Catalaunian Plains 451: Aetius Lets Attila Escape His Saddle Pyre

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

In 450, Honoria, sister of the Western Roman emperor Valentinian III, smuggled a ring and a letter to Attila the Hun while confined by her brother. Attila treated it as a marriage proposal and demanded half the Western Empire as a dowry. In 451 he crossed the Rhine into Gaul, reportedly sacked Metz, and laid siege to Orléans, where the Alans under King Sangiban held the walls through four days of rain that slackened bows and turned the ground to mud. The Roman general Flavius Aetius, who had lived as a hostage among both the Goths and the Huns, arrived with a coalition of Romans, Visigoths under Theodoric, Alans and Franks, held together by shared fear of Attila.

On June 20, 451, Attila delayed the battle until mid afternoon so darkness could cover a retreat. Theodoric was killed, his son Thorismund broke the Hunnic center, and by morning Attila sat in his wagon fort beside a pyre of horse saddles, ready to burn himself rather than be taken. Aetius then sent Thorismund home to secure his throne and let Attila go, keeping the Huns alive as a check on the Visigoths. Modern historians see the battle as an indecisive rearguard clash and the defense of Orléans as the real turning point.

• At this point the Western Empire took in about 40,000 pounds of gold a year and needed over 31,000 just for its army.
• The Great Hungarian Plain could support perhaps 15,000 mounted nomads, so Attila relied heavily on Germanic infantry.
• Aetius put the Alans in the center as his heavy cavalry anchor, not because he doubted their loyalty.
• In the night fighting Aetius was cut off from his own troops, and Thorismund wandered into the Hunnic camp and had to be rescued.
• Attila invaded Italy in 452 and was stopped by famine and disease, and Aetius was later killed by Valentinian III himself.