Attila, from his capital on the Danube, could threaten
both the East and the West. The emperors at Constantinople bought him off with
lavish gifts, and so the robber-ruler turned to the western provinces for his
prey. In 451 A.D. he led his motley host, said to number half a million men,
across the Rhine. Many a noble municipality with its still active Roman life
was visited by the Huns with fire and sword. Paris, it is worthy of note,
escaped destruction. That now famous city was then only a little village on an
island in the Seine.
BATTLE OF CHÂLONS, 451 A.D.
In this hour of danger Romans and Germans gave up
quarreling and united against the common foe. Visigoths under their native king
hastened from Spain; Burgundians and Franks joined their ranks; to these forces
a German general, named Aëtius, added the last Roman army in the West.
Opposed to them Attila had his Huns, the conquered Ostrogoths, and many other
barbarian peoples. The battle of Châlons has well been called a struggle
of the nations. It was one of the fiercest conflicts recorded in history. On
both sides thousands perished, but so many more of Attila's men fell that he
dared not risk a fresh encounter on the following day. He drew his shattered
forces together and retreated beyond the Rhine.
