Welcome to this fascinating video on one of the most significant battles in history the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains This epic clash between two great powers, the Roman Empire and the Huns took place in the year 451 AD, and its consequences would shape the course of European history for centuries to come Gaul is under threat from the Scourge of God and Aetius, the leader of the remnants of Western Rome must join forces with his adversary Theodoric of the Visigoths Their goal is to unite and face Attila and his Huns in Western Rome’s final major battle Following the devastating impact of smallpox that affected the civilized world from the West to the Far East the Huns also made their presence felt In 311, the Eastern Huns laid waste to Luoyang, the capital of Jin China while the White Huns and Alchon Huns conquered Eastern Persia and India in the 370s By 400, a significant group of Huns settled north of the Danube and pillaged the Eastern Roman Empire In 426, the Huns arrived in Gaul, not as conquerors, but as mercenaries fighting under the Roman military commander Flavius Aetius As Rome lacked the resources to fight the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Franks Aetius employed his connections to obtain mercenary armies, which proved to be devastatingly effective The Germanic peoples settled in Gaul must have been shocked to encounter the Huns as they and their ancestors had fled from them and other tribes across most of Europe However, now the Huns had followed them to the world's Western edge During the years 395-435, the Huns in Gaul mostly engaged in mercenary work raiding since they lacked a single king to unite them into a conquering force This changed with the rise of Bleda and Attila who became the powerful leaders that united the tribes and launched attacks on the Balkans After Bleda died in 445, Attila became the sole ruler and forced the Eastern Roman Empire to pay him a tribute of 2,100 pounds of gold per year in 447 Attila and the Huns became the dominant power in Europe, forcing the Eastern Roman Empire to pay tribute Events in Western Rome, including a succession crisis among the Franks and Emperor Valentinian III’s sister Honoria sending Attila a ring, led him to march towards Gaul to make Childeric I his puppet ruler of the Franks and raid Gaul Aetius rallied a coalition of Visigoths, Burgundians, Armoricans, Franks, and Saxons to fight against the Huns Attila sacked cities in Gaul, but Aetius and Theodoric I united their forces to fight against him Attila succeeded in making his puppet a king among the Franks but decided to raid the land of the Alans The Alans, who had fled from the Huns, fought fiercely against Attila’s forces as they attacked their towns The climax of the battle was the siege of Aurelaniaum, during which Attila struggled to take the city Although he could have wiped out the Alans with a long siege, he decided to retreat as he had achieved his goals of putting a puppet in control of Francia ravaging his enemies, and obtaining plunder for his soldiers Aetius arrived after Attila’s retreat and formed a coalition with the Alans and other small Germanic tribes to chase down the Huns The reasons for the Alans and other tribes to join the coalition were to recover their lost possessions seek vengeance, prevent future Hun raids, and avoid being preyed upon by the Romans and Visigoths if they did not join The Roman army and Attila's army met in a pitched battle in north-eastern Gaul Attila kept his forces moving to draw the Romans onto an open field where the Hunnic cavalry was at their best On June 20th, 451, the two armies faced each other on the Catalaunian Plains There are conflicting sources on what happened next, with the traditional Roman narrative being that the Visigoths defeated the Huns and saved Western Civilization However, modern historians criticize this interpretation as copying sagas from antiquity, specifically the Battle of Marathon On that morning, the armies gathered and positioned themselves roughly a mile away from each other keeping out of immediate arrow range The right-wing was held by the Visigoths, commanded by Theodoric I whose troops were primarily infantry forming a shield wall to protect themselves from the mounted archers of the Huns The Visigothic archers were positioned behind the infantry while their cavalry unit led by Theodoric I’s son Thorismund, waited at the very back The center was occupied by the Alan cavalry, who were the most dedicated to the cause since their homes were directly under threat from the Huns and their puppet Franks The Romans and their foederati stood on the left wing, assembling like the Visigoths with the infantry forming a shield wall in front, archers behind, and cavalry at the rear On the other side of the field, Attila organized his armies in the following manner he and his