Attila the Hun

Attila the Hun reconstructs the career of the fifth-century ruler who turned a loose confederation of peoples into the most dangerous power on Rome’s European frontier. John Man follows Attila’s use of diplomacy, tribute and intimidation, his campaigns in the Balkans and Gaul, and the invasion of Italy that brought him into direct confrontation with the western Roman world. The account places the Huns within the politics of a divided empire rather than treating them as an inexplicable force of destruction.

Because surviving testimony was largely written by frightened or hostile outsiders, Man tests literary sources such as Priscus against archaeology, geography and the landscape of the Hunnic world. He examines Attila’s rivalry with the Roman general Aëtius, the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, the meeting with Pope Leo I and the rapid fragmentation of Hunnic power after Attila’s death, while also considering how the historical ruler became a lasting European legend.