Attila Lives, Europe Dies

Attila the Hun is perhaps one of History's most ruthless and feared leaders. Apart from his larger-than-life reputation, what do we really know about him?

In this episode, Mark discusses Attila's upbringing,  his various battles, and his untimely death at age 47. Next, Mark imagines a world in which Atilla gets to live in his palace, in Rome, well into his golden years. What other lands would have Atilla conquered? How many millions more would have died under his sword?

Plus,  we'll hear audio diaries from a Roman foot soldier and an unstoppable (and bougie) Attila the Hun.

Transcript

 Introduction
Hello, my name is Mark Bouffard. Welcome to What If World History?

Like you, I share a passion for civilizations, cultures, and stories of the past. This show looks at the epic events that sewed the fabric of our history and sculpted the world we now know. And it imagines: What If they happened a little bit differently?

Would it change the outcome? What might the “new history” look like?

I invite you to explore the possibilities with me.

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If this is your first time listening, we will explore events as they happened in our history, then we will explore an alternative timeline and show how it will shape a new future. Along the way, we will put you in the shoes of some of the key players
through a series of Diaries.

Let’s take a trip.

Our episode today is:
Attila Lives, Europe Dies
In this episode, we will look at the rise and untimely death of Attila the Hun. And we will ponder his death at the ancient age of 65, not from a drunken stupor and a bloody nose. Instead, he will die in his bed, in Rome, surrounded by his brood of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And with his extended life, millions more would die under the sword of his army and much of Europe would fall under his rule.

The Thundering Horde
Felix Domitus, Footsoldier
The Flying Eagles Legion
Balkan Frontier, May 7, 451 CE

Felix Domitus clutched his heavy wooden shield with his left arm and held his two javelins in his right hand. He was shoulder-to-shoulder with his cohort peering down from the rise of a hill towards the expansive grass plains.

Their shields formed an impregnable, eye-level wall a half-mile long. Behind him, Felix heard the archers setting up their volley stations. He noted the pounding of hooves and the rattle of riders as the Roman cavalry moved into a flanking position.

Felix felt the enemy before he could see them. The ground under his feet vibrated in a low rumble. Over the horizon, he could begin to see a billow of dust rolling towards them. At the front of the brown-tinged cloud was a swarming wave of men and horses 50,000 strong.

As the ground vibrated more furiously and the size of the dust cloud grew greater in his vision, Felix could hear the screams of the Hun soldiers. Primal, crazed, guttural cries that broke his focus and made him wonder if he shouldn’t turn and run. It was a good thing he was locked into place between a wall of his comrades and shields or he might have been tempted.

But Felix knew fighting was the only option. And he wondered if today would be his last. A woosh of arrows behind him signaled the archers were starting their volleys to slow down the rush. Felix saw riders and horses fall to the ground in rolling heaps, but still, they came on.

In amazement, he saw hundreds of riders stand on their saddles and unleash their own volley of arrows. The soldiers behind him covered the heads of his front row with their shields and the arrows fell harmlessly onto them. Behind him, he heard the screams of pain from archers who had been hit.

The Roman cavalry entered the fray with a flanking assault against the charging riders. Like a river diverting against a jutting rock, thousands of riders diverted to meet the Roman charge head-on. In his direct sight, the rest of the horde was only a hundred yards from their position. As one, each soldier launched his javelins against the wave of men. And despite hundreds of riders falling, they came on in a cacophony of thundering hooves and screams with little regard for their lives.

Felix drew his sword and readied for the crash of horses against his shield wall. It came a few moments later and almost knocked him off his feet. Again the close compactness of their cohort allowed each soldier to use the strength of their comrade to create a fortification unto itself.

Here the higher ground gave the Romans a distinctive advantage against the horsemen. The Romans were fighting almost eye level against the Huns, who couldn’t push the shield wall back. Their attack broke against the immovable defenses.

The Huns fighting tactics were based on speed, slashing attacks, and the shattering of enemy formations. The Romans had learned to neutralize those advantages with coordinated cavalry, archers, and foot soldier tactics.

The ground grew slippery with the blood of man and horse, but still, the Romans held their higher position. Sensing no break, the Huns quickly pulled back, but many of them were dropped by volleys of arrows that rained down on them as they retreated. Felix could sense a turn of events as the wave of horsemen retreated into the distance.

