Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part II

It may be affirmed, with bolder assurance, that the Huns
depopulated the provinces of the empire, by the number of Roman
subjects whom they led away into captivity. In the hands of a
wise legislator, such an industrious colony might have
contributed to diffuse through the deserts of Scythia the
rudiments of the useful and ornamental arts; but these captives,
who had been taken in war, were accidentally dispersed among the
hordes that obeyed the empire of Attila. The estimate of their
respective value was formed by the simple judgment of
unenlightened and unprejudiced Barbarians. Perhaps they might not
understand the merit of a theologian, profoundly skilled in the
controversies of the Trinity and the Incarnation; yet they
respected the ministers of every religion; and the active zeal of
the Christian missionaries, without approaching the person or the
palace of the monarch, successfully labored in the propagation of
the gospel. 27 The pastoral tribes, who were ignorant of the
distinction of landed property, must have disregarded the use, as
well as the abuse, of civil jurisprudence; and the skill of an
eloquent lawyer could excite only their contempt or their
abhorrence. 28 The perpetual intercourse of the Huns and the
Goths had communicated the familiar knowledge of the two national
dialects; and the Barbarians were ambitious of conversing in
Latin, the military idiom even of the Eastern empire. 29 But they
disdained the language and the sciences of the Greeks; and the
vain sophist, or grave philosopher, who had enjoyed the
flattering applause of the schools, was mortified to find that
his robust servant was a captive of more value and importance
than himself. The mechanic arts were encouraged and esteemed, as
they tended to satisfy the wants of the Huns. An architect in the
service of Onegesius, one of the favorites of Attila, was
employed to construct a bath; but this work was a rare example of
private luxury; and the trades of the smith, the carpenter, the
armorer, were much more adapted to supply a wandering people with
the useful instruments of peace and war. But the merit of the
physician was received with universal favor and respect: the
Barbarians, who despised death, might be apprehensive of disease;
and the haughty conqueror trembled in the presence of a captive,
to whom he ascribed, perhaps, an imaginary power of prolonging or
preserving his life. 30 The Huns might be provoked to insult the
misery of their slaves, over whom they exercised a despotic
command; 31 but their manners were not susceptible of a refined
system of oppression; and the efforts of courage and diligence
were often recompensed by the gift of freedom. The historian
Priscus, whose embassy is a source of curious instruction, was
accosted in the camp of Attila by a stranger, who saluted him in
the Greek language, but whose dress and figure displayed the
appearance of a wealthy Scythian. In the siege of Viminiacum, he
had lost, according to his own account, his fortune and liberty;
he became the slave of Onegesius; but his faithful services,
against the Romans and the Acatzires, had gradually raised him to
the rank of the native Huns; to whom he was attached by the
domestic pledges of a new wife and several children. The spoils
of war had restored and improved his private property; he was
admitted to the table of his former lord; and the apostate Greek
blessed the hour of his captivity, since it had been the
introduction to a happy and independent state; which he held by
the honorable tenure of military service. This reflection
naturally produced a dispute on the advantages and defects of the
Roman government, which was severely arraigned by the apostate,
and defended by Priscus in a prolix and feeble declamation. The
freedman of Onegesius exposed, in true and lively colors, the
vices of a declining empire, of which he had so long been the
victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to
protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling to
trust them with arms for their own defence; the intolerable
weight of taxes, rendered still more oppressive by the intricate
or arbitrary modes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and
contradictory laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial
proceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the
universal corruption, which increased the influence of the rich,
and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor. A sentiment of
patriotic sympathy was at length revived in the breast of the
fortunate exile; and he lamented, with a flood of tears, the
guilt or weakness of those magistrates who had perverted the
wisest and most salutary institutions. 32

27 (return) [ The missionaries of St. Chrysostom had converted
great numbers of the Scythians, who dwelt beyond the Danube in
tents and wagons. Theodoret, l. v. c. 31. Photius, p. 1517. The
Mahometans, the Nestorians, and the Latin Christians, thought
themselves secure of gaining the sons and grandsons of Zingis,
who treated the rival missionaries with impartial favor.]

28 (return) [ The Germans, who exterminated Varus and his
legions, had been particularly offended with the Roman laws and
lawyers. One of the Barbarians, after the effectual precautions
of cutting out the tongue of an advocate, and sewing up his
mouth, observed, with much satisfaction, that the viper could no
longer hiss. Florus, iv. 12.]

29 (return) [ Priscus, p. 59. It should seem that the Huns
preferred the Gothic and Latin languages to their own; which was
probably a harsh and barren idiom.]

