Europe 451: Battle of the Catalaunian Plains

After being repulsed outside Orléans in June 451, Attila and his forces withdrew east, only to be intercepted by the combined Roman and Visigothic armies of Aetius and Theodoric on the Catalaunian Plains, near Troyes. The ensuing battle brought an end to Attila’s invasion of Gaul, although countless died on both sides—including the Visigothic king Theodoric himself.

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Notes

Akatziri and the “Scythian Kingdom” (Kuban Huns)

Little is known about the region north and east of the Black Sea in the first half of the fifth century, except that in c. 400 a “Scythian King” (almost always assumed to be a Hun) lived in the Kuban region and by the 440s a Hunnic people known as the Akatziri lived east of the Dniester. Although fragmented, the Akatziri were powerful enough that, when the Eastern Romans aligned with all but one of their kingdoms in 447, it took over a year for Attila’s armies to crush them and install his son as their king. After this, Attila contemplated invading Persia, implying that suppressing the Akatziri had bought the periphery of his empire close to the Caucasus. All this suggests that the Akatziri may have extended into the North Caucasus and that the “Scythian King” may have been part of the Akatziri, although this is of course conjecture.

Main Events

14 Jun 451 Battle of Orléans ▲

On 14 June 451 the Western Roman generalissimo Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric arrived outside Aurelianum (Orléans) with their combined armies, just as Attila’s forces were breaking through the city’s walls with battering rams. The Romans and Visigoths immediately fell on the Huns and their allies, compelling them to abandon the siege and escape across the Loire. From there Attila moved east with his plunder, marching in the direction of Augustobona Tricassium (Troyes). in wikipedia

19 Jun 451 Frank–Gepid clash ▲

As Attila retreated east from Aurelianum (Orléans) in June 451, the pursuing Romano-Visigothic army of Aetius and Theodoric caught up with him somewhere near Augustobona Tricassium (Troyes) on the evening of the 19th. There the Frankish foederati of the Roman vanguard collided with the Gepids of Attila’s rearguard, with some 15,000 allegedly dying in the ensuing clash. After this, both sides camped for the night, to prepare for battle the following day. in wikipedia

20 Jun 451 Battle of the Catalaunian Plains ▲

At about 3pm on 20 June 451 the Western Roman generalissimo Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric led a combined army composed of various peoples—Romans, Visigoths, Silurian and Ripuarian Franks, Alans, Burgundians, Armoricans, Sarmatians, Saxons, and others—to meet the Hunnic ruler Attila and his equally diverse army on the Catalaunian Plains, some 5 Roman miles (7km) from Augustobona Tricassium (Troyes). The two sides spent most of the afternoon fighting for control over a ridge which dominated the battlefield, but eventually the Visigoths on the Roman right wing broke through the lines of the Amal-led Goths who opposed them, outflanking the Huns in the center and coming close to killing Attila. However, in the course of the struggle, Theodoric was thrown from his horse and killed, after which Attila and his followers withdrew to their wagon circle to hold out through the night. The following day the Visigoths returned to Tolosa (Toulouse) to ensure the succession of Theodoric’s son Thorismund, allowing Attila to escape back across the Rhine with his remaining forces. The battle, “whose like no ancient time has ever recorded”, had left “countless corpses”, if probably nowhere near the 165,000 dead claimed by Jordanes a century later. in wikipedia