Wounded legionnaires were taken back to the rear, and Huns who were not dead on the ground were quickly dispatched. Suffering horses were put out of their misery. But despite the carnage, a miracle had happened. For the first time in two hundred years, the Romans had defeated the Huns.

Felix sat against the long grass of the hill and collected himself. The expanse of the field of battle, along with thousands of corpses, was laid out in his vision. Fatigue spread through his battered and bruised body, but his mind was clear. He had survived to fight another day. And that was the victory he wanted.

Part 1: Huns Appear from Nowhere
Historically speaking, the Huns were a flash in the pan. Their impact on history lasted a mere two hundred years, while the populations they conquered would remain in Europe and Asia to this day. Most historians are unsure of their origin but it is generally believed they started their migration and expansion from the region around the Caspian Sea, in what is now Kazakhstan.

The Huns are mentioned briefly by the historian Tacitus in 91 CE, but little else is known about them. And at the time they were not considered a serious threat to neighboring tribes nor the Roman empire.

Historian Rene Grousset details: “The Huns were a group of Eurasian nomads, appearing from east of the Volga, who migrated further into Western Europe around 370 and built up an enormous empire there. Their main military techniques were mounted archery and javelin throwing.”

He says: “They were in the process of developing settlements before their arrival in Western Europe, yet the Huns were a society of pastoral warriors whose primary form of nourishment was meat and milk, products of their herds.”

In his book “The End of Empire”, author Christopher Kelly describes their physical appearance. He says “In common with other steppe peoples, the Huns artificially flattened the front of their skulls. Some newborn babies had their heads tightly bound with strips of cloth. These bandages were held in place with a flat stone or piece of wood that pressed hard against the infant’s forehead. The results were striking: the root of the nose was squashed and widened, while the forehead itself was exaggerated and greatly elongated.”

Kelly goes on to describe their nomadic life: “In its essentials, life on the semiarid steppes that stretch across Asia from Mongolia to the Black Sea has changed little in sixteen hundred years. It is still a fragile existence, vulnerable to shifts in rainfall, sharp variations in the productivity of the grassland, and sudden outbreaks of disease. Prosperity and, in hard times, survival depends on the sheep and horses rather than on cattle.”

Kelly says: “The Huns were shepherds on horseback, not cowboys. For the Huns, in common with other nomadic societies, the ownership of land was of little consequence; what mattered was the right to move across it.”

WorldHistory.org has a great introduction to the fighting style of the Huns. The article highlights the first detailed writings of the Huns which were not kind in the eyes of history.

A jaded Roman scholar by the name of Ammianus writes about them: “The nation of the Huns surpasses all other barbarians in the wilderness of life. And though [the Huns] do just bear the likeness of men (of a very ugly pattern), they are so little advanced in civilization that they make no use of fire, nor any kind of relish, in the preparation of their food. But feed upon the roots which they find in the fields, and the half-raw flesh of any sort of animal.”

Ammianus goes on to write: “They fight in no regular order of battle, but by being extremely swift and sudden in their movements. The Huns disperse, and then rapidly come together again in a loose array. In this manner, they spread havoc over vast plains, and flying over the rampart, they pillage the camp of their enemy almost before he had become aware of their approach.”

WorldHistory.org describes the average Hun warrior: “Hun soldiers dressed in layers of heavy leather greased with liberal applications of animal fat, making their battle dress both supple and rain resistant. Leather-covered, steel-lined helmets and chain mail around their necks and shoulders further protected the Hun cavalrymen from arrows and sword strikes. The Hun warriors wore soft leather boots that were excellent for riding but fairly useless for foot travel. This suited the soldiers, for they were much more comfortable in the saddle than on the ground.”

Christopher Kelly in “The End of Empire” writes: For the Huns horsemanship was a key survival skill. It allowed them not only to manage their livestock, but also to harass their more settled neighbors. On horseback, a small mobile force could choose the time and place for battle, ambush the enemy, and quickly vanish into the steppes.

Kelly goes on to say: The Huns combined rapid mobility with deadly firepower. Hun warriors were able to shoot arrows repeatedly and accurately from horseback. They used a composite short bow about five feet long, its wooden core backed by sinews and bellied with a horn; bone strips stiffened both the grip and extremities. That combination of materials, the back resistant to stretch, the belly to compression, made for a powerful weapon.

The use of horse and short bow, and the reliance on unexpected raids and equally swift retreat, helps to explain why the Huns were so feared. It was this combination--rather than any marked technical superiority--that was key to the Huns' success.

