The Huns, a nomadic people group, were first known to exist in the central Asian steppes. They were also known as one of the greatest threats in the 5th century. The Huns were a significant part of the start of the downfall of Rome. From a small group of barbaric warriors to one of the most powerful kingdoms in the 5th century, the Huns devastated everything they attacked. But the question remains, how did they do it? The Huns were so successful in conquering Europe and Asia because of their great leader, unique fighting style, and the fear they struck into the hearts of their enemies.
Hunic tribes began their chapter in history with unorganized and separate attacks during the late 300s in Central Asia and different parts of Europe such
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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 …show more content…
This perception may be true at times, but the Huns new exactly what they were good at and used that to their advantage. The Huns were raised to be great warriors and hunters. They would learn how to ride horses and shoot a bow, a skill in which they exceeded. Their exceptional riding capabilities let the Huns use mobility as one of their main assets in battle. Even though some Huns used other weapons such as swords, whips, and spears, the Huns’ preferred weapon was the bow and arrow. Few Huns wore armor because armor was something a higher ranked official would dress in. The combination of the bow with a skilled rider led to the Huns being a fierce attack force. Their favorite battle style was a battle fought far away from the enemy. They could be deadly with their bows from afar and then use their horses to keep the distance while still shooting. Their hit and run style of fighting was a way of battle that the Eastern Roman Empire was not used to dealing with. This way of fighting helped the Huns conquer the
Some people would say the Mongols were a key development to civilization. However, the progress they made is nothing compared to their cruelty and the process they used to conquer the majority of Asia and parts of the Middle East. The Mongols were originally a small, nomadic tribe that originated from the steppes of Central Asia. The tribe placed little value on objects, considering they moved around in yurts and hardly settled. Led by Genghis Khan, they conquered land worth double the size of the Roman Empire. The Mongols were greedy, bloodthirsty barbarians who had little to no regard for human life. They went to unthinkable lengths to conquer land while destroying countless ancient cities.
two major tribes were the Ostrogoth’s and the Lombard’s where power shifted several times, And the
Some Romans were happy about being conquered by the Huns because they thought the Roman Empire’s government was corrupt. In the Document E Priscus excerpt, it states, “The conditions of Roman subjects in time of peace is worse than war… taxes are very servere...the gonvernors... were ruining the state.” Some Roman citizens thought the justice system was unfair. While poor people who commited crimes were punished normally, rich criminals got off scot-free. The taxes were always too much.
This they place between their thighs and the backs of their horses and so warm it a little.” The Huns cutthroat way of life is jaw dropping and vaguely disturbing. There is no doubt that the strength and toughness of the Hun's would easily defeat the Romans in battle. Another external threat that Rome was faced with was a violent earthquake. Document F describes the earthquake as, “In the second year of The Reign of Valens (366CE) … the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake…
Jonathan Spence’s novel The Question of Hu covers mid-eighteenth century travels from China to the western world of a Jesuit missionary, Father Jean-Francois Foucquet, and a Chinese scribe, John Hu. The interactions that occur consist of the cultural differences between Chinese and European customs. Hu’s personality becomes a large question Spence raises not only with the title but also throughout the story when Spence talks about Hu’s way of thinking. John Hu’s personality is described by both Father Jean-Francois Foucquet and the narrator as being both insane and oppressed, respectively. The reader is led to have a sympathetic view of Hu, even though the narrator does not come out and explain exactly how the reader should feel,
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,
Much of the Roman frontier followed the natural boundaries of the Rhine and Danube rivers across Europe. On the other side of these rivers were territories the Romans never brought under their control and tribal peoples such as the Goths, Franks, Vandals, and Huns. By the middle of the fourth century CE, many Roman governors had allowed these so-called “barbarians” to settle on the Roman side of the rivers, and Roman generals had even recruited many of the men as soldiers in their armies. However, the barbarians never assimilated fully into Roman culture. By the end of the century they started to wage a series of ferocious campaigns
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
The research question for this paper is as follows: To what extent were Attila the Hun’s military tactics effective? The importance of this question stems from the fact that Attila the Hun is one of the greatest military leaders of all time and his military tactics helped to contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire. The Hun’s military practices, important battles between the Huns and other militaries and their outcomes, and Attila’ s importance to their success are issues that will be covered. The paper will focus on Attila’s time as ruler, which stretched from 435-453 CE. It will also be focusing on the area of the Hunnic Empire and both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. The research will come from primary and secondary sources. It will answer the research question through the research of Attila the Hun’s military strategies and techniques and its effectiveness against opposing militaries.
On the other hand, they may have been quite capable of such construction for it is well documented they had enslaved many tradesmen. As for example in the bath which was made for the Hunnic noble Onegesius by a craftsman who was captured at Sirmium. Nevertheless the Huns ransacked and pillaged the Balkans taking fortified cities along the way such as Viminacium, Illyricum and defeated the Roman army at Chersonese. According to Brian Croke, In 441 the Huns invaded Illyricum only and in 442 broke into northern Thrace . The Romans sued for peace and the Treaty of Anatolius was agreed. Attila terms demanded that the annual tribute be tripled to 2,100 pounds of gold. He also compelled the Romans to surrender all Hun deserters and to ransom their own deserters at a rate of twelve solidi each. The treaty, however, contained one provision that had no precedent. Attila forced the Romans to make an immediate payment of 6,000 pounds of gold. Attila’s plan to force a war to bring about higher subsidies had worked. He would devastate the Balkans for a second time in 447 when he came looking for subsidies that were in arrears.
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 451 C.E, white Huns from central Asia invaded India and disrupted the gupta administration
The Roman Empire is Europe’s great creation myth. The great Mediterranean empire has left a great legacy of culture, language, conquest, art, and science in Europe and beyond. But everything decays with time, especially memory. Our archeological and historical understanding of the Roman Empire is limited. These gaps in knowledge, combined with popular misconceptions relating to culture, politics, race, technology, politics, and religion from the period, mean that any “period” piece is bound to be historically inaccurate.
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
The Roman empire suffered many problems throughout its rise and several centuries of subsequent power. To begin with, they dealt with many outside invasions, including the Burgundians, Franks, Alemanni, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Anglo-Saxon peoples. The invaders considered most barbaric were the Huns, which the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus describes as people who “surpass all other barbarians in the wilderness of life.” He further describes “they are so little advanced