Europe 452: Attila’s invasion of Italy

Enraged after his defeat in Gaul in 451, Attila rebuilt his army and invaded Italy in the summer of 452. There the Huns sacked a number of northern Italian cities—including Aquileia and Milan—but were eventually forced to withdraw in the face of famine, disease, and Eastern Roman attacks on their homelands.

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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

Aug–Sep 451 Hunnic cross-Danube raid ▲

In August and September 451, while the bishops were assembling at Nicaea prior to the Council of Chalcedon, the Huns crossed the Danube and apparently raided parts of Illyricum, as well as the Eastern Roman provinces of Moesia prima, Dacia ripensis, and Scythia. The Eastern emperor Marcian readied himself to face this threat, but in the end no major war broke out. It is unclear whether these attacks were ordered by Attila or whether they were mounted by rogue tribesmen, who were perhaps disillusioned with Attila’s failure in Gaul. in wikipedia

8 Oct–1 Nov 451 Council of Chalcedon ▲

In late 451 the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian convoked a fourth ecumenical council in Chalcedon (Kadıköy) to rule on the recent teachings of Eutyches, who had variously been condemned as a Nestorian (viewing Christ’s divine and human natures as separate) or a monophysite (viewing Christ as solely divine). Attended by over 520 bishops or their representatives—making it the largest of the first seven ecumenical councils—the council denounced Eutyches and Nestorianism, and thereby reasserted the teachings of the Council of Ephesus of 431. However, the council was rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Church (later to become the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian apostolic, Ethiopian, and Indian churches), which at this point began separating from the Western churches. in wikipedia

Jun–Aug 452 Siege of Aquileia ▲

After rebuilding his army to make up for his losses in Gaul (451), Attila marched across Pannonia to invade Italy in mid June 452. His first move was to attack Aquileia, but this city proved so well fortified that the Huns were unable to breach its walls until the third month of the siege (when the departure of storks from the city allegedly restored Attila’s hope that it would fall). The Huns then sacked and burned the city, before moving west across northern Italy. in wikipedia

452 Marcian’s Hunnic campaign ▲

On 30 March 452 the Western Roman emperor finally recognized the legitimacy of the reign of Marcian in the Eastern Empire by solemnly accepting Marcian’s imperial images in Rome. With relations restored between the two halves of the Empire, Marcian agreed to cooperate against the Huns by mounting a cross-Danube invasion of the Hunnic homelands while Attila was campaigning in Italy. In this way the Eastern army crushed numerous Hunnic settlements, devastating a region that was already suffering from “heaven-sent disasters” (perhaps famine and disease). in wikipedia

452 Aetius’ Eastern auxilia ▲

The restored relations between the Eastern and Western Roman empires that followed the Western emperor Valentinian III’s recognition of the Eastern emperor Marcian in March 452 allowed Marcian to send a force of auxilia to the West when Attila invaded Italy later in the year. Probably traveling by sea and landing near Ravenna, these auxilia, in conjunction with Western troops, apparently allowed the Western generalissimo Aetius to “slaughter” the Huns, although no actual battle is recorded. Regardless, the threat posed by the combined army may have convinced Attila to remain north of the Po and away from Rome and Ravenna. in wikipedia

452 Siege of Milan ▲

After sacking Aquileia, Concordia, Altinum (Altino), and Patavium (Padua), Attila and his forces marched across the northern Po Valley to reach Mediolanum (Milan) in the late summer or early fall of 452. Despite being a former imperial residence, this city eventually fell to the Hunnic siege engines and was brutally sacked, with the Huns even razing the basilica of St Ambrose. Attila also took Ticinum (Pavia) at about this time, but this would be the furthest that the Huns, by suffering from disease and famine, would advance in Italy. in wikipedia

452 Pope Leo’s embassy to Attila ▲

In late 452 a Western Roman embassy consisting of Pope Leo, Prefect Trygetius, and the former consul Avienus met with Attila at Ambuleium, in the vicinity of Mantua, in a bid to persuade him not to attack Rome and to ransom high profile captives (including, to the disbelief of some bishops, Jews and pagans). With his army already withdrawing—and by now suffering from the disease and famine which appeared to be rampant in Italy that year—Attila readily agreed to peace and retired towards the Danube with his plunder. Once there, he denounced the Eastern Romans for their failure to pay tribute and declared that they would soon face “war and enslavement”. in wikipedia

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Attila’s invasion of Italy