Attila and His Huns Humble the Romans

447, Huns demand for tribute and fugitives denied, invasion begins

In 447, Attila demanded that Constantinople pay the back-tribute it owed him, and hand over any Hunnic fugitives it was harboring. These fugitives probably were sons of the other kings that Rua had eliminated, although some may also have been Attila's cousins. Fugitives that were handed over were routinely impaled and left to die. The Romans refused both demands, so Attila launched the long-awaited invasion. He quickly captured Ratiaria and Marcianople, and began to move toward Constantinople itself.

Jan. 27, 447, Earthquake strikes Constantinople

With Attila's army making its way across the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople got an unexpected blow from a different source: an earthquake struck in the wee hours of the morning on January 27, 447. Teams of Romans were immediately marshalled to repair the damaged city walls, and clear wreckage from the surrounding moats.

Spring 447, Roman army defeated at Chersonesus

The Huns drove deep down what is now Greece, capturing the important city of Chersonesus, but Attila never gave the order to besiege Constantinople itself. It may be that he did not want the trouble of trying to administer the Eastern Roman Empire, and only wanted to scare the Emperor badly enough that he would cough up the tribute.

Mid-447, Attila controls all of the Balkans, Black Sea to Dardanelles

The Huns' drive gave them control of the entire Balkans region, vastly expanding the Hunnic Empire. Still, they did not attack Constantinople itself.

447, New treaty with even harsher terms for Eastern Romans

The speed and success of Attila's push through the Balkans finally convinced the recalcitrant Romans to pay their back-tribute of 6000 pounds of gold, hand over some hapless Hunnic fugitives, and agree to a new tribute of an incredible 2100 pounds of gold per year.

449, Embassy to the Huns makes assassination attempt

In 449, an ambassador named Maximinus was sent to Attila's court by Constantinople. Unbeknownst to him, however, the interpreter who was along on the trip was involved in a plot with one of Attila's lieutentants to assassinate the Huns' king. The Hunnic conspirator revealed everything voluntarily to Attila, who was waiting for the Romans in a rage. When the embassy arrived, he refused to see them. Finally they got an audience, but Attila sent them back to Constantinople with the very money bag that had held the assassins' reward. A Hunnic emissary shamed and scolded the Roman emperor in his own court over the plot.

450, Marcian becomes emperor of East, ends payments to Huns again

In 450, the Eastern Roman Empire got a new emperor, Marcian, who once more stopped tribute payments to the Huns. Fortunately for him, Attila became distracted by events in the west.

450, Honoria sends ring to Attila

Honoria was a princess of the Western Roman dynasty, the sister of Emperor Valentinian III, who was promised in marriage to someone she did not like. She took the extraordinary step of sending a letter and a ring to Attila, asking him to rescue her from this engagement. He took this as a marriage proposal, and accepted gladly since Honoria's dowry included half of the Western Roman provinces. Honoria's family did not accept his claim, not too surprisingly, so Attila and his army set out westward to claim his prize.

451, Huns overrun Gaul, but are defeated at Catalaunian Fields

After taking most of modern-day Germany and France, the Huns were met by the combined forces of Attila's erstwhile ally, General Aetius, the Alans, and the Visigoths at Catalaunian Fields in northeastern France. The Huns got the worse in the fighting, but the Romans and their allies withdrew the following day, so it was not an entirely decisive victory. Nonetheless, some historians have claimed that this is one of history's most important battles, and that Christian Europe might have been extinguished if Attila had won the day.