The Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD was in the midst of turbulent wind and rain. Not long ago, the eternal city of Rome was just destroyed by the Goths. At this moment of desperation, a hero stood out on this land. He possessed extraordinary talents and played the barbarians between his palms. Even Attila, the whip of God, became his defeated opponent. Because of the emperor's suspicion, he died of unfaithfulness. In the end, he still failed to realize the great cause of reviving Rome. He is Aetius, known as the "Last Roman".
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Etius relief |
One, the hero Aetius
Aetius was a mixture of Romans and Vandals. In 418 AD, Aetius came to the court of the Huns as a proton on the Roman side (the proton on the Huns was Attila). Aetius thus obtained the opportunity to get close to the Huns. Not only did he humbly learn the language and culture of the Huns, but he also fought fiercely with the powerful figures among the Huns. He and Attila were even more involved. Friends who admire each other, because of his close relationship with the Hungarians, he was able to use the Hungarian army many times to consolidate his power.
In 425 AD, the Western Roman emperor Hornoli died, and the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II sent an army to support his favorite candidate, Valentinian, to Rome to inherit the throne. At the same time, there was a general John of Western Rome who demanded the throne. Seeing this opportunity of Roman turmoil, Aetius led an army of up to 60,000 Huns into Italy to help John seize the throne. But helpless John was too wasteful. Before Aetius arrived, he had been defeated, but Aetius did not go home, but had an idea and turned to Valentinian's loyalty.
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Late Roman Army |
The newly appointed emperor first ascended the throne and had not yet established a stable rule, and Aetius had a huge army. The emperor had no choice but to accept allegiance and gave Aetius the post of Governor of Cavalry in Gallic Province. Let him command the army of the empire. With the support of the Huns, Aetius became the real power figure in charge of military and political power in Western Rome.
2. Playing with "barbarians" between the palms
After Aetius took control of military and political power, he immediately began to rectify the order in the Western Roman Empire. He first led the army to suppress the Bhagavad uprising composed of bankrupt farmers and bandits, and then led the army to fight against the Visigoths non-stop. In this battle, the Roman legion of Aetius resisted the Visigoths from the front, while his Huns ally fought back from the side. The Visigoths defeated the Visigoths on both sides and were forced to attack the Aetius. Sri Lanka became a minister.
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The Huns |
Afterward, a barbarian named Burgundy crossed the Rhine and invaded Gaul. Upon hearing the news, Aetius immediately contacted the Huns and launched a siege of the Burgundians. Under the siege of the Roman army and the Huns, the Burgundians were wiped out and 20,000 people died in battle. The remaining Burgundians had to flee to southeast Gaul. This battle shook all the barbarians. He proved that although the Western Roman Empire was dying at this time, it was still one of the most powerful powers in Europe.
Aetius relies on the Huns to defeat other barbarians, but he also understands that the Huns are also a great threat to the empire. Therefore, while using the Huns to fight against the barbarians, he is also constantly instigating the relations between the Huns and other countries. This led the Huns to expand their spearhead beyond the Western Roman Empire. Especially after Attila became King of Hungary, Aetius increased his instigation. At his instigation, Attila continuously invaded the wealthy Eastern Roman Empire and extorted the Eastern Roman emperor. As far as Aetius is concerned, it is a method of killing two birds with one stone to lead Attila to Eastern Rome. The first advantage is naturally to shift the spearhead of the Huns' expansion, and the other advantage is that it can take the opportunity to weaken the power of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman emperor has always criticized Aetius' arbitrariness in the west. Now that Attila's forces are overwhelming, Eastern Rome can no longer intervene in the political situation of Western Rome, and Aetius can dominate the political situation in Western Rome.
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Attila, King of Hungary |
Under the control of Aetius, for nearly 15 years, Attila had never thought of threatening the Western Roman Empire. Not only did it not threaten, but instead sent troops to help Aetius suppress the rebellion and fight against other barbarians. On the other hand, supporting Attila also helped Aetius gain a lot. On the one hand, Attila’s strength will continue to weaken Eastern Rome. On the other hand, Attila has been working hard to prevent the kingdom after establishing the kingdom in the same way as the Romans. The escape of the barbarians in the territory, of course, Attila did this to prevent the loss of his country's tax and military resources, but it indirectly saved Western Rome. These barbarians who could have escaped to Western Rome to commit crimes were locked up by Attila north of the Rhine. Etius understands better than anyone that no heinous power is better than anarchy. Although Attila is cruel, it can be estimated and controlled. If Attila is really over, the uncontrolled barbarians will be like the tide. With the influx into Western Rome, even if he has great abilities, he will not be able to return to heaven. In this way, the Hungarian Empire maintained peace with Western Rome for more than ten years, but the situation reversed in 450 years.
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The Walls of Constantinople |
3. Battle of Sharon-Defeat Attila, the Whip of God
In 450 AD, the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II passed away, and Malikian, the successor of Theodosius, canceled his annual tribute to the Huns as soon as he took office. He transferred the main force fighting against Sassanid Persia in the east to the Balkans and strengthened the defense of Constantinople. In front of the tall walls of Constantinople, Attila had nothing to do and immediately evacuated the Balkan Peninsula. However, for the Hungarian Empire, looting has always been an indispensable factor to maintain the empire's operation. Eastern Rome is now unable to grab, Sassanian Persia is too far away, Attila thinks about it, and only his old friend Eti can grab it. Uth and West Rome. In order to maintain the loyalty of his subordinates, he can only betray his faith and attack Aetius.
