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At daybreak on August 22nd AD 408, the great Ursiana Basilica of Ravenna echoed with the clank of armour as soldiers, led by an officer named Heraclianus, entered the Christian sanctuary. At the altar knelt a lone man: Stilicho, once the high general of the Western Roman Empire... now an outlaw. When Heraclianus made to seize Stilicho, a bishop intervened. Heraclianus assured the bishop that they were not here to hurt Stilicho, only arrest him. Yet as soon as the soldiers marched Stilicho out of the church, Heraclianus produced a letter condemning him to death for 'crimes against the state' and drew his sword. Stilicho's friends tried to get involved, but Stilicho waved them back, then dropped to his knees and submitted his neck to the sword.  Stilicho's last moments. With that, Stilicho, the iron hand that had shielded the ailing empire from countless rebellions and invasions for more than a decade... was gone. Gone to the swipe of a Roman sword. Has there ever been a greater case of self-injury? In this article, I will look at why Stilicho's valiant life came to such a disastrous end. Stilicho, the 'Half-Vandal'
Perhaps it was this that convinced Theodosius to offer Stilicho the hand of his daughter, Serena. This was no small reward: marrying into the imperial line meant wealth and status for him and his children. A son, Eucherius, soon followed in AD 388, and two daughters, Maria and Thermantia, were not far behind. His rise through the command ranks was rapid: first Commander of the Protectores, then Count of the Sacred Stables, then around 390, he became Magister Militum - one of a select handful of generals who oversaw the Eastern Empire's legions. Come 393 he rose to Magister Utriusque Militiae per Thracias (Master of Foot & Horse in the region of Thrace) - arguably the most important of the Eastern Empire's generals. Death of an EmperorHis tactical skills would be put to the test when the two halves of the Roman Empire came to blows in a ruinous civil war. Across two days of bloody fighting in September AD 395 at the Battle of the Frigidus - a clash that settled the conflict in favour of the Eastern Empire - Stilicho distinguished himself. So much so that when - just a few months later - Emperor Theodosius lay on his death bed in Milan, riddled with dropsy, he apparently entrusted Stilicho with guardianship over his two boys. Arcadius, 17, was to sit on the Eastern throne while Honorius, 10, would rule the West. And Stilicho was to be guardian of both, and supreme commander of the armies.  "The Favourites of Emperor Honorius" by John William Waterhouse. The young emperor was rather feckless, and over interested in feeding his pet doves, at the expense of ruling his crumbling realm. Bishop Ambrose of Milan corroborated the emperor's dying wish, but Stilicho's rivals contested it regardless. Rufinus, a loathsome, high-ranking official in the Eastern government, argued that guardianship over the boys did not mean regency, which he claimed Stilicho was angling for. A game of political and military chess ensued, with Rufinus pulling the strings from behind Arcadius' throne in Constantinople and Stilicho from Honorius' side in Milan in the West. The empire's Visigothic allies became the pawns of this game, leading to their revolt under their king, Alaric. Stilicho saw off Rufinus, and critics say he was behind the latter's assassination. Though none would argue that Rufinus was an innocent victim. Days of WarStilicho then campaigned against the Franks who had invaded in Gaul, his success in this campaign boosting the morale of the Western Army - threadbare since their defeat at the Frigidus. Next, in AD 397, he defeated Alaric and the Visigoths in Macedonia. Yet new rivals claimed he had 'let' Alaric escape with his life, and didn't have the empire's best interests at heart. In AD 398, he orchestrated a war against the Pictish aggression in Britannia. When Gildo of Africa revolted that same year, he quashed the rebellion. Come AD 400, he was appointed as consul - the highest civilian post, to match his supreme military status. But criticism followed him like a cloud of flies. Some said he had never been to Britannia, and had simply sent some legions to wage war against the Picts. When the commander of the attack fleet sent to Africa drowned on the way back to Italy in suspicious circumstances, critics spread rumours that the culprit was a jealous Stilicho. It is not hard to see why someone who has soared in both the martial and civilian arenas might draw continuing jealousy and criticism. It is also highly unlikely that someone presented with such wealth, fame and power, would not succumb to corruption of a certain degree. All we can say for sure is that, under Stilicho's guardianship, the Western Empire rode out a turbulent decade and a half.  