什麼是阿提拉

卒於西元453年

匈奴（Hun）王（西元434～453年在位，與其兄共治至445年左右），進攻羅馬帝國的最偉大的蠻族統治者之一。匈奴是來自中亞北部的一支遊牧民族，阿提拉與其兄布萊達所繼承的帝國似乎已經從西方的阿爾卑斯山和波羅的海延伸至東方的裏海沿岸。當東羅馬帝國的軍隊忙於邊界戰事而無暇他顧的時候，阿提拉於441和443年對東羅馬帝國的多瑙河一線發起大規模的進攻。445年左右阿提拉害死兄長，成爲匈奴帝國的獨裁君主。兩年後入侵巴爾幹各省和希臘，東羅馬帝國在嚴重受創後與之簽定停戰條約。451年阿提拉入侵高盧，但因羅馬大將埃提烏斯與西哥德國王提奧多裏克一世聯合抗擊匈奴而失敗，這是阿提拉唯一的一次失敗。452年匈奴人入侵義大利，四處劫掠，後因義大利大鬧饑荒和瘟疫，這場侵略才告結束。阿提拉在新婚之夜突然死去，大抵爲其妻子所弒。後由其子繼位。他的帝國由諸子分割繼承。

Attila

King of the Huns (434-53, ruling jointly with his elder brother until c. 445). He was one of the greatest of the barbarian rulers who assailed the Roman Empire. He and his brother Bleda inherited an empire that stretched from the Alps and the Baltic nearly to the Caspian Sea. The failure of the Romans to pay promised tributes prompted Attila to launch assaults along the Danube in 441 and 443. He murdered his brother in 445 and two years later invaded the Balkan provinces and Greece, a campaign later ended by another peace treaty that exacted heavy damages from the Eastern Romans. He invaded Gaul (451) but was defeated by an alliance of the Roman general Aetius and the Visigoths. His invasion of Italy (452) was ended by famine and plague. His depredations, which seemed to some like divine punishment, earned him the epithet Flagellum Dei (“Scourge of God”). Attila died on his wedding night, possibly murdered by his bride, and was succeeded by his sons, who divided his empire among them.