30 (return) [ Philip de Comines, in his admirable picture of the
last moments of Lewis XI., (Mémoires, l. vi. c. 12,) represents
the insolence of his physician, who, in five months, extorted
54,000 crowns, and a rich bishopric, from the stern, avaricious
tyrant.]

31 (return) [ Priscus (p. 61) extols the equity of the Roman
laws, which protected the life of a slave. Occidere solent (says
Tacitus of the Germans) non disciplina et severitate, sed impetu
et ira, ut inimicum, nisi quod impune. De Moribus Germ. c. 25.
The Heruli, who were the subjects of Attila, claimed, and
exercised, the power of life and death over their slaves. See a
remarkable instance in the second book of Agathias]

32 (return) [ See the whole conversation in Priscus, p. 59-62.]

The timid or selfish policy of the Western Romans had abandoned
the Eastern empire to the Huns. 33 The loss of armies, and the
want of discipline or virtue, were not supplied by the personal
character of the monarch. Theodosius might still affect the
style, as well as the title, of Invincible Augustus; but he was
reduced to solicit the clemency of Attila, who imperiously
dictated these harsh and humiliating conditions of peace. I. The
emperor of the East resigned, by an express or tacit convention,
an extensive and important territory, which stretched along the
southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as
far as Novae, in the diocese of Thrace. The breadth was defined
by the vague computation of fifteen 3311 days’ journey; but, from
the proposal of Attila to remove the situation of the national
market, it soon appeared, that he comprehended the ruined city of
Naissus within the limits of his dominions. II. The king of the
Huns required and obtained, that his tribute or subsidy should be
augmented from seven hundred pounds of gold to the annual sum of
two thousand one hundred; and he stipulated the immediate payment
of six thousand pounds of gold, to defray the expenses, or to
expiate the guilt, of the war. One might imagine, that such a
demand, which scarcely equalled the measure of private wealth,
would have been readily discharged by the opulent empire of the
East; and the public distress affords a remarkable proof of the
impoverished, or at least of the disorderly, state of the
finances. A large proportion of the taxes extorted from the
people was detained and intercepted in their passage, though the
foulest channels, to the treasury of Constantinople. The revenue
was dissipated by Theodosius and his favorites in wasteful and
profuse luxury; which was disguised by the names of Imperial
magnificence, or Christian charity. The immediate supplies had
been exhausted by the unforeseen necessity of military
preparations. A personal contribution, rigorously, but
capriciously, imposed on the members of the senatorian order, was
the only expedient that could disarm, without loss of time, the
impatient avarice of Attila; and the poverty of the nobles
compelled them to adopt the scandalous resource of exposing to
public auction the jewels of their wives, and the hereditary
ornaments of their palaces. 34 III. The king of the Huns appears
to have established, as a principle of national jurisprudence,
that he could never lose the property, which he had once
acquired, in the persons who had yielded either a voluntary, or
reluctant, submission to his authority. From this principle he
concluded, and the conclusions of Attila were irrevocable laws,
that the Huns, who had been taken prisoner in war, should be
released without delay, and without ransom; that every Roman
captive, who had presumed to escape, should purchase his right to
freedom at the price of twelve pieces of gold; and that all the
Barbarians, who had deserted the standard of Attila, should be
restored, without any promise or stipulation of pardon.

In the execution of this cruel and ignominious treaty, the
Imperial officers were forced to massacre several loyal and noble
deserters, who refused to devote themselves to certain death; and
the Romans forfeited all reasonable claims to the friendship of
any Scythian people, by this public confession, that they were
destitute either of faith, or power, to protect the suppliant,
who had embraced the throne of Theodosius. 35

33 (return) [ Nova iterum Orienti assurgit ruina... quum nulla ab
Cocidentalibus ferrentur auxilia. Prosper Tyro composed his
Chronicle in the West; and his observation implies a censure.]

3311 (return) [ Five in the last edition of Priscus. Niebuhr,
Byz. Hist. p 147—M]

34 (return) [ According to the description, or rather invective,
of Chrysostom, an auction of Byzantine luxury must have been very
productive. Every wealthy house possessed a semicircular table of
massy silver such as two men could scarcely lift, a vase of solid
gold of the weight of forty pounds, cups, dishes, of the same
metal, &c.]

35 (return) [ The articles of the treaty, expressed without much
order or precision, may be found in Priscus, (p. 34, 35, 36, 37,
53, &c.) Count Marcellinus dispenses some comfort, by observing,
1. That Attila himself solicited the peace and presents, which he
had formerly refused; and, 2dly, That, about the same time, the
ambassadors of India presented a fine large tame tiger to the
emperor Theodosius.]

