30. Other Mongol Predecessors: The Huns
Perhaps the closest analog to the medieval Mongol eruption was that of the Huns in the dying days of the Roman Empire. By the 5th century AD, the Huns ruled a Steppe empire that reached into Eastern and Central Europe. Scary to begin with, the Huns became outright terrifying under the leadership of Attila (reigned 434 – 453), who earned the moniker “The Scourge of God”. He terrorized the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, plundered the Balkans, extorted tons of gold from Constantinople, invaded Gaul, and struck into Italy, before drinking himself to death on his wedding night.