Episode #158 – How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part II)

The Huns were not a literate culture, which means their version of history was never written down. As a result we rely on sources written by outsiders to trace the rise of the Hunnic empire and the career of King Attila. This means that the record is patchy, incomplete, and deeply affected by the anti-Hun prejudices of the authors. But despite that, there are still a number of remarkable stories that have survived in the historical record that help us get a more nuanced picture of Attila the Hun. The man had a truly ferocious reputation and yet he could also be gracious, merciful, and patient. Attila was certainly no stranger to violence, but he was also no mindless brute. Does he deserve to be cast as one of history’s great villains? Tune-in and find out how Australian propaganda, a scheming palace eunuch, and 50lb bag of gold all play a role in the story.

Grozer traditional Hun Recurve bow /Extra I/ | Horseback Archery Community — A modern recreation of a traditional Hunnic recurve bow

Enlist : Always Huns A.D. 451-1915 | Australian War Memorial — This is the Australian propaganda poster mentioned in the introduction

Works Cited

Harl, Kenneth W. “The Barbarian Empires of the Steppes.” The Great Courses: Ancient History, The Great Courses, 2014.

Kelly, Christopher. Attila The Hun: Barbarian Terror and the Fall of the Roman Empire. Vintage Digital, 2011.

Man, John. Attila: the Barbarian King Who Challenged Rome. Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor, 2010.

Marcellinus, Ammianus. The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus During the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens. Project Gutenberg, 2009.