Attila The Hun

8 Pages 1887 Words

Attila the Hun (circa 406-53), king of the Huns from 433 to 453 when he died from an untimely death. One of the most feared and notorious barbarians of all time, Attila is believed to be of distant Mongol stock, and while alive ravaged much of the European continent during the 5th century AD. No one represents the unbridled fury and savagery of barbarism as much as Attila the Hun did. Attila, as the greatest Hun leader, is the stereotypical sacker of cities and killer of babies. In his own day he and his Huns were known as the "Scourge of God”. The Huns themselves were a people of mystery and terror. Arriving on the edge of the Roman Empire in the late fourth century, riding their war horses out of the great steppes of Asia, they struck fear into Germanic barbarians and Romans alike.
No one knows exactly when Attila the Hun's was born. But he was the nephew of the king of the Huns, a tribe of nomadic herdsmen. The Huns were fierce mounted warriors who tended and rode horses, which was a big part of their daily life. By the time Attila was born, the Huns, originally from the dry, level, treeless, grass-covered lands of southeastern Europe and Asia had gradually migrated westward. They eventually settled on the Danube River in the Great Hungarian Plain, on the border of the Roman Empire.
After their uncle's death in 433, Attila and his brother Bleda ruled the Huns together. Attila eventually killed Bleda and took possession of the throne in 445. As the sole king of the Huns, Attila moved to extend the Hun Empire by conquering other barbarian populations throughout eastern and central Europe. Each conquest brought greater wealth and power to the Huns. The new ruler was much more aggressive and ambitious than his predecessors had been, and arrogance sometimes made him unpredictable. He also claimed to own the actual sword of Mars, and that other barbarian chiefs could not look the King of the Huns directly in the eyes without flinc...