Iditarod pioneer., 1917-05-12
WHO THE HUNS WERE
 AND SOMETHING ABOUT
 THEIR GREATEST LEADER

In the earlier stages of the great war
 when the Germans were raVaglng Belgium
 and Northern France, the ermles ot the
 kaiser were lkened to the Huns, and the
 German emperor to "Attia the Hun"
 termed "the scourge of God" Some hazl
 ness having been apparent as to who the
 Huns were, and likewise as to the career l and characteristics of Attla brief his
 tory of this strange people end their noton-
 ous leader who IS remembered for hlS cru
 cities may be of interest.
 The Huns were a people who made theIr
 first appearance in authentic history about
 375 A. D. Ethnologists identify them wlth
 a MongoHan people of Northern Asia who
 invaded the Chinese empire about 200 5. c., and after various mgratOns entered Europe.
 They appear afterward to have sided with
 Goths of Moesia against the Romans,
 and sometimes in alliance with the em
 oerors, who purchased their services, some 1 times in hostility to them, they continued
 to extend their dominion along the Danube
 until the time of Attia (434l, whose reign
 constitutes the best known period of their l history.
 Attla was tbe son of Mundzuk, a Hun
 of royal descent who followed his uncle,
 Roas, in 434 and shared the supreme au
 thority with his brother, Bleda. These two
 leaders of the Barbarans, who had settled
 in Scythia and Hungary, threatened the | Eastern Empire and twice compelled The 1 Cdoslus H. to purchase an lnglorlous peace. The Huns themselves esteemed Attlla thelr 5ravcst warrior and most sklllful general l Their regard for his person soon amounted 'o supcrstiti0us reverence and being now
 sole master of 8 war,ike people his un- bounded ambition made him the terror of 1 all nations and he became, as he called
 himself the "scource" which God had ,cscn tC chastise the human race. In 8 | short time he extended his dominion over 1 I'll the people of Germany 9nd Scythla and 1 the eastern and western cmpeTOrs paid hun [ tribute The Nandals, the Ostrogoths, the 1 Gepidae and part of the Franks united under his banners.
 Hearing rumor of the riches and power of Persia, he directed his march thither ] but WAS defeated on the plains of Armenia
 and drew bacl, to satisfy his desire for i pmnder in the dominlons of the emperor of
 the East He easily found g preeXt for
 war for all the states which promised him
 2 rich booty were his natural enemies and | II princes whom he honed to conquer had
 broken alliances. The Emperor Theod0sius ] collected an army to oppose his progress :;
 but in three bloody battles fortune declared 1 herself for the barharans. Constantnople
 was indebted to the strength of its walls l and to the ignorance of the enemy in the i Tt of beaieging for its preservation. ThraCe i MaccG. nia and Greece all submitted to the 1 savage robbcr, who destroyed seventy flour ! i>hing cities TheOdOsluS WAS at the mercy
 If the victor, and was obliged to purchase
 peace.
 Attla now directed his eyes to Gaul. With
 an immense arn.y he passed the Rhine the 1 MoslHe and the Seine. and came to the
 Loire and sat down uhdcr the wills of Or | laans The inhabitants of this city, eGcour-
 agei by their blshcN tAnianusl, rcpellad
 the first attack of the barbarsns, and the
 united forces of the Romans under their general Aetjus and the Fisigoths, under i bcir king, Theodoric, compelled AttiIa to | raise the siege.
 1 He retvested to Champagne and waited i for the enemy on tho Yl2ins of Cha!ons ! The two armies soon approached each other. l Attill4 anxious for the event of the battle ! consulted the socthsaycrs who assured him 1 Of defeat. Ha conceded his alarm, rode . thrcuch the ranks of his warriors, reminded
 then of thar deeds. smoke of his joy at the : prospect of battle and at the thought that 1 their valor was to be rewarded lnh2mcd i by lis snaech. and by the presence cf tkeir 1 leader. the Huns were impatient for battle l Al length the ranks of the Romans wgra | l. ,h A++-1, rl-na,i,- ! of the victory when the Gothic prince ] Thorisnond, the son of Theodoric poured town from the neighboring height upon the 1 Huns. Attla pressed on all sides, escaped
 with difficulty to his camp. This vas per 1 laps the bloodiest battle ever fought in
 Europe up to the time of the present var /; l for, according to contemporary historians i 1O6 GOO dead bodies covered the 1cld of 1 battle
 ! Attia caused all his camp equipage and i treasures to ba brought together into heap 1 in order to burn himself with them in case i he should be reduced to extremites. But ! the enemy were contented with collecting their forces during the night, and having "ad the last honors to the dead body of l King Theodoric which they discovered with 1 CLnCGlll, they Sdutcu Ills SOl, 1uOI4SIIOlI'l, 1 king upon the field of battle
 1 Thus Attla escaped, but the Franks pur
 sued him until he had passed the Rhine. ! He now demanded Honoria, the sister of ! Valentinian IT, in marriage, and conquered
 and destroyed Aqueleia Padua, Nicenza 1 Verona, Bergamo, and laid waste the plains of Lombardy. The inhabitants fled to the Alps, to the Appenines, and to the small islands in the laeoons of the Adriatlc sea, where they built Venice The emperor had l no army to oppose him; the Roman people
 and senate had recourse to tears and sup i plcaticn. Pope Leo I. went with the Ro- man ambassadors to the enemy's camp and
 succeeded in obtaining peace. Attila
 went back to Hungary. The Romans 1 looked upon their preservation as a miracle,
 and the old chronicles relate that the threats 1 of St. Peter and St. Paul had terrified 1 Attila-a legend which the art of Raphael 1 and Alghardi has immortalzed.
 1 Not having obtained Honoria for a wife, Attila would second time have demanded her, sword in hand, if the beautiful Ildico had not been added to his numerous wives,