The Warriors of Tribal Europe: Attila the Hun

The Warriors of Tribal Europe: Attila the Hun

Attila the Hun ravaged the two crumbling Roman Empires. Attila saw Rome as a weak and rich target ready to be exploited. While the Eastern Byzantine area occupied the land he wished to call his own.

The legendary name of Attila the Hun struck fear into the very hearts and minds of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century. The great warrior King Attila, was able to capitalise on the disarray and weak leadership of the once mighty Roman Empire. The once united empire was split between the Rome led Western empire and the Eastern Byzantine Empire, although the two Emperors were close family they did not always work well together. In fact it was the lack of a joint cohesive plan of how to deal with the continuous Hun assaults upon Roman interests, that contributed to Attila's military success and Western Rome's demise.

The ancient warrior we know as Attila the Hun was demonised by the early Roman church due to his assault on the crumbling Roman Empire which housed the embryonic Christian faith. Attila was known as the Scourge of God by the citizens of the Roman Empire. We know that he did not follow the Christian faith, but it is very likely he had some knowledge of Rome's way of life from his time spent as "Hostage" within the Roman Empire as a youth. It was traditional for the client states of the Romans to send offspring to guarantee peaceful relations. Attila followed the pagan religions of his ancestors, he was more than likely a follower of the war god Astar who was worshipped by many of the peoples of the Eurasian plains. Most written sources usually infer that Attila was Godless, but this could have been a further attempt to soil his reputation in the civilised world.

Attila the Hun was crowned the King and general of the Hun empire in A.D. 433. He succeed his uncle King Roas, and shared leadership of the Hun tribe with his brother Bleda. The two brothers ruled the tribal lands of the Hun's for over a decade together. In the decade of co-rule the brothers consolidated their position and gave discipline and order to a hoard that was traditionally rife with division. The two tribal leaders had dominion over lands that included the area's we know today as Southern Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

In 445 A.D Attila's brother Bleda died suddenly, it is suggested from Roman sources that Attila may have had a hand in his brother's demise. The Roman historian's also speculate that the new King may have murdered his uncle Roas to claim control of the Hun nation. It is believed that Attila and his trusted adviser's consolidated his power for the next few years, while doing so he looked on at the wealth and weakness of the Roman Empire and saw opportunity.

Attila saw weakness in the ruler of the Byzantine Emperor Valentinian III, and as Byzantine had control of the lands his tribe desired the Byzantine Empire became Attila's main target. Attila was able to harass and raid Byzantine interests in the Balkans and threatened strategically important cities along the border of the two empires. Between 445-447 AD Attila was able to use the wealth he took from the two empires to increase the number's of his tribe. Attila used what his men stole to hire mercenaries from the Germanic lands and forged loose alliances with the Vandal's who had tied up the Western Roman Empire in their conquest of parts of modern day Spain and North Africa. The loss of North African provinces deprived the Western Roman Empire of the wheat it needed to feed the Legions of Rome.

In 447 AD Attila grew strong enough to threaten the pride of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was new Rome and it was built to withstand the barbarians that coveted it. The Byzantine Emperor was desperate for peace, and handed 6,000 pounds in weight of Roman gold. This naively gave Attila more wealth to invest in his army, with this sum of gold Attila could construct great siege weaponry and buy the loyalty of the best warrior's in Europe. The rather foolish Byzantine Emperor also agreed to pay over 2,000 pounds of Roman gold annually, which gave Attila even more of a war chest. Had the Byzantines used this sum on it's own defences and armies. Its is likely that the bloodthirsty rampage through both empires may have been averted.

By 449 AD Attila and his military might is a thorn in the side of both Roman Empires, and it can be argued that the attempt on Attila's life by the Byzantine Empire increased Attila's hatred of the Roman Empire. Attila saw the Byzantine Empire as a weak and foolish man. Although Emperor Valentinian III was not a bad Emperor, he lacked the leadership qualities that previous great Emperor's possessed. Attila had very little love for Rome, he saw it as the heart of decadence. Attila had come from a people who had been forced out of their ancestral lands by the spread of the Roman Empire. For all the trappings of wealth you would expect from a tribal King like Attila, a number of Roman sources tell us he did not dine of plates of gold and silver. Attila saved that for his guests while he feasted off the crockery he had always used,

In 450AD , the Byzantine princess Honoria sent Attila a note and a ring. Honoria, was the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Valentinian III. In the note Honoria wrote and asked Attila to rescue her, as she had been promised in marriage to a man she didn't like or want to marry. Attila interpreted this as a marriage proposal, and happily accepted. After all Honoria's dowry was believed to include half of the provinces in the Western Roman Empire, which Attila was more than happy to accept into his emerging Hun Empire. Whether or not Honoria really offered Attila her hand in marriage will forever be a mystery, but it suited Attila's agenda and ambitions and pulled the Western European Empire into Attila's sights.

