As a youth, Constantine proved himself an able military commander in victories over the Parthians, but as the intrigue in Rome heated up, he began to fear for his life. In a. d. 306, he got away from Rome to be by his father's side on a campaign in Britain. Shortly thereafter, Constantius died, but not before naming Constantine his successor as emperor.
The years that followed would be characterized by an incredibly complex battle for power. The details of this jockeying are so intricate that a person would literally have to draw a diagram of all the figures involved in order to understand the battle. At one point Rome had no less than six emperors, three in the East and three—among them Constantine—in the West.
By marrying Maximian's daughter Fausta (FOW-stuh), Constantine allied himself with his fellow Western emperors, Maximian and the latter's son Maxentius (mak-SEN-shee-uhs). But this, too, was no simple matter. At one point Constantine helped his father-in-law against his brother-in-law. Then Max-
Attila
In its latter days, Rome was overwhelmed by a variety of "barbarian" tribes, some of whom hardly deserved that title. None, however, created as much terror in Roman hearts as the Huns, especially their leader, Attila (c. a. d. 400-453).
They came originally from China, where they were known as the Hsiung-Nu (SHAHNG-noo). The building of the Great Wall had forced them out, and the Huns had migrated to central Asia. Unlike most nomads, however, who lived by herding, the Huns lived by conquering other nations. By a. d. 434, the Huns had arrived in what is now eastern Austria. Attila had emerged as their leader.
No reliable portrait of him exists, but he was said to be incredibly frightening in appearance (though this description came from people who already had reason to fear him). It is rumored that he was extremely short, perhaps even a midget. Certainly the Huns, as an Asiatic people, were shorter than Europeans, and their Eastern features must have appeared frightening to the Romans and others. Their hardy lifestyle, too, meant that they were sturdy people. Years of rough living in the windswept plains of Asia gave the Huns a leathery, weatherbeaten look.
The Huns were masters of warfare, which they conducted almost entirely on horseback. Their victories over the Romans would change the face of warfare, ending the dominance of foot soldiers in favor of cavalry(soldiers on horseback), a style of
Imian turned on Constantine and joined forces with his son against him. Constantine had Maximian executed in a. d. 309 and then focused his attention on Maxentius. They fought several battles in northern Italy, but the decisive battle occurred on October 28, a. d. 312.
The location was outside Rome, on the Milvian Bridge (MIL-vee-uhn), which spanned the Tiber River (TIE-bur). Constantine later claimed that on the afternoon before the battle, he saw a flaming cross in the sky superimposed over the Greek words meaning “In this sign [you shall] conquer." He then directed his troops to decorate their shields with the Greek letters chi-rho (KIE-ROH; X-P), a symbol of Christ. Constantine's forces won the battle, making him undisputed ruler of the Western Empire.
Fighting that would prevail until the invention of firearms a thousand years later. Attila himself was certainly a fearsome military leader, but he was no savage. He often spared the lives of people he admired, and in particular he admired those with spiritual wisdom.
After harassing the Eastern Empire for a time, Attila in a. d. 448 took advantage of Rome's troubles with the Vandals in Africa to move farther west. He demanded that the emperor of the West, Valentinian III (val-un-TIN-ee-uhn), give him his sister Honoria (hoh-NOHR-ee-uh) as a bride. When the Romans declined, he used this as an excuse to rampage through Gaul.
The Romans defeated him at Chalons-sur-Marne (shah-LAWN syoor-
MAHRN), about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of Paris, in a. d. 451. By the following year, however, he had recovered enough to march on Rome. Pope Leo I went to negotiate with him. Perhaps because of Attila's respect for spiritual leaders, the Hun chieftain agreed to withdraw. This great victory for the pope helped establish the political authority of the Church.
A year later, Attila's years of hard living caught up with him. He had just taken a new bride and was about to celebrate his wedding night when he began bleeding heavily from his nose. He died that night, and with him died the threat of the Huns. With no leader like Attila, they faded into the growing population of tribes in Europe.
World History
