For eleven years, Attila shared power over the Huns with his older brother Bleda. At the end of that period, Bleda mysteriously died, leaving Attila the one and only King of the Huns.
438, First East Roman embasssy to Bleda and Attila
In 438, the Huns' tributary state, the Eastern Roman Empire, sent its first embassy to meet the new co-rulers. 439, Huns join the Western Roman Army in a siege of the Goths at Toulouse
Hunnic mercenaries once more answered the call of Rome, joining in a fight against the Germanic Goths at Toulouse. Winter 440/441, Huns sack an Eastern Roman market town/fort
The Huns began a period of aggression against the Eastern Roman Empire by sacking a fortified market town on the border between their lands. The town had been set up to allow for trade between the Huns and Romans. On market-day, Huns disguised as traders suddenly produced weapons, and slaughtered the Roman merchants and soldiers. 441, Constantinople sends army to Sicily, en route to Carthage
In 441, the Eastern Roman Empire took the risky move of dispatching the majority of its military might to Sicily, bound for Carthage, North Africa. Constantinople sent this naval expedition away in the face of increasing hostility by the Huns, because a different foe, the Vandals, had conquered Roman Carthage. In seizing Carthage, the Vandals didn't just capture another Roman city; they captured the bread-basket of both halves of the Roman Empire, the source of much of their food. However, Attila and Bleda were well aware of the Romans' perilous choice, and moved in to attack. 441, Huns capture Viminacium and Naissus
With the Eastern Roman forces away in Sicily, the Huns immediately began to besiege and capture fortified Roman towns. This development amazed and terrified the Romans, who had become accustomed to thinking that barbarians lacked the strategic skill to take protected cities, however good they might be at warfare in open fields. Some historians think that this skill in the Huns was passed down from their ancestors, who had plenty of experience in attacking fortified Chinese cities. 442, Eastern Roman tribute payments double again
Constantinople recalled its forces from Sicily, but not quickly enough to save it from having to negotiate a new, ruinously expensive peace treaty with the Huns. The new price? 1400 pounds of gold per year. (Just by way of rough comparison, that amount of gold is worth about $18 million US today.) Sept. 12, 443, Constantinople orders full military preparedness
In the fall of 443, the government of the Eastern Roman Empire issued orders for all dukes in the provinces to check their fortifications, prepare their troops, and lay by supplies in case of a siege. The Romans expected an imminent attack by the Huns. 444, The Eastern Roman Empire stops paying its tribute to the Huns
In 444, Constantinople refused to pay the 1400 pounds of gold that it had promised to the Huns. Secure behind their shored-up walls, with the army returned from its Sicilian excursion, the Romans felt strong enough to defy the northern "barbarians." 445, Bleda dies and Attila is the sole king
There is no actual historical record about the circumstances or cause of Bleda's death, but historians from the ancient Romans to the present are nearly unanimous in concluding that Attila either killed him or had him killed.