King Alaric and his Visigoths enter Athens - one of his many conquests. There followed the Gothic War of 401-403. First he broke the Visigothic siege of Milan, rescuing Emperor Honorius, trapped within. He followed this up by defeating Alaric again at the Battle of Pollentia, capturing the enemy leader's wife (whom he later returned, unharmed). A further victory over Alaric at Verona saw the Visigoths at last concede, and accept settlement in Pannonia. But there was no let up in trouble. Radagaisus, King of a confederation of Goths, Sueves, Vandals and Alans broke through the imperial borders and plundered Gaul and northern Italy in a frenzy. Estimates of his force run as high as 400,000 strong (although this is highly unlikely). Faced with a nonetheless immense host, Stilicho was forced to take desperate measures - enrolling slaves, hiring Huns and Alans of his own - to join the undermanned legions and form a defensive army. Springing Radagaisus when he was separated from his main force and on his way with a smaller detachment of warriors to raid an Italian town, Stilicho captured the enemy leader and executed him in view of his horde - who laid down their weapons. A Porous LandOne consequence of all of Stilicho's efforts to contain the chaos inside the empire was a serious depletion of the border forces, who had necessarily been drawn into the trouble spots in the central provinces. Only the broad and dangerous waters of the River Rhine kept the baying tribes beyond out. Until... one night in AD 406, the Rhine froze over. A huge confederation of barbarians crossed unopposed, devastating Gaul and triggering revolts there and in Britannia. The threadbare state Stilicho had held together for so long was unravelling. Worse, Alaric and the Visigoths once more rose in revolt, demanding gold in lieu of promises that had not been met. When Stilicho persuaded the Senate to give in to Alaric's demands, criticism was fierce - accusing Stilicho of toadying with the Goths to the detriment of the empire. His main rivals smelt opportunity…  An artist’s impression of Germanic barbarians crossing the Rhine in AD 406 by Zvonimir Grbasic, via Ancient History Encyclopedia. Jealous EyesOne sultry day in the summer of AD 408, Stilicho led his beleaguered Roman troops across the hot fields of northern Italy, answering a call from Emperor Honorius who wished to inspect the ranks. They made camp near Ticinum (modern Pavia), buffed their armour and lined up for the emperor's assessment. When the emperor arrived, a figure stuck close to his side: Olympius, Magister Officiorum (Master of Offices). His role gave him great power and influence over the rather feckless emperor, who may or may not have been privy to what was about to happen. At some signal from Olympius, men in Stilicho's ranks drew steel, then attacked and killed many of Stilicho's key subcommanders, including his right hand man, Chariobaudes - the one-time Duke of Mesopotamia and current Master of the Armies of Gaul. Stilicho escaped the bloodbath and went into hiding. He must have been distraught; he had been the emperor's iron hand and guardian for more than thirteen years, ever since Honorius had been raised onto the throne aged just ten. So when he heard word that the emperor was seeking of truce and mediation, he rode to Ravenna to hold talks. No sooner had he arrived, than he realised it was another of Olympius' traps.  Ravenna's Ursiana Basilica. Fleeing to the sanctuary of the Ursiana Basilica, he would soon find out, would not save him. So ended the life of Stilicho; protégé of Theodosius the Great; the iron hand that had shielded the Western Empire for decades against Alaric and the Visigoths; countless rebellions and tribal invasions. What followed was a dark and violent time. A time when Attila and the mighty Huns would drive like a stake into the backs of the Germanic tribes and on into the very heart of the empire. A time in which the empire would need a new hero. A young cadet would step into this void. His name... was Flavius Aetius. Read all about the aftermath of Stilicho's death and Flavius' ascension, in... THE EAGLE & THE WOLF.
References:Stilicho: The Vandal who saved Rome, Ian Hughes
The Roman Empire at Bay (AD 180 - 395), David Potter The Fall of the Roman Empire, Peter Heather Historia Nova, Zosimus The Panegyrics of Claudian Codex Theodosianus
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Through a polished bronze mirror: the incredible story of Attila the Hun and Flavius Aetius.8/24/2026 In AD 451, two colossal armies gathered on the fields of Chalons, northern Gaul. Almost every man - from Europe and beyond - of fighting age was there, armed to the teeth, waiting for the battle horns to herald a clash that would shape the fate of the ailing Roman Empire and history itself. On one side stood Flavius Aetius, high commander of the Roman and allied armies. Leading the enemy horde was Attila, King of the Huns. What followed was a seismic clash that would inspire legends - including Tolkien himself (The Battle of Chalons inspired his depiction of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in Lord of the Rings).  The moments before the Battle of Chalons - the bloodiest clash in ancient history. Artwork by Peter Dennis. Close your eyes and imagine the two leaders. You might see Flavius in his shining Roman armour and plumed helm, and nomadic Attila on his battle horse, draped in goatskin? Two starkly contrasting figures - one representing imperium and order, one the barbarian 'other'.
