Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

the era of aetius, 425,54 11
provinces of North Africa. 19 These lands were crucial to the empire, not
least in feeding the population of Rome. The Vandals also followed up this
success by exploiting to full effect the maritime expertise available in the
city. Early in 440 a large Vandal fleet left Carthage, and landed on, and devastated,
large parts of another major revenue centre of the western empire:
Sicily. Both east and west reacted swiftly to the Vandals’ new capacities. The
maritime defences of Rome and Constantinople were immediately
strengthened, 20 and plans were laid to restore the situation. That eastern
help was on its way was announced by Aetius as early as June 440, but, given
all the logistic problems (cf. CJ xii.8.2; 50.21), a counter-expedition could
not be ready before the campaigning season of 441. At the start of the year,
a combined force from east and west gathered in Sicily, the eastern troops,
under the command of Areobindus, having been drawn from the Danube
frontier. 21 In many ways, this crisis was the acid test of whether Aetius’
efforts could really hold the line against political fragmentation in the west
or were merely slowing it down. Unfortunately for the western empire, the
expedition went no further than Sicily. A critical change had occurred in the
political stance of the Huns.
By c. 440, the Hunnic empire was approaching the apogee of its power,
under Attila and (at first) his brother Bleda. This was the end result, it
seems, of related processes, which saw both the increasing centralization
of power among the Huns and continuing conquests of other tribes.
Between them, these transformations brought unprecedented numbers of
different subjects under the direct control of individual Hunnic leaders. 22
Because of this greater strength, Hunnic leaders could widen the scope of
their ambitions, and Aetius’ old policy of using them against unwanted
immigrants on Roman soil collapsed. 23 As the joint east–west Vandal expedition
gathered in Sicily, Attila and Bleda launched their first major invasion
across the Danube. Exploiting a variety of pretexts, the Huns crossed the
river in force, capturing the cities of Viminacium and Margus. Smaller-scale
raiding extended over a wider area. 24
One direct result of this sequence of events was that North Africa was
secured for the Vandals. Many of the eastern troops in Sicily had been
drafted from the Danube frontier and, because of the Huns, had to return.
In consequence, Aetius was forced in 442 to acknowledge by treaty the
19 Courtois (1955) 171ff. 20 Nov. Val. 5.3; Chron. Pasch. ad a. 439�Chron. Min. ii.80.
21 Best account: Maenchen-Helfen (1973) 108ff.; cf. Stein (1959) 324–5; Zecchini (1983) 171ff.
22 See further Mommsen (1901) 524–6; Thompson (1996) 26ff.; Harmatta (1952) 292ff.; Maenchen-
Helfen (1973) 94ff.; cf. ch. 23 (Whitby), pp. 704–8 below.
23 Cf. amongst others Mommsen (1901) 526; Stein (1959) 334–5. This has perhaps also been the
policy of Fl. Constantius: Heather (1995) 26.
24 The sources for Attila’s campaigns of the 440s have prompted two alternative chronological
reconstructions. In general, I prefer Maenchen-Helfen (1973) 108ff. to Thompson (1996) 86ff. The
question turns on the reliability of a notice provided by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes; cf.
Heather (1996) 252.
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008