The firmness of a single town, so obscure, that, except on this
occasion, it has never been mentioned by any historian or
geographer, exposed the disgrace of the emperor and empire.
Azimus, or Azimuntium, a small city of Thrace on the Illyrian
borders, 36 had been distinguished by the martial spirit of its
youth, the skill and reputation of the leaders whom they had
chosen, and their daring exploits against the innumerable host of
the Barbarians. Instead of tamely expecting their approach, the
Azimuntines attacked, in frequent and successful sallies, the
troops of the Huns, who gradually declined the dangerous
neighborhood, rescued from their hands the spoil and the
captives, and recruited their domestic force by the voluntary
association of fugitives and deserters. After the conclusion of
the treaty, Attila still menaced the empire with implacable war,
unless the Azimuntines were persuaded, or compelled, to comply
with the conditions which their sovereign had accepted. The
ministers of Theodosius confessed with shame, and with truth,
that they no longer possessed any authority over a society of
men, who so bravely asserted their natural independence; and the
king of the Huns condescended to negotiate an equal exchange with
the citizens of Azimus. They demanded the restitution of some
shepherds, who, with their cattle, had been accidentally
surprised. A strict, though fruitless, inquiry was allowed: but
the Huns were obliged to swear, that they did not detain any
prisoners belonging to the city, before they could recover two
surviving countrymen, whom the Azimuntines had reserved as
pledges for the safety of their lost companions. Attila, on his
side, was satisfied, and deceived, by their solemn asseveration,
that the rest of the captives had been put to the sword; and that
it was their constant practice, immediately to dismiss the Romans
and the deserters, who had obtained the security of the public
faith. This prudent and officious dissimulation may be condemned,
or excused, by the casuists, as they incline to the rigid decree
of St. Augustin, or to the milder sentiment of St. Jerom and St.
Chrysostom: but every soldier, every statesman, must acknowledge,
that, if the race of the Azimuntines had been encouraged and
multiplied, the Barbarians would have ceased to trample on the
majesty of the empire. 37

36 (return) [ Priscus, p. 35, 36. Among the hundred and
eighty-two forts, or castles, of Thrace, enumerated by Procopius,
(de Edificiis, l. iv. c. xi. tom. ii. p. 92, edit. Paris,) there
is one of the name of Esimontou, whose position is doubtfully
marked, in the neighborhood of Anchialus and the Euxine Sea. The
name and walls of Azimuntium might subsist till the reign of
Justinian; but the race of its brave defenders had been carefully
extirpated by the jealousy of the Roman princes]

37 (return) [ The peevish dispute of St. Jerom and St. Augustin,
who labored, by different expedients, to reconcile the seeming
quarrel of the two apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, depends on
the solution of an important question, (Middleton’s Works, vol.
ii. p. 5-20,) which has been frequently agitated by Catholic and
Protestant divines, and even by lawyers and philosophers of every
age.]

It would have been strange, indeed, if Theodosius had purchased,
by the loss of honor, a secure and solid tranquillity, or if his
tameness had not invited the repetition of injuries. The
Byzantine court was insulted by five or six successive embassies;
38 and the ministers of Attila were uniformly instructed to press
the tardy or imperfect execution of the last treaty; to produce
the names of fugitives and deserters, who were still protected by
the empire; and to declare, with seeming moderation, that, unless
their sovereign obtained complete and immediate satisfaction, it
would be impossible for him, were it even his wish, to check the
resentment of his warlike tribes. Besides the motives of pride
and interest, which might prompt the king of the Huns to continue
this train of negotiation, he was influenced by the less
honorable view of enriching his favorites at the expense of his
enemies. The Imperial treasury was exhausted, to procure the
friendly offices of the ambassadors and their principal
attendants, whose favorable report might conduce to the
maintenance of peace. The Barbarian monarch was flattered by the
liberal reception of his ministers; he computed, with pleasure,
the value and splendor of their gifts, rigorously exacted the
performance of every promise which would contribute to their
private emolument, and treated as an important business of state
the marriage of his secretary Constantius. 39 That Gallic
adventurer, who was recommended by Ætius to the king of the
Huns, had engaged his service to the ministers of Constantinople,
for the stipulated reward of a wealthy and noble wife; and the
daughter of Count Saturninus was chosen to discharge the
obligations of her country. The reluctance of the victim, some
domestic troubles, and the unjust confiscation of her fortune,
cooled the ardor of her interested lover; but he still demanded,
in the name of Attila, an equivalent alliance; and, after many
ambiguous delays and excuses, the Byzantine court was compelled
to sacrifice to this insolent stranger the widow of Armatius,
whose birth, opulence, and beauty, placed her in the most
illustrious rank of the Roman matrons. For these importunate and
oppressive embassies, Attila claimed a suitable return: he
weighed, with suspicious pride, the character and station of the
Imperial envoys; but he condescended to promise that he would
advance as far as Sardica to receive any ministers who had been
invested with the consular dignity. The council of Theodosius
eluded this proposal, by representing the desolate and ruined
condition of Sardica, and even ventured to insinuate that every
officer of the army or household was qualified to treat with the
most powerful princes of Scythia. Maximin, 40 a respectable
courtier, whose abilities had been long exercised in civil and
military employments, accepted, with reluctance, the troublesome,
and perhaps dangerous, commission of reconciling the angry spirit
of the king of the Huns. His friend, the historian Priscus, 41
embraced the opportunity of observing the Barbarian hero in the
peaceful and domestic scenes of life: but the secret of the
embassy, a fatal and guilty secret, was intrusted only to the
interpreter Vigilius. The two last ambassadors of the Huns,
Orestes, a noble subject of the Pannonian province, and Edecon, a
valiant chieftain of the tribe of the Scyrri, returned at the
same time from Constantinople to the royal camp. Their obscure
names were afterwards illustrated by the extraordinary fortune
and the contrast of their sons: the two servants of Attila became
the fathers of the last Roman emperor of the West, and of the
first Barbarian king of Italy.