The dismissive view of the Hun people would change in the 4th and 5th centuries, when as a thundering herd of crazed horsemen, they burst from the Great Hungarian Plains, to sweep across most of Europe and drive millions of people from their ancestral homes. This Great Migration (as historians call it) would alter the history of Europe and lead to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Part 2: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Speaking of the Romans, when Attila kicked off his conquests in the mid-5th century, the former empire was split between Western and Eastern territories. The Western Roman Empire was centered in Italy among the cities of Ravenna, where the emperor lived, and Rome, where the Senate was located.

The Eastern Roman Empire was controlled from the ancient coastal city of Constantinople. The city was well fortified and located at the crossroads of several major trade and military routes.

During the 4th and 5th centuries, the empire would see brief instances of united rule under Constantine the Great and Theodosius, who was the emperor who first had to deal with the barbarous Huns.

Minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or oppressed cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion. While this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime.

In the decades immediately preceding the Huns’ prominence, the Western empire was shrinking and its frontier defenses were considerably weakened. Britain was effectively abandoned by 410 due to the lack of resources and the need to look after more important frontiers.

The weakening of the Rhine frontier allowed multiple barbarian tribes, including the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi, to cross the river and enter Roman territory in 406.

According to historian Michel Rouche in “Attila: The Nomadic Violence”: The Huns were also the indirect source of many of the Romans' problems, driving various Germanic tribes into Roman territory, yet relations between the two empires were cordial: the Romans used the Huns as mercenaries against the Germans and even in their civil wars. They exchanged ambassadors and hostages, the alliance lasted from 401 to 450 and permitted the Romans numerous military victories.

The Huns considered the Romans to be paying them tribute, whereas the Romans preferred to view this as payment for services rendered. By the time Attila came of age, the Huns had become a great power during the reign of his uncle Ruga, to the point that Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, deplored the situation with these words: "They have become both masters and slaves of the Romans".

Part 3: Attila, The Scourge of God
The short-lived ascension and dominance of the Huns were driven by the leadership of Attila, whose name means “Little Father.”

Sarah Pruitt, writing for History.com, dispels some common misperceptions about Attila, which I admit to having had myself. Far from the stereotype of the unwashed, uneducated barbarian, Attila was born into the most powerful family north of the Danube River. His uncles, Octar and Ruga, jointly ruled the Hun Empire in the late 420s and early 430s. Attila and his elder brother, Bleda, received instruction in archery, sword fighting, and how to ride and care for horses. They also spoke–and perhaps read–both Gothic and Latin, learned military and diplomatic tactics, and were likely present when their uncles received Roman ambassadors.

After the death of their uncle Ruga who was campaigning against Constantinople in 433 CE, both Attila and Bleda ruled jointly. Each brother had control of their own regions, populace, and armies.

According to Joshua Mark in an article for worldhistory.org: Attila and Bleda together brokered the Treaty of Margus with Rome in 439 CE. This treaty continued the precedent of Rome paying off the Huns in return for peace, which would, more or less, remain a constant stipulation in Roman-Hun relations until Attila's death.

The annual payment of 700 pounds of gold, or about $19M in today’s dollars, bought the promise not to attack Roman towns. With a tenuous treaty in place, Roman legions guarding the border were pulled to fight in Sicily against the Vandals. With unguarded territory before them, Attila and his brother saw an opportunity to return to their raiding ways. They invented outrage and declared the treaty invalid.

The historian Michael Lee Lanning writes: Attila and his brother valued agreements little and peace even less. Over the next ten years, the Huns invaded territory which today encompasses Hungary, Greece, Spain, and Italy. Attila sent captured riches back to his homeland and drafted soldiers into his own army while often burning the overrun towns and killing their civilian occupants. Warfare proved lucrative for the Huns but wealth apparently was not their only objective. Attila and his army seemed genuinely to enjoy warfare, the rigors and rewards of military life were more appealing to them than farming or attending livestock.

In 441 CE, they launched their Danube campaign, as it will be known, as a full-scale invasion that ravaged cities and towns in the trading province of Illyricum. Despite the fact the legions were not there, these cities were well fortified and well defended. But times had changed.

Christopher Kelly in “The End of Empire” details the Huns’ new approach to fortified defenses that surrounded many of these towns. “Part of the success of Attila’s Danube campaign lay in his army’s skill at siege warfare. Seventy years earlier, the inability to take Roman strongholds, and seize the treasure and grain stored there, had hampered the Goth’s offensive. Attila ensured that the Huns mastered siege technology and were able to attack and capture fortified cities by means of textbook Roman military tactics.”

