Attila the Hun (406–453)

Abstract One of the most famous warriors of all time, Attila, leader of the Huns during the fifth century, is described by Byzantine envoy Priscus as a confident man, one who did not need the ostentatious display of wealth to validate his power: “His dress … was quite simple, affecting only to be clean. The sword he carried at his side, the latchets of his Hunnic shoes, the bridle of his horse were not adorned, like those of the other Huns, with gold or gems or anything costly.” With this confidence Attila struck the barbarian lands, quickly overrunning them and pushing the previous occupants into the Roman Empire, then following after them and for most of two decades raiding, pillaging, and destroying all that was in the path of his quick‐moving, ruthless armies.