38 (return) [ Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur, &c. c.
xix.) has delineated, with a bold and easy pencil, some of the
most striking circumstances of the pride of Attila, and the
disgrace of the Romans. He deserves the praise of having read the
Fragments of Priscus, which have been too much disregarded.]

39 (return) [ See Priscus, p. 69, 71, 72, &c. I would fain
believe, that this adventurer was afterwards crucified by the
order of Attila, on a suspicion of treasonable practices; but
Priscus (p. 57) has too plainly distinguished two persons of the
name of Constantius, who, from the similar events of their lives,
might have been easily confounded.]

40 (return) [ In the Persian treaty, concluded in the year 422,
the wise and eloquent Maximin had been the assessor of
Ardaburius, (Socrates, l. vii. c. 20.) When Marcian ascended the
throne, the office of Great Chamberlain was bestowed on Maximin,
who is ranked, in the public edict, among the four principal
ministers of state, (Novell. ad Calc. Cod. Theod. p. 31.) He
executed a civil and military commission in the Eastern
provinces; and his death was lamented by the savages of
Æthiopia, whose incursions he had repressed. See Priscus, p. 40,
41.]

41 (return) [ Priscus was a native of Panium in Thrace, and
deserved, by his eloquence, an honorable place among the sophists
of the age. His Byzantine history, which related to his own
times, was comprised in seven books. See Fabricius, Bibliot.
Graec. tom. vi. p. 235, 236. Notwithstanding the charitable
judgment of the critics, I suspect that Priscus was a Pagan. *
Note: Niebuhr concurs in this opinion. Life of Priscus in the new
edition of the Byzantine historians.—M]