The Hun’s attack and sacking of Naissus, the birthplace of Constantine the Great, is a great example of their genius. According to “End of Empire”: the Huns first crossed the river that protected part of the walls and then brought up tall cranes mounted on wheels. Shielded by light willow screens covered with raw-hide, men positioned high up on the arm of each crane were able to fire arrows directly over the battlements. Once a stretch of walls had been cleared of defenders, the cranes were replaced by battering rams.

Attila had smashed through the empire’s frontier defenses and brought his army within twenty miles of Constantinople. According to the sixth-century historian Marcellinus, the Huns “had attacked and pillaged forts and cities, lacerating almost all of the territory surrounding the capital.”

Interestingly though Attila didn’t push against Constantinople as it was still too fortified even for his army. Instead, he negotiated peace and an annual payment of 1400 pounds of gold, which is equivalent to $40M in today’s dollars.

Attila and his brother marched back to the Hungarian Plains, where Bleda was mysteriously killed in 445 CE. This gives Attila sole control over the Hun Empire and the vast horde.

The historian Jordanes described Attila at length in his 6th Century writings: He was a man born into the world to shake the nations, the scourge of all lands, who in some way terrified all mankind. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes so that the power of his proud spirit appeared in the movement of his body. He was short of stature, with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were small, his beard was thin and sprinkled with gray. He had a flat nose and a swarthy complexion, revealing his origin.

In the Worldhistory.org article, historian Will Durant translates first-hand accounts of Attila from the Greek writer Priscus: Attila differed from the other barbarian conquerors in trusting to cunning more than to force. He ruled by using the heathen superstitions of his people to sanctify his majesty; his victories were prepared by the exaggerated stories of his cruelty, even his Christian enemies called him the "scourge of God".

Jordanes details: “He could neither read nor write, but this did not detract from his intelligence. He was not a savage; he had a sense of honor and justice, and often proved himself more magnanimous than the Romans. He lived and dressed simply, ate and drank moderately, and left luxury to his inferiors, who loved to display their gold and silver utensils, harness, and swords. Attila had many wives but scorned that mixture of monogamy and debauchery which was popular in some circles of Ravenna and Rome. His palace was a huge log house floored and walled with planed planks, but adorned with elegantly carved or polished wood, and reinforced with carpets and skins to keep out the cold.

In 446, Attila again manufactures outrage with the Romans, breaks the treaty, and begins to capture forts along the frontier. He invaded the Roman region of Moesia, in the present-day Balkans. In the process, he destroyed more than 70 cities, took survivors as slaves, and sent the loot back to his stronghold at the city of Buda, which is thought to be modern-day Budapest. He was considered invincible and "having bled the East to his heart's content, Attila turned to the West and found an unusual excuse for war."

Joshua Mark explains the bizarre situation in his Attila article for worldhistory.org. In 450 CE, Roman emperor Valentinian's sister, Honoria, was seeking to escape an arranged marriage with a Roman senator. She secretly sent a message to Attila, along with her engagement ring, asking for his help. Although she may never have intended anything like marriage, Attila chose to interpret her message and ring as a betrothal and sent back his terms as one half of the Western Empire for her dowry.

Emperor Valentinian, when he discovered what his sister had done, sent messengers to Attila telling him it was all a mistake, and there was no proposal, no marriage, and no dowry to be negotiated. Attila asserted that the marriage proposal was legitimate, that he had accepted and would claim his bride, and mobilized his army to march on Rome.

Both the Eastern and Western Roman empire legions combined to meet Attila in the Battle of Catalaunian Fields.

Historian Jack Watkins describes the battle: The Romans, occupying the high ground, quickly succeeded in pushing the Huns back in confusion, and Attila had to harangue them to return to the fight. During fierce hand-to-hand fighting, King Theodoric of the Visigoths was killed. But rather than discouraging the Visigoths, their king's death enraged them and they fought with such spirit that the Huns were driven back to their camp as night fell. For several days the Huns did not move from their encampment, but their archers succeeded in keeping the Romans at bay. The desertion of the frustrated Visigoths allowed Attila to withdraw his army from the battlefield, and with his wagons of booty intact. The Romans did not pursue him, but his aura of invincibility had been shattered.

