Hunnic Empire: A Visual History

The Hunnic Empire was the tribal confederation built by the Huns after they crossed the Volga around 370, driving the Goths into the Roman Empire and setting off the migrations that helped bring down the West. Under Attila (434-453) it stretched from the Rhine to the Caspian, extracted vast tribute from Constantinople and invaded Gaul (halted at the Catalaunian Plains in 451) and Italy. After Attila's death his sons quarrelled and their Germanic subjects defeated them at the Nedao in 454; the empire dissolved by 469.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Hunnic Empire. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Annual gold tribute paid by the Eastern Roman Empire to the Huns

A pound was about 327 g; 2,100 pounds is roughly 690 kg of gold a year.

Timeline of the Hunnic Empire

1. 370
   Huns cross the VolgaAlans and Ostrogoths overrun.
2. 376
   Goths flee into the empire
3. 434
   Attila and Bleda
4. 447
   Balkans devastatedTribute raised to 2,100 pounds of gold.
5. 451
   Catalaunian PlainsAttila checked in Gaul.
6. 452
   Invasion of ItalyAquileia destroyed; Attila meets Pope Leo.
7. 453
   Attila dies
8. 454
   Battle of the NedaoThe subject peoples throw off Hun rule.
9. 469
   Dengizich killedThe empire is finished.

Arrival

Around 370 the Huns overran the Alans and the Gothic kingdoms north of the Black Sea. Panicked Goths sought refuge in the Roman Empire in 376 and two years later destroyed a Roman army at Adrianople. For decades the Huns served as Roman mercenaries as often as enemies, and the Roman general Aetius grew up as a hostage among them.

Attila

Attila and his brother Bleda inherited the kingship in 434 and doubled Constantinople's tribute; Attila murdered Bleda in 445. His invasions of the Balkans in 441-447 destroyed dozens of cities and forced the tribute up to 2,100 pounds of gold a year. In 451 he invaded Gaul and was fought to a standstill by Aetius and the Visigoths at the Catalaunian Plains; in 452 he ravaged northern Italy but turned back after meeting Pope Leo I, more likely because of plague and hunger. He died on his wedding night in 453, reportedly of a nosebleed.

Collapse

Attila's sons divided the subject peoples 'like cattle', and the Gepids under Ardaric led a revolt that crushed the Huns at the Nedao in 454. His son Dengizich was killed fighting the Romans in 469 and his head displayed in Constantinople. Hunnic remnants merged into the Bulgars and other steppe peoples. Whether the Huns descended from the Xiongnu of China is still debated.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Huns (370 to 469)
• Western Roman Empire (395 to 476)
• Byzantine Empire (395 to 1453)
• Roman Empire (27 BC to 476)
• Xiongnu Empire (209 BC to 93)
• Visigothic Kingdom (418 to 720)

Wars of the same era and region

• Roman-Germanic wars (113 BC to 476)

8 surprising things about the Hunnic Empire

1. Attila's name may be Gothic for 'little father', a nickname given by his Germanic subjects.
2. The Roman envoy Priscus visited Attila's court in 449 and found the king eating from a wooden plate while his guests used silver.
3. Refugees fleeing Attila's invasion of Italy are traditionally said to have founded Venice.
4. Attila's burial party was reportedly killed so the site would stay secret; his tomb has never been found.
5. The Huns practised skull binding, and elongated skulls found across Europe are used to trace their spread.
6. The Huns' composite bow outranged anything the Romans had, and Roman armies took decades to adapt.
7. In Germanic legend Attila became Etzel of the Nibelungenlied and Atli of the Norse sagas.
8. The Hungarian name Attila is still common, though the Magyars arrived four centuries after the Huns.

Sources

• Attila Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Huns Wikipedia
• Attila the Hun World History Encyclopedia
• Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire (2005) Macmillan

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