Today in History: Rome vs. Attila the Hun

On this day (June 20) in 452, Roman General Flavius Aetius led a coalition of Roman and Barbarian forces against Attila the Hun. Aetius had spent time as a young man with the Huns and was well acquainted with their tactics. He played the Roman hand brilliantly and won a draw in the battle. But Attila retreated afterwards and the Romans misinterpreted this as a sign that they had won a great victory. With the threat of Attila diminished, the alliance broke apart and could not be reassembled when he returned the next year. Aetius fought a delaying action and a combination of famine and pestilence and the intervention of the Pope turned Attila back for the final time. With the threat of the Huns diminished, Emperor Valentinian III felt free to move against Aetius whom he saw as a threat to his reign. Valentinian personally attacked Aetius in his court, murdering him. In doing so, he destabilized the empire which resulted in his own assassination.