416 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAPTER XXXIV The Chamclcr, Cumjucsls, (uid Coini of Attila, King of the Huns — Death of Theudosius the Younger — Elevation of Marciau to the Einpire of the East The Huns. A.D. 376-133 Their estab- lishment Id modem Hnngary The western world was oppressed by the Goths and Vandals, who Hed before the Huns ; but the achievements of the Huns themselves were not adequate to their power and prosperity. Their victorious hords had spread from the Volga to the Danube ; but the public force was exhausted by the discord of independent chieftains ; their valour was idly consumed in obscui-e and predatoiy excursions ; and they often degraded their national dignity by condescending, for the hoj)es of spoil, to enlist under the banners of their fugitive enemies. In the i-eign of Attila,! the Huns again became the terror of the world ; and I shall now describe the character and actions of that formidable Barbarian, who alternately insulted and in- vaded the East and the West, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman empire. In the tide of emigration which impetuously rolled from the confines of China to those of Gemiany, the most powerful and populous tribes may commonly be found on the verge of the Roman provinces. The accumulated weight was sustained for a while by artificial barriers ; and the easy condescension of the emperors invited, without satisfying, the insolent demands of the Barbarians, who had acquired an eager appetite for the luxuries of civilized life. The Hungarians, who ambitiously iThe authentic materials for the history of Attila may be found in Jornandes (de Rebus Geticis, c. 34-50, p. 660-688, edit. Grot.) and Priscus (E.xcerpta de Ixgationibus, p. 33-76, Paris, 1648 [fr. 1 sqq. in F. H. G. vol. iv. ]). I have not seen the lives of Attila, composed by Juvencus Caslius Calanus Dalmatinus, in the twelfth century ; or by Nicholas Olalius, archbishop of Gran, in the sixteenth. See Mascou's History of the Germans, ix. 23, and Maffei, Osservazioni Litterarie, torn. i. p. 88, 89. Whatever the modern Hungarians have added, must be fabulous ; and they do not seem to have excelled in the art of fiction. They suppose that, when Attila invaded Gaul and Italy, married innumerable wives, &c. he was one hundred and twenty years of age. Thewrocz, Chron. p. i. c. 22, in Script. Hungar. tom. i. p. 76.