Now consider this: Firstly, that Flavius, son of a senatorial family, actually spent his adolescence with the Huns, in the wilderness of the Eurasian steppe. There he became a man, learning the nomadic way of life and honing his survival skills. Secondly, Attila the Hun, the so-called "Scourge of God", nemesis of the Romans, very likely spent years of his youth in Roman Empire. There, he was educated in the imperial ways in the great marble cities so very different to his wild homeland. It's quite incredible, isn't it? To think that the opposing high commanders at Chalons were once a boys who stepped through a polished bronze mirror, each into the other's shoes. How did this great and early switch around come about?  The Eurasian Steppe, homeland of the Huns. Highlighted in gold, the steppe is a vast belt of grasslands spanning central Asia and eastern Europe (specifically the Great Hungarian Plain, or modern Hungary). An Empire in ChaosThe empire of the early 5th century AD was a very different beast to that which had gone before. From a historian’s perspective, the period is a mess. Almost everyone writing in this era had an agenda. Feckless child emperors – the brothers Honorius and Arcadius – sat on the Western and Eastern thrones, while power lay in the hands of the advisers and warlords who influenced them. In AD 408, the Western Empire in particular was on the wane, with much reduced tax income and a decaying military barely capable of containing endless waves of rebellion and barbarian incursions.  The Western Roman Empire in the early 5th century AD - a porous and troubled realm, riddled with invading tribes and rebellions. Stilicho - Emperor Honorius' high general - fought hard to slow the decline and to maintain alliances and truces with some of the more dangerous barbarian invaders (chiefly the mighty Visigoths of King Alaric, ensconed in Gaul), but his success in doing this drew the jealous eyes of rivals. In AD 408, Stilicho was betrayed and murdered in a coup orchestrated by Honorius' chief advisor - the Master of Offices, Olympius. Many Visigothic noble families living in Italy and allied to Stilicho were slaughtered during this power-grab. The historian Zosimus describes how, during the ensuing chaos, Emperor Honorius, terrified by the impending revenge attack of the King Alaric and the main body of the Visigoths, “called upon Uldin, King of the Huns, to send ten thousand riders to his assistance.” A Golden BargainAt this time, the Huns were not allies of the Roman Empire, and Uldin was not in any way oathbound to answer Emperor Honorius' call. So what did the young Western supremo use to strike the bargain - especially when the imperial coffers were empty? Plausibly - and in-keeping with the customs of the time - he could have offered Uldin a Roman nobleman as a guarantee of future payment for the army of ten thousand Huns. Flavius Aetius, the adolescent son of an esteemed senatorial family, would have fitted the bill perfectly. Indeed, and although the dates are vague, it seems that Flavius was dispatched to the distant world of the Huns shortly after Stilicho's demise, which coincides with the last few years of Uldin's reign. He remained out in the wilds with the Huns for possibly as much as 17 years.
Now we come to Attila - why was he sent to Rome? One theory is that the ten thousand riders Flavius' presence on the steppe was supposed to buy never made it to the empire. So perhaps the Huns decided to keep Flavius and sent young Attila to the empire as a payment in kind? Or perhaps the ten thousand Huns did make it to Italy, but - after failing to repel Alaric - decided to send Attile to Rome to establish an ongoing mutual friendship between their clans and the empire? We don't know the exact year that Attila was sent to Rome, or for how long, although it almost certainly overlapped with Flavius' time on the steppe.  Alaric sacks Rome in AD 410. It was in the aftermath of this landmark event that the young Attila would travel to Rome to be educated in imperial ways. Two Boys TransformedDuring his time with the Huns, Flavius became a man. He would have gained knowledge and skills that few Romans could or would ever possess: horse riding in the Hun way - without the need for reins, allowing him to shoot the powerful Hun bow at a charge, hunting, surviving the extreme weather on the steppe. Not to mention the mental fortitude to endure being thrust into an alien world in the fragile and formative years of adolescence. How many boys would have crumbled at such an experience? The contemporary chronicler Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus describes the Flavius who eventually returned to the imperial court in Ravenna as: "Keenly intelligent, a superb horseman and archer, extremely able as a soldier and skilled at the arts of peace… able to endure hunger, thirst and loss of sleep, to bear adversity with great patience, never swayed in his judgement by unworthy counsellors.” The modern historian Ian Hughes outlines how the transformed Flavius rejected the late Stilicho’s ‘manoeuvre and blockade’ approach – designed to avoid defeat – preferring instead daring, adventurous, risky attacks, possibly as a result of exposure to Hunnic mindset and tactics. Sidonius Apollinaris – another contemporary chronicler – described Flavius as “A son of the Hun art of war”. Procopius, writing several generations later, named Flavius as “The Last of the Romans”... but that is for another time. We know less about Attila's experiences in the empire, but he must have returned from Rome to the steppe equally transformed - educated and armed with insights into the very different way of imperial life. The arcane politics, the extreme power and fragility of the empire, their seemingly invincible ways of war... In the decades to follow, he would climb - by means fair and foul - to the pinnacle of Hunnic society, and for the first time in Hunnic history unite the many Hun Kings and clan leaders into a single, ferocious polity. As his Hun Empire grew like a shadow near and then up against the fragmenting borders of the Roman realm, one lesson he would have learned from his time in Rome must have begun to resonate like never before: For an empire to survive, it must grow… and conquer.