cavalry were positioned at the center The Ostrogothic infantry and cavalry stood on Attila’s left facing Theodoric I and the Visigoths on the Roman right Attila’s right comprised Frankish and Gepid infantry and cavalry which faced off against the Romans and their foederati In total, each coalition amassed around 50,000 men for a combined total of 100,000, marking the largest gathering of warriors in Gaul in centuries The conflict was initiated by Attila, who led the Huns in a charge down the middle causing the ground beneath the Romans to shake with the thunderous sound of thousands of horses This sound, which had struck fear into people from China to Gaul, now intensified as they drew near to their enemy line The Alans attempted to counter the attack but were quickly overpowered by the Huns’ prowess and had to retreat The Huns then split their forces and charged east and west, raining arrows on the Visigoths and Romans from afar Despite this, the shield walls of the Visigoths and Romans were very effective against the Huns and their stationary archers inflicted significant damage on the enemy However, this was just one aspect of Attila’s strategy As the Hunnic cavalry moved to the far right and left, they revealed the allied infantry charging behind them, which had been shielded from their enemies The Huns made a second charge towards the open center and the battle formation that was once straight disintegrated and thousands of horsemen clashed with each other The Ostrogoths, Franks, and Gepids then crashed into the Visigoth and Roman lines Nearly 100,000 warriors were now engaged in battle The ferocity of the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Gepids was apparent as they attacked the Visigoths and Romans Nevertheless, the Romans and their allies had one advantage: their archers who fired a barrage of arrows at their adversaries, buying their infantry time to hold the line Theodoric I was struck by an arrow and killed Thorismund led his cavalry from the right, the Alans regrouped and charged forward and the Roman cavalry approached from the left The result was complete disorder and chaos Both sides fought fiercely throughout the afternoon and into the late evening leaving the soldiers bewildered and disoriented By the 5th century, the Roman army was no longer able to provide standardized uniforms and soldiers dressed similarly to the barbarians Additionally, many Germanic groups fought on both sides, making it difficult to differentiate between friend and foe As evening approached, the lines of both armies merged, making it almost impossible to identify allies or enemies As night fell, the battle between the Huns, Romans, and their Germanic allies came to an end due to the lack of visibility The soldiers were disoriented and stumbled upon corpses and blood, attempting to regroup with their allies Throughout the night, soldiers withdrew to their respective camps and waited anxiously for the morning, as neither side knew the outcome of the battle The morning brought sunlight to a gruesome scene of decomposing bodies, blood, and mud Attila and Aetius faced each other from opposite sides of the field and considered their next moves However, neither had achieved the decisive victory they desired Aetius recognized that he could not continue fighting as the Visigoths led by their new leader Thorismund were likely calling for a retreat Being far from home and without their king, they had no interest in pursuing the Huns any further Aetius harbored suspicions about the Visigoths, fearing they might view Rome as a greater threat now that the Huns were retreating Attila had no clear justification to continue fighting as he had already inflicted sufficient damage on his enemies rendering them incapable of challenging the Franks Aetius ordered a retreat, and his forces covertly departed one early morning After the Hunnic scouts informed Attila of this development, he commanded a march back towards his empire on the Danube bringing Attila’s war in Gaul to a close Attila was already heading east, likely to deal with a succession crisis and prepare for an invasion of Italy When he did invade Italy in 452 the Roman army was too exhausted to win any battles against him, and Attila was able to ransack the north However, the disease forced him to retreat before he could besiege Rome Attila won most of the battles, weakened his enemies, and killed more people than he lost but he didn’t conquer them outright After his death during a marriage festival for his newest wife his sons launched a civil war that destroyed the Hunnic Empire and ended its threat to Europe We hope you enjoyed this episode of Aditu Laudis If you did, make sure to hit the like button and share this video with your fellow history buffs and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more epic battles and stories Until next time, farewell!