Attila forced the issue with the crumbling Western Empire and The Huns' swept through central Europe and into Gaul. Attila was halted at the Catalaunian Fieds, in North Eastern France. There Attila's and his forces came up against the Romans under the command of his former friend and ally, the Roman General Aetius, along with a contingent of Germanic warrior's from tribes aligned with Rome such as the Alan's and Visigoth's.

The battle was not conclusive between the two sides, and in some way's signalled the end for not just Attila but for the western half of the Roman Empire. The battle severely weakened the Legions of Rome who had been stretched to the limit in the past century. Attila retreated from Gaul aware that he had to regroup in the relative safety of his lands.

Although he was not as successful as he had hoped, Attila remained committed to marrying Honoria and acquiring her dowry of the Western Empires provinces. In 452 AD, the Hun's invaded Italy, which had been weakened by a two-year long famine and epidemics of disease. They quickly captured Roman territory including the important Italian cities of Padua and Milan. Attila was unable to attack the walls of Rome as his army was impeded by lack of supplies and the disease his warriors where beginning to suffer from.

Attila's death in 453 AD was not one of dying sword in hand on a battlefield, he in fact died on the night of his marriage. On that night Attila drank heavily in celebration of his new bride. In his wedding chambers Attila passed out flat on his back. While he was unconscious Attila had a massive nosebleed which caused him to choke on his own blood. Whether he met his end from a simple nosebleed, or he was poisoned is impossible to say. The news of his passing would have pleased plenty of Europe's Kings and Generals, Attila's nomadic horsemen had been a real threat to all of Europe and Asia.

Upon the death of Attila, his body was laid in a coffin of gold, silver and ornate wood. Attila was buried as a hero of the Hun nation. His followers diverted the course of a river and buried him in the river bed. The river was then diverted back to it's original path and the burial party was executed to keep the resting place of Rome's greatest threat a secret. Attila's actions in pursuing a claim in the Western Empire allowed the Byzantine Empire to survive long after Rome collapsed.

King Caratacus : Tribal King of Europe.

The Catuvellauni's King Caratacus was a thorn in the Romans side for most of his adult life. Through Caratacus leadership he was able to inspire the British tribes to rebel against the invading Roman Legions.The tribal leader inspired his Welsh allies the Sirules and the Ordovices to hold out against the Roman Legions between 58-78AD. Caratacus also helped lead the resistance in England with his own tribe the Catuvellauni's although he had less success in England. Caratacus was a figure head that the tribes of the British Isles looked to as an inspiration. And Caratacus helped show that the Roman Legion was not unbeatable, maybe Caratacus helped inspire tribes people not directly linked to Britain.

Source : Wikimedia Commons
A soldier of the Roman Empire.

Caratacus is believed to be the son of the Catuvellaunian King Cunobelinus , It was King Cunobelinus and his brother Epaticcus who expanded Catuvellaunian's power West into the lands of the Atrebate tribe. When his uncle died, Caractacus continued the fight against the Atrebates . It is alleged that the defeated leader of the Atrebate tribe asked the Roman emperor Claudius for help in reclaiming these lands. In 43AD the Emperor Claudius decided to launch his conquest of the British Isles.

Caratacus and his brother met the invading legions and attempted to halt the invasion of Catuvellaunian territory. The British tribal warriors had around 40,000 warriors at their disposal against the four legions under the command of Aulus Plautius's . The British resistance was crushed in two major battles, at the Rivers Thames and Medway. The Legions ability to cross the rivers at will opened up the heartland of England. These defeats handed the Roman's much of the South East of England and all a depleted enemy could offer up was hit and run sabotage tactics.

Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Roman Britain

With the loss of Caratacus's joint leader and brother Togodumnus, and with the Catuvellauni's territories conquered by the Roman Legions. Caratacus decided to continue to resist the Roman Empires invasion further to the west. It is likely he moved into Wales were the geography of the area would help in guerrilla warfare. Caratacus helped the Silures and Ordovices in repelling the Roman legion, and this alliance was very effective in resisting Rome. We know that the Welsh tribes were able to restrict Roman advancement into Welsh territories. Caratacus was defeated in a set piece battle in 51AD and fled to the north of England, we know that the Romans had captured his wife, daughter and brother.

