Attila was continually harassing Theodosius with unwelcome embassies ; and as the barbarian was ex tremely jealous of his consequence, the emperor was forced to make a suitable rturn ; and the pride of Attila was not easily satisfied with the dignity of the persons who approached him in quality of ambassa dors. At last Maximin, a principal person at the court of Constantinople, accepted with reluctance of the troublesome commission of reconciling the angry spirit of the king of the Huns. Priscus the histo rian accompanied him, and had an opportunity of making many curious observations on the singular manners of this formidable monarch, and of his bar barian subjects. The ambassadors of Theodosius proceeded, by toilsome jonrnies, through Countries depopulated by the ravages of the Huns, and cover ed with the bones of the slain. Having passed the hills of modern Servia, and crossed the Danube in canoes provided by the barbarians, they halted at no great distance from the camp of Attila. They were now continually exposed to the insolence and the caprice of the haughty conqueror. The ministers of Attila pressed Maximin to communicate the business and the instructions, which he reserved for the ear of their master ; and, on his refusal to comply, he was commanded instantly to depart ; the order was re called ; it was again repeated ; and at last, when it was found impossible to subdue the patient firmness of Maximin, lie was admitted into 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 satisfaction of re ceiving in the same camp the ambassadorg both of the eastern and western empire. During this jour ney, the wants of the ambassadors wore plentifully supplied by the Huns, though the fare was very dif ferent from the luxuries of Constantinople. ['hey had mead instead of wine ; millet in place of bread ; and for drink, they had a certain liquor which, ac cording to Priscus, was distilled from barley. Ha ving met with a disaster in the night-time, in conse quence of a violent storm, they were kindly relieved by the barbarians, who were awakened by their cries. The widow of Bleda, Attila's brother, was particu larly attentive on this occasion, and added to her other favours the gift, or at least the loan, of a suffi cient number of beautiful and obsequious damsels. At last, after a fatiguing and harassing journey, they reached the capital of an empire, which for several thousand miles did not contain a single city. This capital seems to have been situated in Upper Hunga ry, between the Danulie, the Teyss, and the Carpa thian hills. It could not boast of a single stone building, except some baths, which had &en lately constructed. The houses of the principal officers •were all built of timber ; and the palace of Attila, the .most magnificent building in his dominions, was com posed of the same material. This palace was enclo sed by a lofty wall, or palisade, of smooth square timber, intersected with high towers, but intended for ornament rather than use. Within this wall was a separate house for each of the numerous wives of ; and instead of the rigid confinement imposed by Asiatic jealousy, they politely admitted the Ro man ambassadors to their presence, their table, and even to the freedom of an innocent embrace. ' The Huns, though meanly lodged, were fond of display ing those riches which were the fruit and evidence of their victories ; accordingly the trappings of their horses, their swords, and 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, the work of Grecian artists. At tila alone assumed the superior pride of despising finery, and of adhering to the simplicity of Scythian manners : his dress, his arms, and the furniture of his horse, were plain, without ornament, and of a single colour ; his table was served in wooden cups and plat ters ; flesh was his only food ; and he never tasted the luxury of bread.
Maximin was placed in a most perilous situation by the perfidy of his countrymen. He was ignorant that a conspiracy had been formed against the life of Attila; and that Vigilius, interpreter to the embassy, actually carried along with him a weighty purse of gold, to reward the services of the person who shoilld destroy the king of the Huns. Attila, however, was fully appris?d of every particular, by the confession of the person who had engaged to perform the ser vice ; and, therefore, instead of being surprised at the haughtiness and rudeness with which he treated the ambassadors, we have more reason to admire his mag nanimity, in respecting the rights of hospitality, and in admitting into his presence the ministers of a prince, who had basely conspired against his life. Vigilius was instantly seized ; and was forced to make a full discovery of the whole transaction. Attila
spared his life; and under the name of ransom, ac cepted of two hundred pounds of gold for the life of a traitor, whom he disdained to punish. He imme diately dispatched ambassadors to Constantinople to denounce vengeance against Theodosius, and to de mand the head of Chi ysaphius the eunuch, who had been the chief agent in the business. None of his demands could be denied. A solemn embassy was again sent deprecate his wrath ; and he conde scended to pardon the emperor, the eunuch, and the interpreter.