Attila returned in 452 CE to invade Italy and once again claim Honoria as his bride. Attila sacked much of northern Italy but stopped at the Po River. It is believed he stopped out of superstition or because famine was ravaging the region and he knew his army could not be fed. Emperor Valentinian sent Pope Leo 1 to negotiate with Attila. Not much is known of the meeting, but Attila turned his force around and again marched back to the Great Hungarian Plains.

Part 4: Attila’s Death and The Fall of Empire
Attila’s death will be known throughout history as one of the most bizarre endings for one of its greatest warriors. Even while pursuing his claim on Honoria, he decided to take yet another wife, a beautiful young woman named Ildico. They married in 453, just as Attila was preparing another attack on the Eastern Roman Empire and its new emperor, Marcian.

During the wedding at Attila’s palace, the groom feasted and drank late into the night. The next morning, after the king failed to appear, his guards broke down the door of the bridal chamber and found Attila dead, with a weeping, hysterical Ildico at his bedside. No wound could be found, and it appeared that Attila had suffered a bad nosebleed while lying in a stupor and choked to death on his own blood

Christopher Kelly details how the Huns revered their fallen leader: The Huns honored Attila in death as in life. His body, draped in rare oriental silks, glittered with magnificent jewelry, costly gifts from the Roman emperors hoping to buy off an enemy whom they had repeatedly failed to defeat. On his shoulder gleamed a great golden brooch set with a single slice of onyx the size of man’s palm. The faces of these young men were disfigured and smeared with blood. According to the Roman historian Priscus of Panium, they had cut their long hair and slashed their cheeks “so that the greatest of all warriors should be mourned not with tears or the wailing of women but with the blood of men.”

Kelly finalizes the story with “Then followed a day of grief, feasting, and funeral games: a combination of celebration and lamentation that had a long history in the ancient world. That night, far beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire, Attila was buried.”

After Attila’s death, the Hun empire quickly fell apart. Three of his sons--Ellac, Dengizich, and Ernac--fought among themselves. Their rivalry disrupts the careful balance of oppression and rewards skillfully maintained by their father. The immediate result was the breakup of the army into factions.

The crucial battle was fought in 454 in modern Slovenia. The Huns were overwhelmed by a new confederation of people once part of their empire. Ellac was slain, and the victors claimed thirty thousand Hun casualties.

The Hun army under Dengizich crossed the Danube to invade Roman territories and show they were still a formidable and influential fighting force. Instead, the Hun army was quickly overwhelmed by Roman forces. Dengizich’s body was pulled from the battlefield and his severed head paraded through the streets of the imperial capital.

And just like that, the Huns disappeared from the annals of history, but their fate might have been much different if Attila had survived his wedding night.

What-if Scenario
In our What If? Scenario Attila will die an honorable, elderly death many decades later. He will be venerated for his longevity and his conquests. By fortune and luck, Attila passes out face down on his wedding bed and wakes up with a hangover and a bloody nose. But he does wake up.

With this newfound life, he focuses on two goals: taking Honoria as his empress and solidifying his control over modern-day Germany, France, Italy, and the Balkans. Attila understood the Romans, and he knew it was much cheaper for the Romans to pay him tribute than it was to wage a sustained war against his vast army.

Attila would use this knowledge like a vice to negotiate the hand of Honoria to be his wife. Although the Eastern Roman Empire is under the rule of Marcian, marriage to Honoria would carry both prestige and recognition of Attila as a world leader. A few years ago, Marcian had stopped paying an annual gold tribute to Attila, but he sees the marriage as an opportunity to reduce tensions. Hoping to keep the Huns at bay, the marriage is arranged and she becomes his wife in 454 CE.

It’s easy to see where the story goes next. Empowered by the diplomatic victory, and showcasing the strength of his position, Attila launches a full-scale invasion of the Eastern Empire. And European history, as we know it, will forever change.

Son of Mars, Emperor of Europe
Attila
Toulouse, France
August 23, 455 CE

The average Hunnic horse was shorter and squatter than other European breeds. They could live outside during the winter, gallop all day, and were fearless in battle. But they were not glorious beasts with satin coats fit for an emperor.

Attila had traded in his reliable stable of mounts for beautiful Friesian horses imported from the Netherlands. Known for a silken black coat, large size, and nimble ride, these horses would carry knights into battle during the Middle Ages. For now, though, they are carrying Attila to battle adorned in reigns of silver rope, a gold-trimmed saddle, and braids intertwined with rare jewels.