Caratacus fled into the Brigantes territory, in what is now modern day Yorkshire. Here he hoped to find some sanctuary and more recruit more allies to combat the Roman advance. Caratacus found in the Brigantine Queen, a woman shrewd enough to know handing over Caratactus to the Romans was a good long-term strategy. Caratacus was handed to the Roman Empire in change and was destined to meet the same fate as his fellow resistance leaders such as Vercingetorix in mainland Europe. With Caratacus in chains the Roman high command suppressed the area south of the River Humber.

Caratacus was transported to Rome, so he could be paraded before the Roman Senate and Emperor Claudius. When Caratacus was brought in front of the Emperor he made an impassioned and eloquent speech, defending his actions before the senate and extolling his noble character. The Roman's so moved by his speech granted him clemency and he was allowed to stay in Rome as a permanent guest of the Empire. Caratacus was to stay in Rome and never return to his homeland. Caratacus was struck by his new surroundings, and often wondered why the mighty Roman Empire wanted the tribal lands of the British when they had the majesty of the Imperial city.

King Genseric : Warrior of Tribal Europe.

Genseric, the King of the Vandal's.

To defeat the Roman Empire in battle was not an easy task, to defeat the combined might of the Western and Byzantine Legionnaire's is a feat worthy of song and verse to last the ages. For some strange reason King Genseric of the Vandal's never achieved the acclaim of a man who tormented the Roman Empire and took full advantage of the Empire's fragile nature.

Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The Vandals meet the Pope in their assault on Rome.

King Genseric was able to take a fairly insignificant European tribe and carve out an Empire which took on territory that resembled the old Carthage Empire of Hannibal. The Vandal's controlled much of the Mediterranean Sea and were often accused by their enemies of behaving no better than common Pirates. The Vandal fleet's dominated and preyed on the Ship's of Europe, and for over 50 year's were a scourge on European trade.

King Genseric of the Vandal's came to power after his elder brother passed away, Genseric was illegitimate but was the rightful heir to the small band of warrior's who had settled in what is now modern day Spain. Genseric realised his small nation of less than 100,000 tribesman would be squeezed out of the lands they occupied by larger more organized Germanic tribes. In AD King Genseric shipped his entire people's to the land's of North Africa. They swarmed into the Imperial Roman province's of Numandia and Maurentina. These land's had been the spoils of victory for the Roman's after their success in the Punic War's.

It is suggested that King Genseric and his tribal warrior's were invited into these land's to help bolster their position in uncertain times. It is very likely that King Genseric had a fair idea of the turmoil that Rome's African Provinces were in, and he saw it as an opportunity to consolidate his position away from the old rivalries of Tribal Europe.


The King of the Vandal's was quick to exploit the situation and in a short space of time he had imposed his brand of Arian Christianity on this corner of the Roman Empire. The Roman citizen's although Christian were of the Roman Catholic faith, King Genseric allowed freedom of religious worship but did not allow any of his Kingdom's elite class to be anything other than Arian Christian. His occupation of Roman land's was not protested over by the Roman citizens of the new Vandal nation, ordinary citizen's were taxed less as the Churches and Catholic nobles bore the cost of Genseric's rule.


The Sack of Rome



The weakness of the Western and Byzantine Roman Empire's offered so much opportunity for the Germanic tribes and King Genseric was happy to test the limit's of Rome's defence's and resilience. Both Empire's were still smarting from the exploit's of Atilla the Hun, and the might of his Warrior's had deprived Rome and Constantinople of much of it's Legionary might.

On 2 June 455, the Vandals led by their King Genseric began the sack of the City of Rome. King Genseric had previously made a peace treaty with the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire Valentinian III. A coup had occurred when the Emperor was killed and replaced by Petronius Maximus, King Genseric declared the peace treaty had been broken, and as a matter of honour invaded Italy to rescue his prospective Daughter in law.

The Vandals would continue to plunder the Imperial City for fourteen days, but it was not as bloodthirsty as some Historian's would later make out. Much gold and silver would be taken as well as several boats full of captives, these captive's were destined for slavery or to be ransomed.The Catholic Pope had urged the Vandal's not to murder and burn the historic building's. King Genseric agreed to their plea. Among the treasures taken by the Vandals was the wealth of the Jewish Temple from Jerusalem, which had already been plundered nearly 380 years previous.


