Attila the Hun - The Entire History (Audio Podcast)

The podcast introduces Attila the Hun, often portrayed as a mass-murdering villain by Roman sources due to the lack of Hunnic written history. The focus shifts to the declining Late Roman Empire (4th and 5th centuries), fragmented into Eastern and Western halves after Diocletian's reforms and Constantine's shift of the capital to Constantinople. The empire, once a fast-moving conqueror, became defensive and weakened by internal strife. Barbarian groups like the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths, fleeing a 'horrible and dark' entity from the East (the Huns), began to threaten Roman borders. The podcast emphasizes the Roman hubris in viewing these nomadic peoples as inferior, which would eventually lead to their own downfall. A detailed account by Ammianus Marcellinus paints the Huns as savage and uncivilized, contrasting with Roman ideals of fixed settlement and law. The Huns, originating from the Asiatic Steppe, were skilled horsemen and archers, but their reasons for migration remain unclear.

The narrative truly begins on the Danube river in 376 CE, as Fritigern, leader of the Goths (Tervingi), arrives with 80,000 refugees, fleeing the Huns. Emperor Valens of the Eastern Roman Empire grants them passage, seeing potential in new settlers and soldiers, despite the common historical view that hiring mercenaries marks civilizational decline. The Roman handling of the Goth migration is disastrous, marked by inefficiency and prejudice. Goths are starved, exploited, and their leaders, including Fritigern, are almost assassinated. Fritigern escapes and unites various displaced tribes, including the Gruthungi and even some Huns, forming a formidable army. Valens, seeking sole glory, confronts this army near Adrianople in 378 CE, without waiting for Western Roman reinforcements. Roman scouts miss the Goth cavalry, leading Valens to misjudge their numerical superiority. The Goth cavalry ambushes the Romans, routing them and allowing Fritigern's infantry to decimate the Roman lines. Emperor Valens is killed, and the Roman army is annihilated. The Battle of Adrianople is deemed a psychological milestone, shattering the myth of Roman invincibility and signaling the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

In the post-Adrianople world, the Goths, despite their victory, lack siege tactics to exploit their win. This buys the Eastern Roman Empire time to appoint Theodosius I as emperor. After four years of stalemate, Theodosius is forced to allow Goths and Huns to settle in Roman lands, creating a 'Hun toehold' within the empire. He even uses propaganda to justify this controversial policy. This contrasts sharply with earlier Roman glory, exemplified by Trajan's Column, which depicted Roman conquest and expansion. The Western Roman Empire, meanwhile, begins to fragment. Emperor Gratian is assassinated, leading to civil unrest and secession in provinces like Britain and Gaul. Theodosius, aiming to reunite the empire, employs Huns and Goths as mercenaries for his campaign against the usurper Eugenius. At the Battle of Frigidus in 394 CE, Theodosius places his Goth mercenaries, led by Alaric, at the forefront, where they suffer devastating losses. This sparks deep resentment in Alaric, who will become a pivotal figure. Theodosius subsequently reunifies the empire but dies shortly after in 395 CE, dividing the empire between his two young sons, Honorius (West) and Arcadius (East), effectively ensuring a power struggle and further division.

The podcast delves into the complex power dynamics between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires after Theodosius I's death. In the West, Stilicho serves as regent for Honorius, while in the East, Eutropius advises Arcadius. Stilicho's claim to regency over both halves is rejected by the East. Alaric, disgruntled after Frigidus, rebels and is driven out of the Western Empire by Stilicho. The East then hires Alaric to expel incoming 'new wave' Huns from Syria (398 CE). After Alaric's success, Eutropius claims the glory, and Arcadius reneges on his agreement with Alaric, even hiring a Hun king named Uldin to deal with him in 401 CE. Alaric, feeling used, returns to the Western Empire. Stilicho, facing renewed barbarian incursions across the Rhine (Vandals, Goths, Allens, displaced by Huns) and secessions in Britain and Gaul, is forced to sign a treaty with Alaric. Honorius, a notoriously incompetent emperor, has Stilicho executed in 408 CE. Honorius then orders the massacre of Goth families within the empire, driving 30,000 Goth troops to join Alaric. With a formidable army on Italian soil, Alaric aims not to destroy but to establish a nation-state for his people within the empire. His negotiations with the 'prideful stupidity' of Honorius fail, leading Alaric to march on Rome.

