Attila and His Hunnic Empire

During this time, barbarians such as the huns, vigasoths, and etc would’ve taken over city by city and eventually taken over the whole empire.This was when barbarians were escaping the huns and were drawn by Rome's wealth.(document F)The roman soldiers were overwhelmed by the flooding of the barbarians. It would take a soldier a couple months to get to one side of the walls leaving them exposed.(document F)

While this was all going, vikings were raiding from the North. Their homeland in Scandinavia was cold and barren and they needed to supplement their food storage, so they would travel South along the maze of rivers and invade villages in Medieval Europe, adding to the poverty of the area. Art, much like education, also became an item that only religious institutions possessed. Art was deemed nonessential by most people in the area and was not made by most people. After a period of inorder, a new civilization emerged for a short period of time, the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne, the second ruler of the empire, was the most ambitious ruler and the most well-known. His political changes that he made caused many cultural changes to be made. Charlemagne established control over what modern day France, Italy, and Germany would be today. He was a genius military leader and conquered a lot of land. However, at the end of his reign, the Treaty of Verdun was made, splitting the empire into three sections: a Western region, a ‘middle’ region, and the Eastern region thus dividing their cultures further. This would later have a more profound difference on their cultures as they develop separately from each other.

The Huns were more hostile than most tribes from this time period. From early childhood they learn to adapt to freezing temperatures, hunger, and thirst. The Roman Empire became so large that there were not enough soldiers to protect every single area of it. The weak spots were easily attacked by tribes like the Huns. Since the empire’s land was so easy to invade, barbarians began to take over some parts. Some Roman citizens liked or didn’t mind being under the barbarians’ ruling. The Roman Empire needed a military that was able to keep their land away from people who wanted to conquer it, so that they could continue to expand their empire and conquer other

follow. That was the first goal of icons. The second goal was to form an

In Myths of Empire: Domestic Politics and International Ambition, author Jack Snyder seeks to explain why overexpansion has been so common among the great powers. Sometimes, Snyder argues, states over-expand so aggressively that their actions risk the survival of the states themselves, as was the case of Germany and Japan in the World War II era. Snyder explains that the ‘central myth of empire,’ which he considers ‘defensive realism,’ is that states think that their security can only be safeguarded through further expansion. Snyder explains that this myth of empire is the counterproductive aggressive foreign policy that was the major force that propelled

By the fifth century, the “powerhouse of the Mediterranean” was struggling to protect itself with its decreased population, apathetic military, and leaders with debauched morals. Outside of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes took notice of the internal chaos and began invading the empire’s borders. Many of the tribes were cruel and combative, such as the Huns. The Huns “exceed any definition of savagery” and were “fired with an overwhelming desire for seizing the property of others, these swift-moving and ungovernable people make their destructive way amid the pillage and slaughter of those who live around them.” (Document D, excerpts about an Asian tribe called the Huns from Roman History by Ammianus Marcellinus). Roman soldiers would have had a challenge ahead of them if they had to deal with the Huns at the height of the Roman military, let alone having to fight them when their numbers were depleted and motivation running low. The Huns played a large part in minimizing what little hope Rome had of reviving itself into the Mediterranean-dominating empire it once was. Many other tribes followed the Huns example and invaded Rome at its borders. Document C, a map created from various sources,

Attila knew how to exploit the weaknesses of the Romans. He would strike fear into the hearts of his enemies by slaughtering entire towns and civilizations. Attila would then propose treaties that made the Romans pay tribute to him out of fear that he would attack. The way Attila leveraged fear gave him even more power. In 439 A.D. the treaty of Margus was signed. This treaty said that the Eastern Roman Empire had to return Hun captives and pay a yearly tribute to the Huns in gold. The Romans soon broke the treaty and the Huns attacked them, devastating many large cities such as Singidunum and Viminacium. After this war, more treaties were signed which gave even larger amounts of gold to the Hun empire. The plethora of wealth and political power Attila the Hun possessed gave him the upper hand in almost every battle he took on. The Huns peaked in power and wealth while Attila was