The ambassadors, who were followed by a numerous train of men and
horses, made their first halt at Sardica, at the distance of
three hundred and fifty miles, or thirteen days’ journey, from
Constantinople. As the remains of Sardica were still included
within the limits of the empire, it was incumbent on the Romans
to exercise the duties of hospitality. They provided, with the
assistance of the provincials, a sufficient number of sheep and
oxen, and invited the Huns to a splendid, or at least, a
plentiful supper. But the harmony of the entertainment was soon
disturbed by mutual prejudice and indiscretion. The greatness of
the emperor and the empire was warmly maintained by their
ministers; the Huns, with equal ardor, asserted the superiority
of their victorious monarch: the dispute was inflamed by the rash
and unseasonable flattery of Vigilius, who passionately rejected
the comparison of a mere mortal with the divine Theodosius; and
it was with extreme difficulty that Maximin and Priscus were able
to divert the conversation, or to soothe the angry minds, of the
Barbarians. When they rose from table, the Imperial ambassador
presented Edecon and Orestes with rich gifts of silk robes and
Indian pearls, which they thankfully accepted. Yet Orestes could
not forbear insinuating that he had not always been treated with
such respect and liberality: and the offensive distinction which
was implied, between his civil office and the hereditary rank of
his colleague seems to have made Edecon a doubtful friend, and
Orestes an irreconcilable enemy. After this entertainment, they
travelled about one hundred miles from Sardica to Naissus. That
flourishing city, which has given birth to the great Constantine,
was levelled with the ground: the inhabitants were destroyed or
dispersed; and the appearance of some sick persons, who were
still permitted to exist among the ruins of the churches, served
only to increase the horror of the prospect. The surface of the
country was covered with the bones of the slain; and the
ambassadors, who directed their course to the north-west, were
obliged to pass the hills of modern Servia, before they descended
into the flat and marshy grounds which are terminated by the
Danube. The Huns were masters of the great river: their
navigation was performed in large canoes, hollowed out of the
trunk of a single tree; the ministers of Theodosius were safely
landed on the opposite bank; and their Barbarian associates
immediately hastened to the camp of Attila, which was equally
prepared for the amusements of hunting or of war. No sooner had
Maximin advanced about two miles 4111 from the Danube, than he
began to experience the fastidious insolence of the conqueror. He
was sternly forbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest
he should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal
mansion. 4112 The ministers of Attila pressed them to communicate
the business, and the instructions, which he reserved for the ear
of their sovereign. When Maximin temperately urged the contrary
practice of nations, he was still more confounded to find that
the resolutions of the Sacred Consistory, those secrets (says
Priscus) which should not be revealed to the gods themselves, had
been treacherously disclosed to the public enemy. On his refusal
to comply with such ignominious terms, the Imperial envoy was
commanded instantly to depart; the order was recalled; it was
again repeated; and the Huns renewed their ineffectual attempts
to subdue the patient firmness of Maximin. At length, by the
intercession of Scotta, the brother of Onegesius, whose
friendship had been purchased by a liberal gift, he was admitted
to the royal presence; but, instead of obtaining a decisive
answer, he was compelled to undertake a remote journey towards
the north, that Attila might enjoy the proud satisfaction of
receiving, in the same camp, the ambassadors of the Eastern and
Western empires. His journey was regulated by the guides, who
obliged him to halt, to hasten his march, or to deviate from the
common road, as it best suited the convenience of the king. The
Romans, who traversed the plains of Hungary, suppose that they
passed several navigable rivers, either in canoes or portable
boats; but there is reason to suspect that the winding stream of
the Teyss, or Tibiscus, might present itself in different places
under different names. From the contiguous villages they received
a plentiful and regular supply of provisions; mead instead of
wine, millet in the place of bread, and a certain liquor named
camus, which according to the report of Priscus, was distilled
from barley. 42 Such fare might appear coarse and indelicate to
men who had tasted the luxury of Constantinople; but, in their
accidental distress, they were relieved by the gentleness and
hospitality of the same Barbarians, so terrible and so merciless
in war. The ambassadors had encamped on the edge of a large
morass. A violent tempest of wind and rain, of thunder and
lightning, overturned their tents, immersed their baggage and
furniture in the water, and scattered their retinue, who wandered
in the darkness of the night, uncertain of their road, and
apprehensive of some unknown danger, till they awakened by their
cries the inhabitants of a neighboring village, the property of
the widow of Bleda. A bright illumination, and, in a few moments,
a comfortable fire of reeds, was kindled by their officious
benevolence; the wants, and even the desires, of the Romans were
liberally satisfied; and they seem to have been embarrassed by
the singular politeness of Bleda’s widow, who added to her other
favors the gift, or at least the loan, of a sufficient number of
beautiful and obsequious damsels. The sunshine of the succeeding
day was dedicated to repose, to collect and dry the baggage, and
to the refreshment of the men and horses: but, in the evening,
before they pursued their journey, the ambassadors expressed
their gratitude to the bounteous lady of the village, by a very
acceptable present of silver cups, red fleeces, dried fruits, and
Indian pepper. Soon after this adventure, they rejoined the march
of Attila, from whom they had been separated about six days, and
slowly proceeded to the capital of an empire, which did not
contain, in the space of several thousand miles, a single city.

4111 (return) [ 70 stadia. Priscus, 173.—M.]

4112 (return) [ He was forbidden to pitch his tents on an
eminence because Attila’s were below on the plain. Ibid.—M.]

42 (return) [ The Huns themselves still continued to despise the
labors of agriculture: they abused the privilege of a victorious
nation; and the Goths, their industrious subjects, who cultivated
the earth, dreaded their neighborhood, like that of so many
ravenous wolves, (Priscus, p. 45.) In the same manner the Sarts
and Tadgics provide for their own subsistence, and for that of
the Usbec Tartars, their lazy and rapacious sovereigns. See
Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 423 455, &c.]

