Attila, Flagellum Dei The Scourge of God essays

Attila, Flagellum Dei The Scourge of God essays In this essay I would like to discuss the influence of the Huns, and their King, Attila, plus other barbarian peoples of the period on the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. I will also discuss the changes that were brought about by the contact between the Barbarian and Roman cultures on the peoples of Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries. This is too large a topic to discuss in an essay like this, but by the example of Attila and the Huns, I hope to highlight problems and changes of this period. From the plain of central Hungary, the Huns controlled, through subject people and alliances, the area from the Urals to the Rhone in the 5th century. Only one of their kings is known outside of Hungary, Attila, whose name is passed down to the modern world as The Scourge of God. To the modern world he is known as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but there is a first hand account of his appearance, his royal court and the culture of his people , which portrays him as a distinguished ruler, as well as, a aggressive king, which is complimentary if not admiring. The question must be asked, Why Attila and not any other of the barbarian kings of the time? It was Alaric of the Visigoths whose army captured Rome in AD 410, but it is Attila who is remembered in the modern world as the sacker of cities. It was the Vandals who marched across Europe and eventually settled in North Africa. The Vandals created a dynasty that was to last for generations. Not until the time of the Emperor Justinian was North Africa returned to the Roman Empire, but the Huns are the peoples that are remembered today as the conquerors of the West. It is Attila and the Huns that have passed from history into folktale and legend as the ultimate in Barbarians who eat children and butcher whole nations, but they were no worse than the other nations of the 5th century. Attila only ruled the Huns for eight years, but during his r...