Alaric lays siege to Rome in 410 CE, not for pillage, but for a negotiated settlement. Edward Gibbon recounts the Romans' haughty demands and Alaric's scornful reply: 'The thicker the hay, the easier it is mode. ... what do you intend to leave us? Your lives.' On August 24, 410 CE, Goth slaves open the Salarian Gate, and Alaric's troops sack Rome for three days. While destructive, Alaric's pillaging is described as 'benign,' sparing major structures and offering clemency to those who took refuge in St. Peter's Basilica. However, evidence of destruction, like melted coins embedded in stone, indicates the intensity of the event. The Sack of Rome is seen as a psychological blow, causing inhabitants to believe it was the 'end of the world' and marking the beginning of the Dark Ages for many historians. The podcast then contrasts Rome's sacks throughout history with its unique significance in 410 CE. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) continues to flourish, while the Western Roman Empire faces further decline, losing all of North Africa to the Vandals under Gaiseric after a combined Roman force is defeated.

The death of the ineffectual Western Emperor Honorius in 423 CE creates a power vacuum, leading to a war of succession between Galla Placidia (Honorius's half-sister) and John the Usurper. Flavius Aetius, a Roman general with deep connections to the Huns (having been a hostage among them as a child), initially supports John. When John is defeated, Aetius, arriving with a Hunnic army, leverages this force to be appointed 'Magister Militum per Gallias' (Commander-in-Chief of all armies in Gaul) by Galla Placidia. Aetius's rise is marked by political maneuvering, eliminating rivals like Flavius Felix and deceiving Boniface, another powerful general. Aetius's unique understanding of both Roman logistics and barbarian tactics, gained from his time with the Goths and Huns, makes him formidable. In 432 CE, Aetius, despite a defeat against Boniface, successfully uses his reputation and a bluff of a large Hun army to be reinstated as Supreme Commander of all military forces and Patrician. Meanwhile, in the Great Hungarian Plain, Attila and his older brother Bleda consolidate power after their uncle Rua's death in 434 CE. Attila, born around 406 CE and also having spent time as a hostage in Rome, possessed a keen understanding of Roman culture and strategy, making him far from the 'mindless savage' often portrayed.

Bleda and Attila, guided by military force, quickly expand their Hunnic Empire from their base in the Hungarian Plain. Aetius, recognizing the Huns' military strength, seeks an alliance. In 436 CE, Aetius proposes a joint attack against the Burgundians in Gaul. This strategically benefits both: Aetius secures Roman lands and subdues a violent barbarian group, while Attila neutralizes a western threat, freeing him to focus on the Eastern Roman Empire. The campaign is brutal, with the Huns engaging in ethnic cleansing, systematically hunting down and impaling Burgundians. This campaign, lasting three years, serves as a crucial learning experience for the Huns, who observe Roman siege warfare and military technology, including catapults and battering rams. This knowledge would prove invaluable in future Hunnic campaigns against imperial cities. By 439 CE, the Huns negotiate the Treaty of Margum with the Eastern Roman Empire, establishing trade centers, increasing annual tribute significantly (from 350 to 700 pounds of gold annually), demanding the return of Hun refugees, and prohibiting Roman alliances with Hun enemies. This treaty gives the Huns a free hand north of the Danube and firm control over the tribute.

The Vandals, under Gaiseric, seize Carthage and then Sicily in 439-440 CE, posing a catastrophic threat to the Western Roman Empire. Emperor Valentinian III issues an edict recognizing this and warns the Eastern Empire of the broader danger. Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor, reluctantly agrees to send forces to Sicily, but only after securing a 'guaranteed' peace with Attila via the Treaty of Margum and doubling the tribute. This decision, driven by overconfidence in the treaty, leaves the Eastern Empire vulnerable. In 441 CE, with Roman troops en route to Sicily, Attila and Bleda, using the pretext of alleged Hunnic grave desecration by a Roman bishop, launch an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire. The bishop, in an act of treachery, opens the city gates of Margum to the Huns, who then massacre the inhabitants. The Huns systematically ravage imperial cities along the Danube and into the Morava River valley, demonstrating their evolved siege capabilities. Historians highlight the 'horrors of war' and Hunnic atrocities, including crucifixions and mass executions, intended to instill terror.