As far as we may ascertain the vague and obscure geography of
Priscus, this capital appears to have been seated between the
Danube, the Teyss, and the Carpathian hills, in the plains of
Upper Hungary, and most probably in the neighborhood of Jezberin,
Agria, or Tokay. 43 In its origin it could be no more than an
accidental camp, which, by the long and frequent residence of
Attila, had insensibly swelled into a huge village, for the
reception of his court, of the troops who followed his person,
and of the various multitude of idle or industrious slaves and
retainers. 44 The baths, constructed by Onegesius, were the only
edifice of stone; the materials had been transported from
Pannonia; and since the adjacent country was destitute even of
large timber, it may be presumed, that the meaner habitations of
the royal village consisted of straw, or mud, or of canvass. The
wooden houses of the more illustrious Huns were built and adorned
with rude magnificence, according to the rank, the fortune, or
the taste of the proprietors. They seem to have been distributed
with some degree of order and symmetry; and each spot became more
honorable as it approached the person of the sovereign. The
palace of Attila, which surpassed all other houses in his
dominions, was built entirely of wood, and covered an ample space
of ground. The outward enclosure was a lofty wall, or palisade,
of smooth square timber, intersected with high towers, but
intended rather for ornament than defence. This wall, which seems
to have encircled the declivity of a hill, comprehended a great
variety of wooden edifices, adapted to the uses of royalty.

A separate house was assigned to each of the numerous wives of
Attila; and, instead of the rigid and illiberal confinement
imposed by Asiatic jealousy they politely admitted the Roman
ambassadors to their presence, their table, and even to the
freedom of an innocent embrace. When Maximin offered his presents
to Cerca, 4411 the principal queen, he admired the singular
architecture on her mansion, the height of the round columns, the
size and beauty of the wood, which was curiously shaped or turned
or polished or carved; and his attentive eye was able to discover
some taste in the ornaments and some regularity in the
proportions. After passing through the guards, who watched before
the gate, the ambassadors were introduced into the private
apartment of Cerca. The wife of Attila received their visit
sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the floor was covered
with a carpet; the domestics formed a circle round the queen; and
her damsels, seated on the ground, were employed in working the
variegated embroidery which adorned the dress of the Barbaric
warriors. The Huns were ambitious of displaying those riches
which were the fruit and evidence of their victories: the
trappings of their horses, their swords, and even their shoes,
were studded with gold and precious stones; and their tables were
profusely spread with plates, and goblets, and vases of gold and
silver, which had been fashioned by the labor of Grecian artists.

The monarch alone assumed the superior pride of still adhering to
the simplicity of his Scythian ancestors. 45 The dress of Attila,
his arms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without
ornament, and of a single color. The royal table was served in
wooden cups and platters; flesh was his only food; and the
conqueror of the North never tasted the luxury of bread.

43 (return) [ It is evident that Priscus passed the Danube and
the Teyss, and that he did not reach the foot of the Carpathian
hills. Agria, Tokay, and Jazberin, are situated in the plains
circumscribed by this definition. M. de Buat (Histoire des
Peuples, &c., tom. vii. p. 461) has chosen Tokay; Otrokosci, (p.
180, apud Mascou, ix. 23,) a learned Hungarian, has preferred
Jazberin, a place about thirty-six miles westward of Buda and the
Danube. * Note: M. St. Martin considers the narrative of Priscus,
the only authority of M. de Buat and of Gibbon, too vague to fix
the position of Attila’s camp. “It is worthy of remark, that in
the Hungarian traditions collected by Thwrocz, l. 2, c. 17,
precisely on the left branch of the Danube, where Attila’s
residence was situated, in the same parallel stands the present
city of Buda, in Hungarian Buduvur. It is for this reason that
this city has retained for a long time among the Germans of
Hungary the name of Etzelnburgh or Etzela-burgh, i. e., the city
of Attila. The distance of Buda from the place where Priscus
crossed the Danube, on his way from Naissus, is equal to that
which he traversed to reach the residence of the king of the
Huns. I see no good reason for not acceding to the relations of
the Hungarian historians.” St. Martin, vi. 191.—M]

44 (return) [ The royal village of Attila may be compared to the
city of Karacorum, the residence of the successors of Zingis;
which, though it appears to have been a more stable habitation,
did not equal the size or splendor of the town and abbey of St.
Denys, in the 13th century. (See Rubruquis, in the Histoire
Generale des Voyages, tom. vii p. 286.) The camp of Aurengzebe,
as it is so agreeably described by Bernier, (tom. ii. p.
217-235,) blended the manners of Scythia with the magnificence
and luxury of Hindostan.]

4411 (return) [ The name of this queen occurs three times in
Priscus, and always in a different form—Cerca, Creca, and Rheca.
The Scandinavian poets have preserved her memory under the name
of Herkia. St. Martin, vi. 192.—M.]

45 (return) [ When the Moguls displayed the spoils of Asia, in
the diet of Toncat, the throne of Zingis was still covered with
the original black felt carpet, on which he had been seated, when
he was raised to the command of his warlike countrymen. See Vie
de Gengiscan, v. c. 9.]

