them as ethnic (ethnos) Scythians, but they are also referred to as Huns. Their name has also been connected to the Agathyrsi. However, according to E. A. Thompson, any conjectured connection between the Agathyrsi and the Akatziri should be rejected outright.
Ernak was the last known ruler of the Huns, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over Huns in dual kingship with his brother Dengizich, but in separate divisions in separate lands.
Ellac was the oldest son of Attila (434–453) and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He ruled shortly, and died at the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD. Ellac was succeeded by brothers Dengizich and Ernak.
Kreka or Hereka was the wife of Attila. She was described by Eastern Roman diplomat Priscus in his account of his stay at Attila's court in 448 or 449 AD. She and Attila had three sons: Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernak, who split among themselves what remained of Attila's empire after his death in 453.
Basich or Basikh was a Hun military commander who co-led an invasion of Persia in 395 AD together with Kursich.
Kursich was a Hun general and royal family member. He led a Hunnish army in the Hunnic invasion of Persia in 395 AD.
Berichus or Berik was a Hun nobleman, ambassador, and lord, said to have "ruled over many villages".
Eslas was a Hun negotiator, supervisor, diplomat and orator. He was sent by Attila on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople.
Oebarsius or Aybars was a Hun nobleman, brother of Mundzuk and uncle of Bleda and Attila.
Scottas or Skottas was a Hun nobleman, ambassador and advisor. He was the brother of Onegesius.
Eskam's daughter was the daughter of a Hun named Eskam, and one of the many wives of Attila, king of the Huns. She married Attila in 448 o 449 AD.
Eskam was Hun living in 5th-century Pannonia, then under the Hunnic Empire. He was possibly a shaman. His daughter was one of the numerous wives of Attila the Hun.
References
- ↑ Kelly, Christopher (2011). Attila The Hun Barbarian Terror and the Fall of the Roman Empire. Random House. p. 275. ISBN 9781446419328 . Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Martindale, J. R.; Morris, J.; Morris, John (1971). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 2, AD 395-527. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780521201599 . Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ "Priscus Embassi to Attila" . Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ Priscus; Given, John (2014). The Fragmentary History of Priscus Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430-476. Evolution Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 9781935228141 . Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ↑ Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J. (2022). Knight, Max (ed.). The World of the Huns Studies in Their History and Culture. University of California Press. p. 382. ISBN 9780520357204 . Retrieved 26 October 2022.