Military Failure



As successful as the Vandal King was against the Roman establishment and military, he suffered defeat against less grand regional rivals such as the Berbers. The Berber's were a people whose Lands encompassed modern day Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. King Genseric was unable to increase his authority or subjugate the North African tribe and a status quo was soon established between the Two. As long as the Vandal's had their naval supremacy they did not have to press into the Berber sphere's of influence, and for the most part the Vandal's were quite content to consolidate their bases and continue with their Mediterranean piracy.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
The Vandals collecting the spoils of War.

The Berber's had taken back large portion's of the former Roman province and where very close to re-establishing their old lands. The Vandal's held the coast line and the Berber's controlled the interior. On two occasion's the Vandal's tried to oust the Berber's from their land's but this was met with little success.

The King also endured military defeat in his attempt to secure a foothold in Southern Greece. The Vandal's landed in the ancient land's of the now defunct Spartan race, and lost a large number of fighting men on this expansionist assault. The Vandal's sought to have a launching point in mainland Greece  they could move at the Byzantine lands to the East or attack Rome again from Mediterranean Island possession's.

When the King of the Vandal's died at the age of 88, it signaled the end of the Vandal Kingdom. He was succeeded by his first born son Huneric and the rule of his son was poor in comparison to King Genseric. King Huneric was fearful of the power of the Byzantine Empire, but slowly began to persecute the Catholic's within his Kingdom. The subsequent ruler's of the Vandal's kept changing their position towards the Catholic population.

This strained relationship with Catholic Rome and Constantinople combined with the mounting aggression of the Visigoth's and the Berber's lead to the demise of the Vandal Empire very quickly. After the death of King Genseric the Vandal's endured two pivotal military defeats to the Berber's. As the Vandal's began to decline in power, the Roman's in 534 were able to reacquire some of their old North African province's at the expense of the Vandal Kingdom. This meant all of the great Warrior King Genseric's effort and achievement's were erased within 50 year's of his death.

The Warriors of Tribal Europe.

The Tribal warrior class that rose up just before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, have long been regarded as heathen barbarians. This is primarily due to the people who recorded the history at the time, instilling their own bias into their chronicles. The Warriors of Europe were a varied assortment of tribes and culturally diverse peoples. It was the actions of the European Warrior that set Europe's history onto its current destiny.
The shape of Europe was created by the actions of the Tribal Warrior's and their War Leaders. The Warrior's of the tribe fought bravely to protect and gradually expand their own slice of Dark Age Europe.

Ancient Rome fell for a huge number of reasons, but its lack of ability to defend its borders did little to save itself. The Warriors of Europe learnt much from Roman tactics and as Rome faded they took its material wealth and Rome's lands. Many of the European Warrior cultures learnt from the Roman Legions in their service as auxiliaries for the Empire.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
Anglo-Saxon mounted Warriors.

The embryonic European Kingdoms and States we see today only exist because the War leaders and Warrior's learnt certain rules to consolidate their rule very early on. They learnt that territory equals wealth, and that to conquer an enemy land is a far easier option than holding onto it long-term without proper planning. They knew that their Warrior class did not have much interest in planting and harvesting, the Warrior culture lived to take what they wanted from a defeated people and many instances they wished to create a great name for themselves and their family.

This eventually leads to a Warrior elite forming, who took their share of the spoils in maintaining their overlord's wealth and needs. The descendants of the successful Warrior's number among them the richer members and aristocracy of the old Medieval European order. The current royalty of the United Kingdom has an ancestry which can date back to the time of the Warrior culture.

Most of the European Tribal Warrior's worshipped a deity who encouraged prowess on the battlefield. From the Viking and Saxons who held Tyr, Thor and Odin in high regard to the Huns and their mighty Astar, God of War. The post-Roman Europe was overrun by Warrior's who believed victory and death were the desires of the heavens. It was only with the spread of Christianity, that the mindset of European Warrior's changed. Christianity was seen as a religion that encouraged and glorified the struggle of the subjugated over the strong. Christianity was not the religion of the Warrior but one of hope for the defeated, enslaved or victimised.

The Weapons of a Frankish warrior c.600 AD.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Even the teachings of Christianity could not stop the blood-lust from its converted European Warrior's, the sheer number of the many Crusades laid testament to this. Christianity was a religion that required less War and sacrifice, and it became the religion of the man who wanted to toil in his own small corner of the land. The Heathen Warrior's who settled in the fertile land of the British Isles soon lost their appetite for bloodshed and became more worried about the next harvest. And as a consequence of this gradually swapped the iconic Thor's Hammer for the peaceful comfort of Christ's Holy Cross.