When Attila first gave audience to the Roman ambassadors on the
banks of the Danube, his tent was encompassed with a formidable
guard. The monarch himself was seated in a wooden chair. His
stern countenance, angry gestures, and impatient tone, astonished
the firmness of Maximin; but Vigilius had more reason to tremble,
since he distinctly understood the menace, that if Attila did not
respect the law of nations, he would nail the deceitful
interpreter to the cross. and leave his body to the vultures. The
Barbarian condescended, by producing an accurate list, to expose
the bold falsehood of Vigilius, who had affirmed that no more
than seventeen deserters could be found. But he arrogantly
declared, that he apprehended only the disgrace of contending
with his fugitive slaves; since he despised their impotent
efforts to defend the provinces which Theodosius had intrusted to
their arms: “For what fortress,” (added Attila,) “what city, in
the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to exist, secure
and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be erased
from the earth?” He dismissed, however, the interpreter, who
returned to Constantinople with his peremptory demand of more
complete restitution, and a more splendid embassy.

His anger gradually subsided, and his domestic satisfaction in a
marriage which he celebrated on the road with the daughter of
Eslam, 4511 might perhaps contribute to mollify the native
fierceness of his temper. The entrance of Attila into the royal
village was marked by a very singular ceremony. A numerous troop
of women came out to meet their hero and their king. They marched
before him, distributed into long and regular files; the
intervals between the files were filled by white veils of thin
linen, which the women on either side bore aloft in their hands,
and which formed a canopy for a chorus of young virgins, who
chanted hymns and songs in the Scythian language. The wife of his
favorite Onegesius, with a train of female attendants, saluted
Attila at the door of her own house, on his way to the palace;
and offered, according to the custom of the country, her
respectful homage, by entreating him to taste the wine and meat
which she had prepared for his reception. As soon as the monarch
had graciously accepted her hospitable gift, his domestics lifted
a small silver table to a convenient height, as he sat on
horseback; and Attila, when he had touched the goblet with his
lips, again saluted the wife of Onegesius, and continued his
march. During his residence at the seat of empire, his hours were
not wasted in the recluse idleness of a seraglio; and the king of
the Huns could maintain his superior dignity, without concealing
his person from the public view. He frequently assembled his
council, and gave audience to the ambassadors of the nations; and
his people might appeal to the supreme tribunal, which he held at
stated times, and, according to the Eastern custom, before the
principal gate of his wooden palace. The Romans, both of the East
and of the West, were twice invited to the banquets, where Attila
feasted with the princes and nobles of Scythia. Maximin and his
colleagues were stopped on the threshold, till they had made a
devout libation to the health and prosperity of the king of the
Huns; and were conducted, after this ceremony, to their
respective seats in a spacious hall. The royal table and couch,
covered with carpets and fine linen, was raised by several steps
in the midst of the hall; and a son, an uncle, or perhaps a
favorite king, were admitted to share the simple and homely
repast of Attila. Two lines of small tables, each of which
contained three or four guests, were ranged in order on either
hand; the right was esteemed the most honorable, but the Romans
ingenuously confess, that they were placed on the left; and that
Beric, an unknown chieftain, most probably of the Gothic race,
preceded the representatives of Theodosius and Valentinian. The
Barbarian monarch received from his cup-bearer a goblet filled
with wine, and courteously drank to the health of the most
distinguished guest; who rose from his seat, and expressed, in
the same manner, his loyal and respectful vows. This ceremony was
successively performed for all, or at least for the illustrious
persons of the assembly; and a considerable time must have been
consumed, since it was thrice repeated as each course or service
was placed on the table. But the wine still remained after the
meat had been removed; and the Huns continued to indulge their
intemperance long after the sober and decent ambassadors of the
two empires had withdrawn themselves from the nocturnal banquet.
Yet before they retired, they enjoyed a singular opportunity of
observing the manners of the nation in their convivial
amusements. Two Scythians stood before the couch of Attila, and
recited the verses which they had composed, to celebrate his
valor and his victories. 4512 A profound silence prevailed in the
hall; and the attention of the guests was captivated by the vocal
harmony, which revived and perpetuated the memory of their own
exploits; a martial ardor flashed from the eyes of the warriors,
who were impatient for battle; and the tears of the old men
expressed their generous despair, that they could no longer
partake the danger and glory of the field. 46 This entertainment,
which might be considered as a school of military virtue, was
succeeded by a farce, that debased the dignity of human nature. A
Moorish and a Scythian buffoon successively excited the mirth of
the rude spectators, by their deformed figure, ridiculous dress,
antic gestures, absurd speeches, and the strange, unintelligible
confusion of the Latin, the Gothic, and the Hunnic languages; and
the hall resounded with loud and licentious peals of laughter. In
the midst of this intemperate riot, Attila alone, without a
change of countenance, maintained his steadfast and inflexible
gravity; which was never relaxed, except on the entrance of
Irnac, the youngest of his sons: he embraced the boy with a smile
of paternal tenderness, gently pinched him by the cheek, and
betrayed a partial affection, which was justified by the
assurance of his prophets, that Irnac would be the future support
of his family and empire. Two days afterwards, the ambassadors
received a second invitation; and they had reason to praise the
politeness, as well as the hospitality, of Attila. The king of
the Huns held a long and familiar conversation with Maximin; but
his civility was interrupted by rude expressions and haughty
reproaches; and he was provoked, by a motive of interest, to
support, with unbecoming zeal, the private claims of his
secretary Constantius.

