The reign of the Hun leader, Attila, from AD 434 was a short-lived but terrifying episode in Europe's history. Under his leadership the Huns not only operated as a coherent nation but also attracted to their banner many other barbarian groups.
Having for a number of years terrorized the Eastern Roman Empire, in 451 Attila invaded Gaul, and Italy in the following year. His death in 453 (of a haemorrhage on the night of his marriage to a new bride) put an end to the unified Hun threat.
This extract is from an eyewitness account by Priscus, a member of a Roman diplomatic mission to the Huns.