The Huns, employing new military technology observed from the Romans, besiege and utterly destroy the city of Naissus in 442 CE, leaving it in 'smoldering ruin' and uninhabitable for decades. Theodosius II is forced to recall his troops from North Africa and accept a humiliating peace with the Vandals and Huns, increasing the annual tribute to over 1000 pounds of gold. Attila then consolidates his power, and in 445 CE, his brother Bleda dies under suspicious circumstances (likely assassinated by Attila), leaving Attila as the sole ruler of an immense Hunnic Empire stretching from the Rhine to the Volga and the Danube to the Baltic Sea. Confident the Eastern Roman Empire is subdued, Attila's attention turns westward. Meanwhile, Theodosius II, rebuilding his army and fortifications, ceases tribute payments to Attila in 447 CE, believing Constantinople's rebuilt Theodosian Walls are impregnable. However, a massive earthquake in January 447 CE devastates a mile-long stretch of the walls, alerting Attila's scouts. Attila launches a devastating campaign, employing a scorched-earth policy, aiming to capitalize on the damaged walls. The Eastern Roman army, despite a fierce resistance at the Battle of Utus, is ultimately defeated, buying crucial time for Constantinople's walls to be rebuilt in a frantic two-month effort orchestrated by Flavius Constantinus. Attila, finding Constantinople's walls fully restored, turns southward, ravaging Greece. Theodosius II is forced into another humiliating treaty, paying 6,000 pounds of gold immediately and a yearly tribute of 2,100 pounds. Attila establishes a massive buffer zone, further cementing his dominance over the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Western Roman Empire, under the ineffectual Valentinian III, had largely avoided Attila's wrath, due in part to Aetius's influence. Aetius, having strengthened the Roman army and secured Gaul, grew so powerful that delegates approached him rather than the Emperor. Valentinian III, though admiring Aetius's success, resented his growing power but relied on him to keep the Huns in check. Valentinian's sister, Justa Grata Honoria, feeling imprisoned by her brother's control and an undesirable arranged marriage, schemes against him. In 450 CE, she sends an envoy to Attila with a plea for rescue and her signet ring, which in Hunnic tradition, is a marriage proposal. Attila, seizing the opportunity, claims Honoria as his bride and demands half of the Western Roman Empire as her dowry. Valentinian III indignantly refuses Attila's demands, fueled by his mother Galla Placidia's counsel against appeasement. Attila now has the pretext he needs for war. In March 451 CE, with a massive army of nearly 100,000 cavalry, Attila invades the Western Roman Empire, unleashing a destructive force that would surpass his earlier eastern campaigns. The Roman defenses along the Rhine are ineffective, leading to widespread destruction of cities like Cologne, Mainz, Worms, and Strasbourg.

By April 7, 451 CE, Attila's army reaches Metz, utterly destroying it, akin to the devastation of Naissus. However, some cities are spared, such as Reims, where Bishop Nicasius's unwavering prayer during the invasion is said to have deterred the Huns. Lutetia (future Paris), a 'run-down third-rate city,' is deemed unworthy of attack and thus survives, a testament to its humble beginnings. The widespread destruction prompts Christian leaders to deem Attila 'Flagellum Dei' (the Scourge of God), attributing his actions to divine wrath. Attila, embracing this reputation, uses it as a psychological weapon, often inducing surrender in cities without a fight. By mid-June, Attila's army reaches Orléans, 250 miles deep into Roman territory, and begins a siege. Meanwhile, Aetius, rejecting Valentinian III's plan to retreat to Italy, convinces him to form an alliance with the Visigoths under King Theodoric and other barbarian tribes against the Huns. Aetius, leveraging his political acumen, remarkably recruits the Burgundians—a group he had nearly annihilated with Hunnic help in 436 CE—into his coalition. This ad hoc army marches into central France, aiming to cut off Attila's supply lines and engage him on unfavorable terrain.

