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Attila

395 CE – 453 CE

Retrace Attila's life across the map — 5 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Battle of Arles435 CE
   The Battle of Arles was fought between the Visigoths and the Western Roman Empire in 435. The Visigoths and the Romans had previously been in peace after having fought each other at Arles in 425, but in 435 the Visigothic king Theodoric I again broke the peace treaty and invaded Gaul, laying siege to Arles once more. He was however defeated and driven away by the Romans under the leadership of Flavius Aetius and his largely Hunnic army. Two years later, Theodoric was defeated at a decisive battle at Narbonne.
2. Battle of the Maureaco Fields451 CE
   The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on 20 June 451 AD, between a coalition, led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I, against the Huns and their vassals, commanded by their king, Attila. It proved to be one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. The exact strategic significance is disputed. Historians generally agree that the siege of Aurelianum was the decisive moment in the campaign and stopped the Huns' attempt to advance any further into Roman territory or establish vassals in Roman Gaul. However, the Huns looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. Attila died only two years later, in 453. After the Battle of Nedao in 454, the coalition of the Huns and the incorporated Germanic vassals gradually disintegrated.
3. Siege of Milan452 CE
   The siege and capture of Milan was one of the episodes of the Hun wars fought in Italy. It was carried out by Attila and his Huns in 452, it resulted in the victory of the barbarians and the destruction of Milan. Milan, then called Mediolanum, had been the capital of the Western Roman Empire until 402 AD.
4. Sack of Aquileia452 CE
   The Sack of Aquileia occurred in 452, and was carried out by the Huns under the leadership of Attila.
5. Battle of the Utus477 CE
   The Battle of the Utus was fought in 447 between the army of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Huns led by Attila at Utus, a river that is today the Vit in Bulgaria. It was the last of the bloody pitched battles between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Huns, as the former attempted to stave off the Hunnic invasion.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].