Attila The Hun – The Scourge of God

A year back I had gone to a national park on a trip with my office colleagues. We had great fun during the two day trip and when we were returning in the dead of night from there it felt as if the wilderness would devour us alive. It was pitch dark and the road was very bad and curved through the hills and a meter this way or that and we would be a few hundred meters down in the ditch. As if this was not enough, it started raining heavily. In such a spooky environment, one of my colleagues asked us a question and he himself gave us an answer. He asked, “Given the choice that you are reborn as a famous historical character, who would you like to be?” Some said Napoleon, some one said Alexander. I chose Ashoka the Great. The most startling answer however came from the guy who had asked the question. He said, “I would be Attila. I would really want to feel what a man would need to be, to be called the ’scourge of God’“.

Attila the Hun Standing Amid Burning Ruins – Buy at AllPosters.com

I still remember the question but I remember the answer more. Really. What could one man have possibly done to be called by such a name. He is referred in western history as flagellum dei which in Latin means ‘the scourge of God’. Attila has been sometimes referred to as a noble ruler but mostly he is infamous as a very cruel barbarian warlord who rampaged the already failing Western Roman Empire and brought about its final downfall.

Attila’s Huns Ravaging Moravia During Invasion of Central Europe – Buy at AllPosters.com

He ran through the Western Roman Empire multiple times and during each invasion he killed thousands of people, pillaged cities and villages. Such was his power that Byzantium agreed to pay a huge yearly tribute to him. The barbarian Hun nation had gained so much strength under Attila that at one point of time, more than one hundred cities in Europe were controlled by them and Constantinople only had a lucky escape thanks to the last minute strengthening of the city walls by the prefect Flavius Constantinus. The Hun atrocity and mass murder had reached such an extent that historical accounts say that the dead could not be counted. They had captured the churches and monasteries and killed the monks and nuns.

St. Genevieve Praying to Avert the Coming of Attila and His Huns – Buy at AllPosters.com

In fact the city of Venice was founded during his final invasion of Italy when people fleeing from the carnage took shelter in the islands in the Venetian Lagoon. During this invasion his army completely ransacked the city of Aquileia leaving no trace of the city behind. Legend has it that Attila had in fact built a castle on top a hill near Aquileia where from he saw the city burn. This is how the town of Udine was founded where the remains of the castle can still be seen.

St. Genevieve Calming the Parisians on the Approach of Attila – Buy at AllPosters.com

History has seen many such rulers and conquerors who brought about unparalleled human agony. Attila was not just one such name. He was the ’scourge of God.’