Attila, seeking open fields for his horse archers, moves his army to the Catalaunian Plains near Châlons. On June 20, 451 CE, the two armies clash in what many historians consider one of Western Civilization's most pivotal battles. Aetius, understanding Hunnic tactics and Attila's mind, deploys his best Roman troops on the left flank, the Visigoths on the right, and his weakest troops, the Alans, in the center. Attila attacks the center, aiming for a breakthrough. The battle begins with a fierce race for a central ridge, won by the Visigoths. Despite horrendous fighting and heavy losses on both sides, the Visigoths repel the Huns. Attila, rallying his staggered troops with a dramatic, almost mythical speech, unleashes his elite Hun warriors in a counter-attack on the Roman center, killing Theodoric, the Visigoth King. Aetius commits his remaining Roman troops to flank the Huns, effectively negating their mobile warfare advantage. The Huns are caught in a vise-like grip and face defeat. Attila retreats to his wagon camp, preparing for a ritualistic self-immolation but is dissuaded by his supporters, accepting his first defeat. The battlefield the next day is a charnel house of 'bodies that are truly countless'.

Aetius, with the upper hand after the Battle of Châlons, allows the Huns to retreat. His strategic decision stems from the belief that the Romans needed the Huns to maintain a balance of power among the barbarian tribes. This decision, however, draws criticism from both the Roman court and later historians, as Attila, despite defeat, begins planning another invasion. Priscus of Panium, a Roman historian, provides a rare, balanced account of Attila's character, contrasting the Roman propaganda. Priscus documents a diplomatic mission to Attila's court, during which a plot by the Eastern Roman eunuch Chrysaphias to assassinate Attila is uncovered. Attila, displaying shrewdness, uses this plot to expose Roman treachery, bolstering his own power. Priscus's observations reveal Attila's capital was well-organized, with administrative buildings, markets, and even a Roman-style bathhouse, defying the Roman stereotype of Huns as 'mindless savages.' During a royal feast, Priscus notes Attila's remarkable moderation and restraint, contrasting with the opulent displays of his chiefs, which unnerves him: 'it is troubling to learn that they might be more like us than we would ever care to admit.' The exposure of the assassination plot discredits Theodosius II, who dies from a riding accident in 450 CE. Marcion, a warrior emperor, takes power and immediately cuts off tribute to Attila, regaining Roman pride.

In the spring of 452 CE, Attila launches a lightning blitz into Italy, seeking a quick victory to restore his reputation after Châlons. His first target, the imperial city of Aquileia, resists fiercely, leading to a brutal siege and its complete destruction; the city is never rebuilt. Refugees from Aquileia establish settlements on islands, which eventually become Venice. Attila's army continues to ravage northern Italy, taking cities like Verona, Padua, and Milan. Valentinian III, lacking an effective army, adopts a scorched-earth policy and, in desperation, sends Pope Leo I to meet Attila. Ecclesiastical history credits Pope Leo's intercession with convincing Attila to turn back. However, the podcast suggests other factors were more influential: famine, plague within the Hun army, Aetius's advancing force, and the Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian's invasion of the Hungarian Plain. Regardless, the Church leverages this event, enhancing the Pope's authority and contributing to the Roman Catholic Church's rise. Attila dies in early 453 CE, likely from a hemorrhage on his wedding night to a new wife, Eldico. His death causes the Hunnic Empire to disintegrate due to internal power struggles among his sons. Aetius, no longer needed to counter Attila, is assassinated by Valentinian III, who is himself murdered six months later by Aetius's bodyguards. The Western Roman Empire rapidly descends into a death spiral. Civilizations based on warfare and led by despots, like the Hunnic Empire, expand rapidly but collapse dramatically, leaving little legacy. In contrast, the Roman Empire, despite its decline, leaves a profound legacy in language, law, and government. The podcast concludes with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, emphasizing that a nation's greatest threat comes from within, advocating for self-preservation through internal strength rather than external defense.