“The emperor” (said Attila) “has long promised him a rich wife:
Constantius must not be disappointed; nor should a Roman emperor
deserve the name of liar.” On the third day, the ambassadors were
dismissed; the freedom of several captives was granted, for a
moderate ransom, to their pressing entreaties; and, besides the
royal presents, they were permitted to accept from each of the
Scythian nobles the honorable and useful gift of a horse. Maximin
returned, by the same road, to Constantinople; and though he was
involved in an accidental dispute with Beric, the new ambassador
of Attila, he flattered himself that he had contributed, by the
laborious journey, to confirm the peace and alliance of the two
nations.

4511 (return) [ Was this his own daughter, or the daughter of a
person named Escam? (Gibbon has written incorrectly Eslam, an
unknown name. The officer of Attila, called Eslas.) In either
case the construction is imperfect: a good Greek writer would
have introduced an article to determine the sense. Nor is it
quite clear, whether Scythian usage is adduced to excuse the
polygamy, or a marriage, which would be considered incestuous in
other countries. The Latin version has carefully preserved the
ambiguity, filiam Escam uxorem. I am not inclined to construe it
‘his own daughter’ though I have too little confidence in the
uniformity of the grammatical idioms of the Byzantines (though
Priscus is one of the best) to express myself without
hesitation.—M.]

4512 (return) [ This passage is remarkable from the connection of
the name of Attila with that extraordinary cycle of poetry, which
is found in different forms in almost all the Teutonic
languages.]

A Latin poem, de prima expeditione Attilæ, Regis Hunnorum, in
Gallias, was published in the year 1780, by Fischer at Leipsic.
It contains, with the continuation, 1452 lines. It abounds in
metrical faults, but is occasionally not without some rude spirit
and some copiousness of fancy in the variation of the
circumstances in the different combats of the hero Walther,
prince of Aquitania. It contains little which can be supposed
historical, and still less which is characteristic concerning
Attila. It relates to a first expedition of Attila into Europe
which cannot be traced in history, during which the kings of the
Franks, of the Burgundians, and of Aquitaine, submit themselves,
and give hostages to Attila: the king of the Franks, a personage
who seems the same with the Hagen of Teutonic romance; the king
of Burgundy, his daughter Heldgund; the king of Aquitaine, his
son Walther. The main subject of the poem is the escape of
Walther and Heldgund from the camp of Attila, and the combat
between Walther and Gunthar, king of the Franks. with his twelve
peers, among whom is Hagen. Walther had been betrayed while he
passed through Worms, the city of the Frankish king, by paying
for his ferry over the Rhine with some strange fish, which he had
caught during his flight, and which were unknown in the waters of
the Rhine. Gunthar was desirous of plundering him of the
treasure, which Walther had carried off from the camp of Attila.
The author of this poem is unknown, nor can I, on the vague and
rather doubtful allusion to Thule, as Iceland, venture to assign
its date. It was, evidently, recited in a monastery, as appears
by the first line; and no doubt composed there. The faults of
metre would point out a late date; and it may have been formed
upon some local tradition, as Walther, the hero, seems to have
turned monk.

This poem, however, in its character and its incidents, bears no
relation to the Teutonic cycle, of which the Nibelungen Lied is
the most complete form. In this, in the Heldenbuch, in some of
the Danish Sagas. in countess lays and ballads in all the
dialects of Scandinavia, appears King Etzel (Attila) in strife
with the Burgundians and the Franks. With these appears, by a
poetic anachronism, Dietrich of Berne. (Theodoric of Verona,) the
celebrated Ostrogothic king; and many other very singular
coincidences of historic names, which appear in the poems. (See
Lachman Kritik der Sage in his volume of various readings to the
Nibelungen; Berlin, 1836, p. 336.)