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Battle of Sharon |
Soon, he found the cause of the invasion. In 451 AD, the sister of Western Roman Emperor Valentinian, Honoria, was unwilling to follow the arranged marriage arranged by his brother. Not only did he escape the marriage contract, but he also wrote to Ah. Tila expressed that he was willing to marry him. Attila was so overjoyed that he rushed to the marriage contract and asked the Western Roman Empire to surrender half of its territory as a dowry to supply himself. Of course, Aetius would not agree to such an unreasonable request. He immediately contacted his former enemies, the Visigoths, and other small tribes, and told them that if Western Rome were to fall, they would not die well. In the end, the Barbarians of Gaul joined the Allied forces of Aetius.
At this time, Attila was besieging the city of Orleans. Due to the lack of siege equipment, it had been unable to attack for a long time. In the end, Attila gave up the siege and faced Aetius. The vigorous battle of Sharon began here. On the Attila side, the Huns’ cavalry is in the center, the Ostrogoths are on the left, and the other barbarians are on the right. On the Attila side, there is the weakest rabble tribal army in the middle. The left-wing is the Western Roman army, and the right-wing is the Visigoth army. After the battle began, Aetius took the lead and first occupied a hill to form a condescending position against Attila. Attila did not show weakness and rushed directly. Gradually, the West Roman army defeated Attila's right-wing, and the Visigoths were motivated by the king's death in grief and indignation. The Visigoth prince Tormund led the Visigoth armored cavalry to defeat the Ostrogoths. Detouring back to Attila's side, and on the right flank, the projected power of the Western Roman army also caused the Hungarian cavalry to fall to the ground. Under attack from both sides, Attila was defeated. It is rumored that the two sides of this battle suffered extremely heavy casualties. The Western Roman historian Haidatius believed that the casualties of both sides in this battle amounted to 300,000, and the Eastern Gothic historian Jodanius believed that the casualties were 165,000, even the most conservative in modern historiography. It is estimated that the number of people participating in the war between the two sides is close to 200,000, and the casualties are around 50,000.
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Visigothic cavalry |
After the defeat of the battle, the Huns’ camp was surrounded by the Aetius regiment. Attila was desperate at this time. He even prepared a fire to commit suicide when Aetius launched an offensive. But Aetius did not launch a general offensive. On the one hand, Tormund planned to go home as soon as possible to fight for the throne. On the other hand, Aetius believed that keeping Attila alive could better counterbalance other barbarians and kill Attila. Pull may be able to relieve the temporary hatred, but it made other barbarians lose control, and let him live more in line with the interests of the empire.
Instead of launching a general offensive, Attila evacuated the army, and Attila fled back to Hungary in a desperate manner.
4. Self-destruction of the Great Wall-Aetius who was conspired by the emperor
After Attila's failure, he regrouped in 453 and invaded Western Rome again. However, the Italian plague was rampant at this time. Aetius could not shrink out of the city due to epidemic prevention considerations. Attila's army could only be in Italy. Suffer from the plague. Later, Attila came to Rome (at this time the capital of Western Rome was in Ravenna), but was persuaded by the Pope to leave Rome. Although Christians regarded it as a miracle of God, it was actually Pope Jean A. Tira who knew that if he stayed in Italy, his army would only be dragged down by the plague. On the other hand, Attila also learned that Eastern Rome had invaded Hungary, his hometown. In order to save his home and the plague was rampant, Attila had to give up the invasion.
Attila Empire
Soon afterward, Attila died suddenly with blood from his nostrils at the wedding. The reason is unknown. After his death, the Hungarian Empire collapsed and Attila's sons died in civil wars and wars with other barbarians. His youngest son Ilanak was killed by Eastern Rome, and his head was hung on the walls of Constantinople for public display. The Hungarian Empire was wiped out after more than 30 years of prosperity.
Although Attila was called the "God's Whip" on the surface, he was actually played by Aetius between the palms of his arms. For the barbarians, he was the whip of God, but for Western Rome, he did His contribution is far greater than the loss he caused. Even in Eastern Rome, Attila has never been regarded as a big threat. Eastern Rome once tribute to Attila as a gift of 2,100 pounds of gold, while the income of the empire was 275,000 pounds of gold, which is less than the tax revenue of the year. 1%. As O'Donnell, the author of "The History of the Decline and Fall of the New Roman Empire," said: "There are few people in history who are actually insignificant like Attila, but who are so much talked about today." Attila, from beginning to end, It's all a piece of Aetius's.
The split of the Roman Empire and the destruction of the Western Roman Empire
Although he made such a great contribution to Western Rome, Aetius did not get the corresponding glory. When Aetius reported on military affairs, the emperor and a group of soldiers murdered Aetius. This masterful wizard did not die under the sword of the barbarians, but died at the hands of Rome, for whom he dedicated his life. He didn't understand that the emperor would never allow him a man of barbarian descent to control the army. In 408, the Romans could kill Stiriko, who was also a barbarian, and they could still be in Etius. Repeat the old tricks. But the emperor didn’t take long. He was quickly murdered by Aetius's men in a military parade. He might have forgotten that even if he had the power in a name, the soldiers were still loyal to Aetius, not him.
After that, the Vandals of Aetius once again ransacked Rome, and in 476, barbaric mercenaries deposed the Western Roman emperor and declared the empire's demise. Without the guardianship of Aetius, the Western Roman Empire could no longer survive. Although Aetius was of only half-Roman descent, he was more worthy of the title of "The Last Roman" than the Romans at the time.
