Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

the huns 711
were complemented by the construction of major administrative buildings
and grand churches. 30 The economic consequences of the transfer to the
Huns of thousands of pounds of gold were serious, and, although Priscus’
sorrow for the plight of senators selling their furniture and wives’ jewellery
may not be deserved by these traditional exploiters of privilege, all taxpayers
will have had to contribute at a time when revenues from the Balkan
provinces were curtailed by extensive ravaging. The wealth that was distributed
to notables like Onegesius or wives like Hereka, or that was evident
on the banquet tables at Attila’s court, was in large part lost to the Roman
empire; only a portion will have filtered back south, through the markets
established during various negotiations, whereas much remained outside
and contributed to the impressive Hunnic-period treasures discovered
beyond the Danube. 31 Imperial authority was severely damaged, and in
those cities which survived there are signs that local interests would be
placed above those of the empire: at Asemus, the garrison ambushed a
Hunnic convoy of booty and prisoners, and the inhabitants then resisted
demands that liberated captives should be restored or at least ransomed,
even though this complicated negotiations at a higher level. Local initiative
protected this fortified settlement, though even here the general level of
insecurity is revealed by the fate of certain children who had been captured
while pasturing flocks outside the walls. 32
Hun invasions were a disaster both for the Roman state and for individual
Romans, and there is no justification for the theory that lower-class
Romans gave the Huns an enthusiastic welcome or that traders in the
eastern empire regarded the mercantile opportunities of Hunnic power as
sufficient to offset their destructiveness. 33 It is true that the survivors of the
Romanized population of Pannonia will have passed into Hunnic control
in the 430s, so that wealth and power had now to be achieved through patronage
from the Huns: this explains the prominence at the Hun court of
upper-class Romans like Orestes, the father of the future western emperor
Romulus. Also some ordinary Romans served the Huns after being captured,
and benefited as a result, but it is dangerous to generalize from the
few examples that Priscus encountered during the embassy to Attila.
Rusticius the secretary had expert knowledge which made him a valuable
asset, while the anonymous trader from Viminacium whose knowledge of
Greek attracted Priscus’ attention was scarcely an ordinary individual, since
it was military prowess in Hunnic service that secured him liberty and a
respectable place in the retinue of Onegesius. 34 Thus the trader’s complaints
about Roman failings, to which in any case Priscus provided a long
and moving response that prompted the trader to admit tearfully the
30 Croke (1981); Spieser (1984a); Whitby (1985); Gregory (1992).
31 For illustrations, see Germanen parts 3–5 and Wolfram (1985). 32 Priscus fr. 9.3.
33 Thompson (1948) 54–6; 184–203. 34 Priscus fr. 11.2.422–35.
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