ReferencesHistory of the Wars, Procopius
Carmina, Sidonius Apollinaris Decem Libri Historiarum, Gregory of Tours, quoting Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus Aetius, Attila's Nemesis, Ian Hughes Attila the Hun: arch-enemy of Rome, Ian Hughes Theodosius: The Empire at Bay, Gerard Friell 
The Huns at war. Artwork by Steve Estvanik
Some 1700 years ago, the Huns burst from the Eurasian steppe and sent shockwaves through Europe. Blowing apart the Germanic world, then smashing through the borders of the Roman Empire, they changed the world forever. A mere century later, the Huns and their most famous warrior-king, Attila, vanished into history. Yet to this day, "Attila" and "Huns" remain bywords for tyranny, violence and cruelty. Is this fair?
Anyone aiming to understand the Huns more objectively than this faces a major challenge. The Huns as a polity are poorly understood. They were – apart from perhaps a learned few – an illiterate people; thus, little of their oral tradition and lore endured beyond their time. Only three Hun words survive. The only complete sources on them are written in Greek and Latin by their enemies of the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Romans.
Surviving Hun words:
Kamos: a barley drink. Medos: a drink similar to mead. Strava: the Hun funeral ritual.
The Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, describes the Hun warriors as:
“A race savage beyond all parallel. Wild, thick-necked, stocky, bow-legged, they warm raw meat by placing it between their own thighs and the back of their horses. They wander about, roaming over the mountains and the woods and accustom themselves to bear frost and hunger and thirst from their very cradles. They cover their heads with round caps, and their shaggy legs with the skins of kids. They are nearly always on horseback. There is not a person in their whole nation who cannot remain on his horse day and night. On horseback they buy and sell, they take their meat and drink, and there they recline on the narrow neck of their steed, and yield to sleep so deep as to indulge in every variety of dream."
The Latin poet Claudian claimed that the Huns sacrificed their parents when they grew old (with later writers adding that the elders were actually cannibalized).
Jordanes, writing for a later Ostrogothic king, described them as "a race of almost men." In this article, I aim to cut through this hyperbole, and try to understand the Huns a little better. Origins
To this day, all we know for sure is that the Huns came from somewhere in central Asia. That said, there are a few theories on Hunnic origins - some fair, some utterly wild. In the latter camp is the clearly pejorative myth from the Goths (the Germanic sub-group who bore the initial brunt of the Huns' arrival in their lands) that they were 'the bastard offspring of witches and demons of the wind'.
Somewhere in the middle is another tale that might have arisen from the oral tradition of the Huns themselves, which claims that they pursued a wild stag into new and fertile lands, and found it to be inhabited by the Germanics (Goths and more). This might indicate that climatic migration was behind their arrival in Europe - the Huns, like most nomadic peoples, practiced transhumance, or seasonal migration. If the gazelle herds they hunted or the best grasses to graze their steeds were in the west, they would go west. In 2010, 8 million horses died in Mongolia after bad winter. Late antiquity shows several bad winters in a row - offering a plausible reason for the steppe tribes of that era to migrate to pastures new. 
The Huns attack the Great Wall of China. Artwork by Steve Estvanik.