Upon the death 'of Theodosius, Marcian, his suc cessor, peremptorily refused to pay to Attila the ac customed tribute; and instructed his ambassador Apollonius to signify this refusal, in the very camp of the Huns. Attila enraged, sent an equal defiance to the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople : and his ambassadors addressed both the emperors in the same haughty language. " Attila, my lord and thy lord, commands thee to provide' a palace for his im mediate reception." Despising the eastern Romans, whom he had so often vanquished, he directed all his strength against the western empire. The nations from the Wolga to the Danube obeyed his summons, and poured their countless myriads on the devoted country of Gaul. The Roman empire was saved, on this occasion, by the policy and intrepidity of /aim, whom Gibbon calls the last of the Romans. He formed a strict alliance with Theodoric, king 'of the Visigoths, who at that time reigned at Thoulouse : and, in conjunction with his warlike forces, boldly proceeded to meet the terror of Europe and of Asia on the plains of Chalons. Here a tremendous en gagement took place. The centre of the Visigoths soon gave way, owing to the defection of some of their allies; Theodoric, their king, was slain whilst animating his men to battle ; and Attila already be gan to exult in the confidence of victory. In this situation, Torisrnond, the son of Theodoric, who had occupied a rising ground, rushed down upon the Huns with irresistible fury : the Visigoths soon re stored their order of battle, andAttila for the first time sustained a defeat. The number of slain, on this oc casion, according to the lowest accounts, amounted to 162,000, whilst others swell it to nearly double that number.
The policy of IEtius probably saved the Huns from utter destruction : he saw that the empire had as much to fear from the victorious Goths, as from the Huns whom they had vanquished : he therefore persuaded Torismond, who was bent on revenging the death of his father, to return to Thoulouse, that he might disappoint the ambitious designs of his bro thers. By this device, Attila was permitted to re tire unmolested, and to recruit his forces for an inva sion of Italy in the ensuing spring. He scarcely met with resistance but at Aquileia, which made a: long and obstinate defence, but was at last taken and de stroyed. Italy was completely at his mercy, when the feeble Valentinian resolved to try the effect of a supplicatory embassy. Avienus, a person of the highest dignity, and Leo, bishop of Rome, undertook the dangerous office of deprecating the wrath of the enraged barbarian : and the eloquence, majestic ap pearance, and sacerdotal robes of the bishop, had the same effect on Attila, that the appearance ,of the Jewish high priest is said to have had on the Mind of Alexander. The safety of Italy was procured by the eloquence of the ambassadors, and the immense dowry of the princess Honoria. The empire was -soon after freed from the fear of this formidable in, vader. Having added a beautiful maid, to the list of his innumerable wives, the marriage was celebrated with barbaric pomp, at his wooden palace beyond the Danube. The monarch retired, at a late hour, to the nuptial bed, oppressed with wine. His attend ants continued to respect his pleasures, or his repose, the greatest part of the ensuing day; till the unusual silence alarmed their fears and their•suspicions ; and after attempting to awake Attila, by loud and re peated cries, they at length broke into the royal apartment. They found the trembling bride sitting by the bedside, hiding her face with her veil, and la menting her owl, danger and the death of the king, who had expired the night. An artery had suddenly burst ; and as Attila lay in a supine posture, he was suffocated by a torrent of blood. It was re ported at Constantinople, that on the fortunate night, . in which he expired, Marcian beheld in a dream the bow of Attila broken asunder : and the report, says Gibbon, may be allowed to prove, how seldom the image of that formidable barbarian was absent from the mind of a Roman emperor.
The authentic materials for the history of Attila may be found in Jornandes, (de Rebus Geticis), and Priscus, (Excerpta de Legatzonibus.) Sec these ma terials collected by Gibbon in the last volume of his History. (g)