Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

theodosius ii 41
evidently broke down and war ensued, but the sudden death of Rua (apparently
struck by lightning) threw the Hun forces into disarray. He was succeeded
by his nephews Attila and Bleda, who took time to consolidate their
position internally, before the empire’s concern to ensure peace on the
Danube in preparation for its second expedition against the Vandals presented
them with the opportunity in 439/40 to extract further significant
concessions, including an increase in the annual payments to 700 pounds
of gold. 49
Once the expedition for North Africa had departed, however, the Huns
found a pretext for reneging on their agreement and attacked the empire,
capturing a number of Danubian cities and plundering widely in Illyricum
and Thrace (441–2). The crack imperial troops bound for Africa were
recalled from Sicily, and, faced by this threat, Hunnic forces withdrew. The
empire then discontinued its annual payments to the Huns until, in 447,
Attila – now sole ruler after the murder of Bleda (445) – took advantage of
a concatenation of natural disasters – earthquake, famine and plague – to
renew the offensive, this time with devastating effect. 50 Eastern forces were
comprehensively defeated, there was widespread destruction in Thrace, the
city of Constantinople itself was threatened, and the eastern empire was
forced to make its most serious concessions yet. In addition to the now customary
requirement that Hunnic fugitives be returned, Attila claimed all
territory five days’ journey south of the lower Danube, and stipulated an
annual payment of 2,100 pounds of gold (together with arrears of 6,000
pounds). 51
One immediate result of this disaster was the need to increase taxation,
from which not even senatorial families escaped. 52 Priscus’ account may
well engage in rhetorical exaggeration about the burden this entailed for
senators, but the fact that everyone was obliged to contribute suggests
strongly that Attila’s new demands did impose a strain on the empire’s
resources. 53 Another probable consequence was the construction of the
Long Walls in Thrace, designed to afford greater protection to
Constantinople and its immediate hinterland. 54 Yet another, indicative of
the nadir to which Roman fortunes had sunk, was Chrysaphius’ scheme to
assassinate Attila, a ‘solution’ to which the empire had had recourse a
49 For the events of the 430s, I follow the persuasive reconstruction of Zuckerman ((1994) 160–3),
who revises the older accounts of Thompson ((1948) 70–8) and Maenchen-Helfen ((1973) 81–94) in
significant respects. The other concessions comprised the return of Hunnic fugitives, a (high) fixed rate
of ransom for Roman prisoners, agreement not to enter an alliance with any enemy of the Huns, and
establishment of safe markets (Priscus fr. 2.29–38).
50 Again, I follow Zuckerman’s ((1994) 164–8) reinterpretation of the events of 441–7. See also ch.
51 52 23 (Whitby), pp. 704–8 below. Blockley (1992) 63–4. Priscus fr. 9. 3.22–33.
53 Priscus’ rhetoric: Thompson (1948) 191–7; Jones, LRE 206–7. Jones’s minimizing of the burden
seems to take no account of Priscus’ statement that all had to contribute.
54 Whitby, Michael (1985), contra Croke (1982). Crow (1995) adds nothing to the debate about the
date.
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