Attila the Hun Was the Scariest Man in Late Antiquity
Nicknamed “The Scourge of God” by a terrified civilized world, Attila (406 – 453) ruled a multi-tribal empire dominated by the Huns, that spanned Eastern and Central Europe. He invaded Persia, terrorized the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, plundered the Balkans, and extorted vast sums of gold from Constantinople. He then invaded Gaul and was beaten back, recoiled, then struck into Italy the following year, before drinking himself to death on his wedding night.
Born into the Hun royal family, Attila inherited the crown jointly with his brother Bleda in 434. The brothers were challenged early on, but crushed the opposition. Their surviving opponents fled to the Roman Empire, so the brothers invaded and forced the Romans to surrender the fugitives, and pay an annual tribute of 230 kilograms of gold. The brothers then invaded the Persian Empire and plundered it for years until they were beaten, at which point they returned to Europe.
In 440, they crossed the Danube, plundered the Balkans, and destroyed two Roman armies. They then forced the defeated Roman emperor to sign a new treaty that paid them 2000 gold kilograms up front, plus an annual tribute of 700 gold kgs. Soon thereafter, Attila consolidated power by murdering his brother and becoming sole ruler. Attila returned to the Balkans in 447, pillaging and burning until he reached the walls of Constantinople.
The Western Roman Empire’s turn came in 450, when the Western Roman Emperor’s sister sought to escape a betrothal by begging Attila’s help, and sent him her engagement ring. Attila interpreted that as a marriage proposal, accepted, and asked for half of the Western Roman Empire as dowry. When the Romans balked, Attila invaded, massacring and looting, until he was halted at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451.
A year later, he invaded Italy, pillaging, burning, and wreaking havoc as he advanced down the peninsula, before he was persuaded by the Pope to withdraw. Attila intended to attack Constantinople again in 453, but he drank himself into a stupor while celebrating his wedding to a new wife, suffered a nosebleed, and choked to death on his own blood.