Attila had been known for his modesty, but Empress Honoria convinced him he must look the part of an Emperor and son of gods if he is going to rule much of modern Europe. She has proven to be a brilliant politician who provides sage advice on matters of diplomacy and commerce. At her direction, he traded in his simple armor for polished steel and leather that radiated power and prominence.

Before him rode 500,000 Huns and conquered tribes including conscripted Goths, Alans, Vandals, Romans, and Visigoths. On this day his foe would be a tenuous triumvirate of free Goths, Roman Legions, and Moors.

The Romans had built earthen fortifications to bolster their position, while the Goths and Moors flanked them with a combination of horsemen, foot soldiers, and archers. The Romans had expected Attila to push his horsemen against the other cavalry, and his conscripts against the fortified position, but Attila rarely did as predicted.

From atop his favorite Friesian, Mars, he surveyed the battlefield and noticed a weakness where the Goths and Romans armies overlapped. The Romans had ceded ground above their earthen works to the Goth army, but the Goths had allowed their army to spread out to match the flanks of Attila’s army. This left a weakness he could exploit.

Attila ordered 100,000 screaming Huns forward at full charge, while his conscripts and foot soldiers attacked the earthen works head-on. Many were killed before they could engage the Romans in hand-to-hand combat. But the attention of the Romans was focused in front and the push of the Hun horsemen drove a wedge between the two armies. The horsemen were now behind the Roman lines causing havoc and slicing a deadly path through the Goths and Romans alike.

The Moors could see the disintegration of their allies but could do little to stop it. Knowing he was defeated, their general was smart enough to pull his forces back from the wave of death and destruction that had overtaken the battlefield. The rout was on and soon the only armies that stood in Attila’s way of total European conquest would be crushed.

The Moors retreated to their castles on the Iberian Peninsula. They would soon be met with the choice of capitulation or complete destruction. They wisely chose loyalty to Emperor Attila.

What If? Aftermath
Most historians agree that the rule of Attila was one of the key reasons the Roman Empire was able to hang on for a few decades longer. He assimilated tribes and regions into his empire and his army. This kept many of the Germanic, Spanish and French tribes from growing restless and rebelling against Rome.

Once he has the power and prestige associated with the marriage of Honoria, Attila begins a systematic and complete takeover of much of the European continent, including Rome.

Tribes that would one day form the modern countries of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and other European powers are kept under the rule of Attila. The Franks, Visigoths, Vandals, Lombards, Goths, Alans, and many more tribes were forced to farm and serve the Huns. Since the Huns were more or less devoid of culture and religion, the empire was greatly influenced by its conquered peoples.

When the Hunnic and Roman Empires fell a power vacuum was created that led to the rise of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire. But not now that Attila has laid out a clear line of succession that negates the civil war that led to their downfall.

After conquering Spain, Attila looked to the rich spoils controlled by the Vandals. Landing in Morocco, and avoiding the huge Vandal navy, Attila’s army pushes to Carthage in a matter of weeks. With a massive army and advanced siege tactics, Attila captures Carthage and the Vandal navy offers its subservience to their new emperor.

Attila and his family, numbering in the thousands, settle in Rome. Like the Romans, Attila rules his empire through the governorship of provinces and keeps the Roman Senate as an advisory committee. Provinces with many different tribes will have several senators each representing the major peoples of that area.

At the time of his death, at the ripe old age of 65, Attila’s empire covers all of the former Western Roman Empire, with the exception of England, which was spared an invasion. His empire also extends across the Mediterranean Sea to include most of Egypt and North Africa. The Vandal fleet has been converted to commercial activities, and trade with Asia has led to an influx of riches, culture, and technologies.

It would take three hundred additional years of Hunnic rule, under the direct appointed lineage of Attila’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren before the European tribes were able to break free and continue on their course to modern lineage and nation status.

Conclusion
Thank you for joining me, Mark Bouffard on this trip. This show is produced by me, Mark Bouffard and Beto McQuade. Mixed, and edited by Beto McQuade. I’d like to thank my editors, including Clint Buehle, my twin brother Matt Bouffard, and my retired journalist uncle Kevin Bouffard. The music you hear is Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com.

Don’t forget to review, like, and subscribe to this podcast. Check out our blogs on whatifworldhistory.com and follow us on your favorite social media channel.

This has been What If World History? In our next episode, we will look at the Louisiana Purchase. And we will ponder a history where the United States must fight the armies of France and Mexico to unite the country from coast to coast.