More objectively, we have the theory that comes from Chinese chroniclers of the 2nd century AD, who write of their struggles to keep at bay a fierce nomadic tribe known as the Xiong-Nu, who frequently descended from the Gobi desert region to raid Chinese lands. After orchestrating a heavy defeat on these Xiong-Nu, the Chinese Han dynasty then begun work on a series of walls and fortifications (what would eventually become The Great Wall of China). Starved of their raiding opportunities, this theory goes, the Xiong-Nu began to move west, towards Europe.
Hun Society and Customs
The Huns were children of the Eurasian steppe - a huge stripe of treeless grassland, 4,200 km long, fringed in the north buy the sub-arctic forest, and in the south by desert and mountains at its eastern end by the river valleys of China and at its western end by the fertile lands of the Near East and Europe. The aridity of the climate in the Eurasian Steppe discouraged agriculture, but suited the breeding of horses, cattle, sheep and goats. By nature, these animals were capable of weathering the hard winters with their ability to use their hooves to dig through snow to reach pasture underneath.
The Eurasian steppe - shaded in gold.
A modern Mongolian, using two of the things vital to their way of life: the horse and the lasso.
Horses were central to the Hun way of life. The hardy steppe steeds were vital to travelling the vast distances across the steppe, and to chasing down and keeping cattle herds. A horse was a Hun's spirit animal, and it was taboo to ride on another person's horse.
Hun young would be taught to ride first on goats, before progressing to foals then fully grown steeds. Their final rite of passage was to ride out into the steppe, face and kill a wolf, alone. Returning with a wolf pelt to show to their elders, they became an adult. Every adult Hun was a master of the horse and bow, and – as with any cattle herding people – the lasso. "There is no need to labour the point that the Huns all but lived on horseback, and in sheer horsemanship they far surpassed the best Roman and Gothic cavalry."  An example of cranial deformation - binding of the skull.
The Huns even drank mare’s milk – fresh and fermented; apparently they abhorred drinking fresh water! The Romans claimed, with disgust, that the Huns ate raw meat tenderised under their saddles. This is almost certainly apocraphyl: meat would be used like this not for eating, but to act as a poultice upon their steeds' saddle sores. Their preference was to cook meat into stews - typically with balls of cheese curd and spices bought from traders.
Polygamy was the norm, with Hun men taking several wives - probably in order to establish and preserve inter-clan relationships. Women were not passive in Hun society though: they held political power, trained on the horse from a young age, and sometimes fought alongside the adult males. To the so-called 'Western' eye of Late Antiquity, the Huns probably looked unusual. Not just because of their slightly different bone structure or skin colour, but because of their dress and customs. Huns were known for their severe hairstyles, sometimes shaved back from the hairline to the centre of the head. There is evidence of infant skull-binding, perhaps reserved for those bound to join the Huns' shamanic priesthood. The Huns also practiced ritual face scarring, and one theory is that this was a symbol of grief (blood rolling down your cheeks instead of tears). Contrary to the picture often painted of the Huns exploding into Europe, bent on war (yes, I am guilty of using that imagery at the start of this article), their arrival on the European scene was actually far more gradual. For years they traded fairly with settled Germanic and Roman peoples on the steppe borders, offering meat and wool in exchange for grain and tools. Dressed in goatskins and leathers, marked and groomed in their striking way, they would have been an impressive and captivating sight to anyone who had been brought up in the relative comfort of a Roman city or a Gothic village. And warfare would come soon enough. Masters of War
The Huns were simply too quick and skilled for the Roman legions and Gothic warriors.
The Huns were masters of cavalry warfare - in a way that the Romans and the Germanic tribes simply could not cope with. As Ammianus describes:
“They are the most formidable warriors. When they go into battle, they form in a solid body, and utter all kinds of terrific yells. They are very quick in their operations, of exceeding speed, and fond of surprising their enemies. When at a distance they use missiles of various kinds… but when they are at close quarters they fight with the sword, without any regard for their own safety; and often while their antagonists are warding off their blows they entangle them with twisted cords, so that, their hands being fettered, they lose all power of either riding or walking.”
In their 5th century heyday, they were tactically superior to almost every opponent. Fielding dense wings on horse archers, they would swarm like hornets, remaining far enough away to be safe from enemy spears, but close enough to shower arrows on their for, shot from their powerful composite bows. Once the enemy had been broken or brought to panic by this, they would then charge using the spear and lasso to tear apart what was left.
