Ardaric

Ardaric was a fifth-century king of the Gepids and one of the most important rulers within the confederation dominated by Attila the Hun. Ancient sources portray him as a valued ally of Attila and as a commander trusted with a prominent place in the Hunnic order. The Gepids under Ardaric participated in the political and military system that projected Hunnic power across the middle Danube and into the Roman frontier regions.

After Attila’s death in 453, Ardaric became a leading figure in the revolt of subject peoples against Attila’s sons. At the Battle of Nedao, usually dated to 454, a coalition including Gepids defeated the Hunnic forces and broke their dominance in the region. The Gepids subsequently established a powerful kingdom in the middle Danube basin. Ardaric’s later life is poorly documented, but his victory became a decisive turning point in post-Hunnic central Europe.

In Cecelia Holland’s The Death of Attila, His sons divide the inheritance while Ardaric and other subject rulers prepare to rebel, forcing Tacs and Dietric to choose between friendship, family and political survival.