The Huns of the Asian steppes in the 4th
Century C.E. were a highly nomadic culture numbering in the hundreds of
thousands. They were separated into many different groups, all of which
occupied the steppes, which provided plentiful grazing area for cattle, sheep,
and of course horses. Due to their nomadic lifestyle, the Huns were constantly
riding, and from this type of lifestyle came their dramatic capacity for waging
a highly successful type of warfare that would literally sweep across the steppes
and into post-Roman Empire Europe during the 4th and 5th
centuries.
Not much is known of the Huns before they began their westward campaigns
because they did not leave a written record. Since they were constantly
on the move they did not leave much of an archaeological record. What we
know about them now is through their interactions with other peoples of
early Europe, such as the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals and the
Romans.
The Huns began to push into Southwest Asia from the Central Asian steppes
around 370-376. Their methods of warfare were highly unpredictable and
extremely fierce. They seemed to have little regard for their own lives
and lost many men during battle, but pressed onwards through sheer numbers
anyways. They fought on horseback, using a composite bow that is said to
be even more powerful than the famous English longbow of the 14th
and 15th centuries. They would attack and skirmish, retreat, move
their fast horses to another line of attack, then strike again. They would then
retreat, and repeat the process until enemy forces were entirely demoralised
and exhausted.
In this manner, they almost completely eradicated the Ostrogoths, and managed
to push the Visigoths further and further into the territory of the Roman
Empire. In 378, the Visigoth leader Alaric appealed to the Romans for sanctuary
within the Empire and received it. This eventually led to conflict between
Rome and the Visigoths and the sack and temporary occupation of Rome in
410. Meanwhile, the Huns were terrifying all of the Germanic tribes further
to the north. They were settled in what is now Austria and Hungary for
the first part of the 5th century. They were the dominant force in Europe at this time next to the
Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople.
In the 440’s and early 450’s, Attila united the Huns in Europe for a westward
push that would eventually take them all the way into Gaul (modern day
France. Here, they were finally defeated in 451 at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains near Champagne by a combined force of Romans and Visigoths. Attila
then decided to invade Italy in 452. His army was defeated by the plague
however, and Attila himself died in 453. The Huns then retreated into Central
Europe and settled there in the following years amid disputes during Attila’s
surviving years.
The impact that the Huns had on Europe though is quite obvious when it can be seen that just their movement into Europe from Asia upset the balance of the Roman Empire in the north, caused all of the different cultures to be shifted around, then finally thrown in Rome’s lap. The incursion of the ‘barbaric’ Goths into Italy in 376 is seen by some as the reason for the downfall and eventual collapse of the Roman Empire.
References:
Koenigsberger, H.G. "Medieval Europe 400-1500" Longman House: Essex, England,
1987.
Holmes, George (ed.) "The Oxford Illustrated History Medieval Europe,"
Oxford University Press: New York, 1988.
Written by:Matt Iffert,12/12/03