huns...

• The arrival of the Huns

  1. By the 4th century AD, the Huns arriving from Asia already ruled the territories east of the Volga

  2. Led by Balamber, around 375 AD, they crossed the Volga and subjugated Eastern Europe → the local peoples submitted and became allies of the Huns

  3. Some tribes, such as a portion of the Goths, fled, while other groups fell under the rule of the Huns

  4. At this time, the Huns were already playing a role in European history

  5. During the rule of Ruga, a prominent leader among the Huns, Aëtius, a future distinguished Roman general, sought refuge among the Huns after fleeing from the Western Roman Empire

  6. Later, with the assistance of the Huns, he returned to the empire and attained significant positions

  7. Ruga, followed by his nephews Bleda and another brother, relocated the center of the Hun Empire to the Carpathian Basin

  8. After Bleda's death, Attila (434–453 AD) took over leadership
• Attila, the Scourge of God

  1. Attila, the "Scourge of God," originating from the Tisza River region, compelled Constantinople to pay tribute from his presumed imperial center → Subsequently, he turned his attention westward

  2. Rome and its newly formed allies, equally threatened by the Hunnic attacks, resisted

  3. In 451 AD, facing Attila's massive army invading Gaul, a Roman-Germanic force of comparable strength assembled at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains

  4. The extremely bloody battle ended in a stalemate. Attila withdrew, but the following year, he launched an attack on Italy

  5. His forces captured Aquileia and the city of Milan but unexpectedly turned back at the gates of Rome

  6. According to tradition, a miracle occurred: the words of Pope Leo I and a celestial sign saved the Eternal City

  7. A year later, Attila died, triggering a fratricidal war among his sons for power, leading to the disintegration of his empire → the remnants of the Huns retreated eastward, fleeing from the previously subjugated and now rebellious peoples
• The decline of the Roman Empire

  1. From the 3rd century AD, various processes unfolded in the Roman Empire, collectively leading to economic decline: the population began to decrease

  2. This phenomenon can be attributed to several factors: the diminished importance of children in Roman values, and a lifestyle that did not favour child-rearing

  3. Grain production declined, and by the end of the era, it became increasingly difficult to supply cities with food

  4. With the cessation of conquest campaigns, fewer slaves entered the empire, causing a rise in the prices of goods

  5. Slaves, who were less suitable for high-quality work that generated significant income, were replaced by free tenants, colonus, who were given small plots of land in exchange for a share of the harvest

  6. The employment of free tenants alleviated the labour shortage, but since colonus and their families consumed more than slaves, the quantity of goods entering the market also decreased = further complicating the provision of food to cities

  7. Foreign trade continued to focus primarily on the importation of luxury goods: Examples of such commodities include amber (Amber Road), silk (Silk Road), and frankincense (Frankincense Route)⇢ Rome could not pay for these goods with similarly valuable products, leading to the settlement of transactions in gold= As a result, precious metals continuously left the economic circulation of the empire
• The fall of the Roman Empire

  1. The empire nominally existed, but its territories were already under the control of new Germanic kingdoms: Rome itself did not escape the blows; the city was looted multiple times

  2. The imperial authority nominally persisted, though it was now confined to Italy

  3. In 476 AD, even this came to an end: Odoacer, a Germanic leader, simply dethroned the last Western Roman emperor (Romulus Augustus) in Ravenna= the end of antiquity

  4. Odoacer assumed the title of King of Italy

  5. With the dethroning the history of the Western Roman Empire concluded

  6. But! the eas
• The end of the Roman Empire concluded with Odoacer dethroning the last Western Roman emperor (Romulus Augustus) in Ravenna in 476 AD