Attila was a charismatic warrior who became leader of the Huns around 445 CE. By Attila's time, the Huns had moved from Central Asia to the Great Hungarian Plain in southeastern Europe. Like their ancestors who threatened the northern frontiers of China, the Huns now posed a serious threat to the northern and eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire. The Romans saw the Huns as ruthless barbarians, but it was not long before the "barbarians" were exacting tribute payments from both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

The Huns had undergone some changes during their long trek westward from Central Asia. When Attila came to power, the army of the Huns no longer relied mainly on nomadic horse archers. After settling in Hungary, the Huns had developed disciplined infantry. But they still made effective use of their traditional cavalry skills, and Hun horsemen became the terror of Eastern and Southern Europe. In 451, Attila advanced into Gaul, capturing Reims, Mainz, Strasbourg, Cologne, and Trier. He also attempted to capture Paris, but that city managed to hold out. In the same year, the Roman general Aetius took a mixed force of Romans and Germanic allies and dealt the Huns their first serious reverse at the Battle of Châlons. The Huns fell back across the Rhine, and after regrouping, began an advance into northern Italy in 452. According to legend, Pope Leo I rode to meet Attila in northern Italy and the latter was reportedly overwhelmed by both the Pope's brave defiance and his ornate papal vestments. Then, a miracle is said to have occurred: Saints Peter and Paul apparently appeared to Attila and threatened him with death if he did not relent in his invasion. In reality, Attila was probably forced to abandon northern Italy because of a shortage of supplies and because disease was ravaging his ranks.

Attila died in the following year on his wedding night. He had just married the latest in a series of young women and, following the wedding feast, suffered a fatal nosebleed. His body was placed in a tent of silk "in the midst of a plain...The best horsemen of the entire tribe of the Huns rode around in circles, after the manner of circus games, in the place to which he had been brought and told of his deeds in a funeral dirge."¹ The leadership and stability that Attila provided for the Huns did not long survive his death. His son, whom he had named his successor, was killed in a power struggle. Internal strife continued and the power of the Huns gradually faded.

1 Jordanes, The Gothic History, 1915; C.C. Mierow, tr., intro. And notes. Cambridge: Speculum Historiale, 1966, pp. 123-124, in Vladimir N. Basilov, ed. Nomads of Eurasia (Seattle: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and University of Washington Press, 1989), 1989, p. 53.