"The Huns were totally ignorant of fighting on foot. But by wheeling and charging in good time and shooting from their horses, they wrought immense slaughter." Attila & the Empire of the Huns
The origins of Attila – easily the most famous of the Huns – are sketchy. His birthdate is unknown. Even his name (Attila is a Germanic moniker, meaning “Little Father”) is almost certainly one given to him later in life, as opposed to his Hun birth name. But chronicles of the Hun world reveal that he was the son of a certain Munzuk, brother of Bleda, nephew of Ruga and Octar, and that the king during his adolescence was named Uldin. This was a time when the Huns were not a united people, but a number of nomadic clusters each ruled by a minor king.
During Attila's lifetime, this would change. The period of his youth spent in Rome as a political hostage must have given him insights into the empire's inner systems, strengths… and weaknesses. He and his brother, Bleda, grew to become powerful figures in Hun society, uniting the many Hun factions, and the many Germanic tribes subjugated to the Huns, under their joint rule as high kings of the Huns. Yet there remains a suspicion around what happened to his brother. When, in 445, Bleda died, classical sources claimed it was by Attila's hand. Was it Attila reaching for ultimate power? Or was this another example of the fearful Romans blackening Attila's name? Either way, Attila was now sole king of all the Huns. What little knowledge we have of prime Attila in particular comes through the works of Priscus (a Roman who was part of embassies to Attila's court). Sadly, most of his work is lost, but the remaining fragments shine a very telling light on Attila, describing him as frugal, moderate and shrewd, and all the more frightening for it - he was not simply a slavering, bloodthirsty warlord, but an educated and measured individual. A leader in complete control of himself and his formidable empire. 
The court of Attila, King of the Huns.
Under Attila, a Hun Empire emerged, centred on the Hungarian plain. Here, the Huns evolved culturally, letting go of their nomadic roots and adopting a semi-sedentary, agricultural way of life. Perhaps this was due to necessity - the Hungarian plain has nowhere near the grazing capacity of the steppe proper. From this base of power, the Huns struck blow after blow upon the Roman Empire.
It is thought that Attila never desired to possess the Roman world, but understood - probably due to the teachings during his youth in Rome - that to sustain his own empire, he needed a constant source of pillage. This, he did by securing tribute from the Eastern Roman Empire - first 350 pounds of gold annually, before demanding it be doubled to 700 pounds and eventually 2,100 pounds. Some Eastern Romans actually preferred living under Huns, free of huge imperial tax burden (because Attila was taxing Constantinople, not his people) and left largely unpestered. 
Attila's Hun Empire, circa AD 450.
Come AD 450, Attila's attentions turned to the Western Roman Empire. Why? Some say it was because he had bled the Eastern Roman Empire dry. Others claim it is because Gaeseric the Vandal King of Africa bribed him to do so. And there is a third potential reason: apparently Honoria, the Western Emperor's sister, had offered him her hand in marriage. Attila assumed this meant the Western Roman Empire would be his dowry… and assembled his forces.
Whatever turned Attila's head westwards, it was a twist that would lay ruin both to that realm and his own. In the west, his aura of invincibility on the battlefield was broken, but so too was the spine of the Roman West. Within a few years, Attila was dead, the Hun Empire gone, and Europe in ashes. Read all about his turbulent and incredible life in THE EAGLE & THE WOLF!
References
Getica, Jordanes
The extant works of Priscus of Panium Carmina, Sidonius Apollinaris The Roman History, Ammianus Marcellinus Universal History, Eunapius The Fall of the Roman Empire, Peter Heather The Hun, Scourge of God AD 375-565, Nic Fields The Fall of Rome Podcast, Patrick Wyman Ancient Warfare Magazine A History of Attila and the Huns, E.A. Thompson. Well, it's finally here! Saddle up your steppe horse, string your warbow, and get ready to ride with the horde...  'This is the best book I’ve read this year, hands down' Conn Iggulden As Hun hordes and Germanic tribes maraud through Imperial lands, two legendary men – Attila the Hun and the “Last of the Romans” General Flavius Aetius find their fortunes entangled with the chaos. Flavius Aetius, a noble Roman son, is an outsider in a savage land. He has been banished, given as hostage to the barbaric Huns and sent to the edge of the world. What the Huns do not know, however, is that his father and mother have been murdered in a coup. He is an orphan, with no value at all. His life hangs on a lie. In this new harsh world, he manages to find one grudging ally, a young boy named Attila. A brotherhood is formed. One that, the shamans foretell, will shatter the world.
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AuthorGordon Doherty: writer, history fan, explorer. 
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