Rome and Attila

Rome and Attila reconstructs the rise of Attila and the Hunnic confederation during the final decades of Roman rule in the West. Holmes examines tribute, diplomacy and coercion in Attila’s dealings with Constantinople before following the Hunnic invasions of Gaul and Italy. Attila is treated as a political and military ruler operating within the late Roman diplomatic system rather than simply as the destructive figure of later legend.

The book also follows the weakening western empire after the sack of 410, especially the careers of Aëtius and Valentinian III and the coalition that confronted the Huns at the Catalaunian Plains. The deaths of Attila, Aëtius and Valentinian were followed by renewed instability, Vandal pressure and rule by military strongmen. The narrative ends with the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476 and places Attila within the wider disintegration of western imperial authority.