84 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE general of Roman birth, but who had a great capacity for enlisting Huns in his service, perhaps because he had Aetius and earlier spent some time among them as a hos- the Huns tage. He prevented the Visigoths in southwestern Gaul and the Franks in the northeastern part from increas- ing their conquests, and conducted an aggressive campaign against the barbarians in Rhaetia and Noricum. Aetius had at first opposed the accession of Placidia and her son, and although he had been forgiven and received into their serv- ice, she seems to have still distrusted him. His command in Gaul was now given to Boniface, whom the Vandals had by this time driven out of Africa, and who had sided with Placidia of old against Honorius and sent her money when she was in exile at Constantinople, although of late he, too, had been for a time in rebellion. But Boniface soon died, and Aetius, who had taken refuge among the Huns, came back with an army of them and forced Placidia to restore him to power. He then continued to make his power felt in Gaul, reducing the strength of the Burgundians by crush- ing defeats and keeping the West Goths within some bounds. He was unable, however, to help the inhabitants of Britain against the Picts and Scots who, they piteously complained, were driving them into the sea. For some time the Huns had been receiving tribute from the Empire as well as serving in Aetius' armies as mercena- ries. They also of late had been consolidating their power and building up a great military despotism over all tribes and races to the north of the Danube and the Black Sea. At its head was Attila, a typical Hun in appear- ance and destitute of education and culture, though pos- sessed of abundant energy and cunning. He had succeeded to the throne in 433 with his brother, whom he killed in 444. During the decade from 440 to 450 the Huns made the Eastern Empire no end of trouble, devastating from the Danube almost to the walls of Constantinople and forcing Theodosius II to triple the tribute paid them. They took scores of towns and forts as far south as Thermopylae, and demanded that a strip of land five days' journey in breadth
