ATTILA, the son of Mundzuk, king of the Huns. In conjunction with his brother Bleda, lie succeeded to the supreme government of the Huns, about the year 433. Bleda, however, was soon de prived of his government and his life by the cruel policy of his brother. Attila, according to the ac count of Jornandes, the Gothic historian, exhibited in his person and features the complete portrait of a modern Calmuc ; having a large held, a swarthy complexion, small deep-seated eyes, a flat nose, a few hairs in the place of a beard, broad shoulders, and a short square body, of nervous strength, though of disproportioned form. With this vulgar figure, which, however, might be fashioned according to the most refined ideas of personal beauty among the Huns, he affected the haughty step and the commanding look of majesty. He had a way of rolling his eyes 1:1 savage fierceness, for the pur pose of inspiring fear or reverence into the minds of beholders. This could not fail to produce its ef fect : It is easy for a despot to stare his trembling slaves out of countenance ; and the barbarian princes, who confessed that they could not gaze with a steady eye on the divine majesty of the king of the Huns, were at least as sincerd in their adulation as the ser vile flatterers of Augustus, who pretended to shrink from the lustre of his piercing eye. Attila delighted in war, but his policy was not inferior to his prowess ; and he dexterously called in the aid of superstition, to assist him in establishing a power which made him the terror of the world, and, from the way in which it was exercised, acquired for him the title of the scourge of God. So far from considering this desig nation as any disgrace, he is said to have adopted it -himself, as one of his titles of honour. A fortunate occurrence, or a well-concerted plot, seemed to mark him out as the favourite of heaven, and the destined conqueror of the world. The Scythians were ac customed to worship an iron scymitar, as the symbol of Mars ; and the very sword of the god himself, to gether with the power which it conveyed, were sup posed to be committed into the hand of Attila. A shepherd of the Huns perceiving one of the heifers to he wounded in the foot, followed the track of blood, till lie discovered the point of a sword among the long grass ; having carefully dug it up, he pre sented it to Attila, who joyfully accepted it as the property of the god of war, and as a pledge of his future victories.
The empire of Attila was of immense extent : those vast tracts of country anciently comprehended under the names of Scythia and Germany were sub ject to his controul ; so that his dominions extended from the Danube on the one hand, almost to the confines of China on the other. He could, with ease, bring into the field an army of 500,000, or, accord ing to others, of 700,000 men. This immense force was never suffered to remain long idle. On a frivo lous pretence he invaded the eastern empire, which was at that time governed by the feeble hand of Theodosius. He swept every thing before him like a desolating inundation, and rolled the tide of car nage to the very gates of Constantinople. A rian of those times describes his progress in language which strongly expresses the extensive and absolute devastation which every where marked his steps : Pene totem Europam, invasis excisisque civitatibus stque castellis, courasit. Attila himself used to say, that the grass never grew where his horse trod. The fear, or the policy of the western Romans, had indu ccil them to leave the eastern empire to its fate.
Theodosius being thug without any resources to op pose this formidable invader, was glad to accept such a peace from him as lie chose to dictate. The terms, of course, were sufficiently humiliating. The conqueror demanded a large tract of territory, stretching along the southern banks of the Danube, from Singidunum, or Belgrade, as far as Novx in Thrace : the breadth was defined by the vague computation of fifteen days journey. In the next place, the tribute, or sub.. sidy, paid by the emperor, was to be raised from 700 pounds of gold to upwards of 2000 ; and an im mediate contribution. was to be paid to defray the expenses of the war : And lastly, all the Huns who had been taken in war were to be delivered imme diately without ransom, whilst the Roman prisoners were obliged to purchase their freedom at the price of twelve pieces of gold for each man. This igno minious treaty was gladly subscribed by the emperor, who had no alternative between it and utter destruc tion. There was also another circumstance, which, though less hurtful to the public, was not less humi liating to the degenerate Romans of the East. When any of Attila's officers took a fancy to have a wealthy or beautiful wife, Theodosius was obliged to provide one, and thus to secure a temporary tranquillity by the sacrifice of private feelings.