Hunnic invasion of Italy

Hunnic invasion of Italy is a military engagement between the Huns and the Roman Empire (East and West).

Background
Failed invasion of Gaul


In 450, Attila the Hun planned to attack the Visigoth kingdom in Gaul, forming an alliance with Emperor Valentinian III. Around the same time, Valentinian’s sister Honoria secretly sent Attila a plea for help and her ring, which he took as a marriage proposal and demanded half the Western Empire as dowry. When the plan was exposed, Honoria was exiled, and Attila claimed he had a right to his “bride’s” land. He then invaded Gaul in 451 with a large army of Huns and allies, destroying cities like Metz and Reims. The Roman general Aëtius gathered Roman, Frankish, and Visigoth forces under King Theodoric I, meeting Attila near Orléans and then at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. The Visigoth-Roman alliance won the battle, Theodoric was killed, and Attila was forced to retreat, ending his major campaign in Gaul.
Invasion of Italy
In 452, Attila the Hun invaded Italy, claiming he was coming to marry Honoria, the sister of Emperor Valentinian III. His army destroyed cities across northern Italy, including Aquileia, which was left in ruins, and forced many people to flee to the islands that later became Venice. The Roman general Aëtius could not stop him but slowed his march until disease, hunger, and exhaustion weakened the Huns. At the River Po, Attila met a Roman delegation led by Pope Leo I, who persuaded him to leave Italy and make peace. Famine and lack of supplies also made further invasion impossible, and attacks by Eastern Roman forces on Hunnic lands pushed Attila to retreat back across the Danube.

Historiography
Heather argues that it was a combination of disease and an attack by Eastern Roman troops on the Hunnic homeland in Pannonia that led to the Huns' withdrawal. Kim argues that the attacks by the Eastern Romans are a fiction, as the Eastern Empire was in a worse state than the West. Kim believes that the campaign had been a success and that the Huns simply withdrew after acquiring enough booty to satisfy them.

 References 

Category:Wars and battles of Ancient Rome
Category:Roman–Hunnic Wars
Category:Wars involving Ancient Italy
Category:Wars involving Italian Empires
Category:History of Italy
Category:Wars involving Italy