Invaders mostly got into Rome because the soldiers left their posts. The invaders took over many cities such as Carthage, which was taken over by the Vandals, or Athens, which was taken over by the Visigoths, then the Vandals. Another group of foreign invaders were the Huns. In document D, it describes them as savages, glued to their horses, and nomadic. For example, it states,” Huns are not well adapted to battle on foot, but are almost glued to their horses, which are certainly hardy, but also ugly… Like refugees - all without permanent settlements, homes, law, or a fixed way of life -” Also it stated,” The Huns exceed any definition of

During the period of Rome’s decline several different outside forces attacked Rome. They were the Vandals, Visigoths, and Huns. The Vandals took the region of Gaul, and the Roman army was too disorganized to stop them. The Visigoths plundered and took control of Rome, attacking them through the Alps. The Huns, while paid off by Pope Leo I to have them spare Rome, attacked both parts of the empire. The invasion of the Huns also led to more people seeking refuge and protection in the Roman Empire. The invasion of outside

Charlemagne and Augustus used their large militaries to expand their vast empires. Charlemagne was considered a warrior king. He would lead his army into all of their battles. During the thirty three year war (772- 804) with the Saxons he lead every battle except for two. Those two battles were at Detmold and at the bank of the river Hase. The enemy were so routed and overthrown in these two battles that they never afterwards ventured to take the offensive or to resist the attacks of the King, unless they were protected by a strong position. The Saxon war is the Frank 's most well known war. The Franks and Charlemagne also fought in other

Because of the Roman treaty with the Huns at Margus, The Romans had to pay the Huns seven hundred pounds of gold annually to leave them alone. Attila’s actions between 435 and 439 are basically unknown, and were not major or overly important. It is said that he may have subdued barbarians to the north of east of his dominions, but no one can be sure. In 441, Rome had become delinquent on their payments to the Huns, so Attila and Bleda decided to attack the Roman Empire.

    Though Rome was a great empire that conquered countless territories, it was not immune to the numerous attacks from barbarians such as the Huns, the Visigoths, the Vandals, and others. The barbarians would raid and sack the capital and other cities in ancient Rome, leaving them without money or tradable items. The Vandals did so much damage to the cities that their name is associated with the crime of extensive damage to property. The Huns were another destructive group of barbarians that were led by Attila. They raided Rome in 451 AD, leaving an immense trail of destruction. Other barbarians attacked Rome at different times, each leaving Rome weaker and helpless. Each attack destroyed their economy and left them desperate for a solution. The Ostrogoths finally caused the Western Empire to fall when Odoacer chased Romulus Augustus, the last of the Roman emperors, off the

As Rome increased in supremacy around the expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, various enemies were made that caused numerous invasions, increasing Rome’s vulnerability. The archeological record shows that the population on the outskirts of the Roman empire was increasing and this might have led to a scarcity of resources (Goldsworthy 2009). Due to the increased population and decrease in resources the barbarians attacked the empire frequently (Goldsworthy 2009). The first of these more devastating attacks were conducted by the Huns in central and eastern Europe in the years 376 A.D. and 405 A.D. (Heather 2005). Damages from these attacks as well as from other invaders caused massive amounts of revenue lost to

In 455 CE - 484 CE, the horse nomads coming from Mongolia had finally risen fully to power and were known as the White Huns, the name coming from the large white war horses that Alexander and Rome used in their expedition much earlier in history. These White Huns would have a great impact on the Indian Empire, which was weakened due to the decline of their country post classic era. The Huns began their invasion of India in around 470 CE, first targeting the rich monastic communities like the Buddhist complexes. After this, The Tegin (or governor) Khingila, is said to have led these raids into India, taking numerous cities wealth and even people in around the year 475 CE. After this they descended from the Kabul valley into Punjab, sacking towns

These invasions resulted in multiple changes in the Empire that ultimately weakened it. As the various invading tribes moved into Roman territory, they destroyed the farmland and fields they passed through. This decreased agricultural production in the Empire (Spielvogel 186). Then, in the late fourth century, the Huns moved west out of Asia, forcing the German barbarian tribe of Visigoths, a sub-tribe of the Goths who had previously invaded Rome, to move south and west into Roman territories. They were allowed to remain on Roman land for a time, but when the Romans tried to force the tribe out, the Visigoths fought back, leading to a great military defeat for the Roman Army in 378 at Adrianople in Greece (Spielvogel 187). The Roman Empire was never able to recover the numbers