阿提拉(Attila)

卒於西元453年

匈奴（Hun）王（西元434～453年在位，与其兄共治至445年左右），进攻罗马帝国的最伟大的蛮族统治者之一。匈奴是来自中亚北部的一支游牧民族，阿提拉与其兄布莱达所继承的帝国似乎已经从西方的阿尔卑斯山和波罗的海延伸至东方的里海沿岸。当东罗马帝国的军队忙於边界战事而无暇他顾的时候，阿提拉於441和443年对东罗马帝国的多瑙河一线发起大规模的进攻。445年左右阿提拉害死兄长，成为匈奴帝国的独裁君主。两年後入侵巴尔干各省和希腊，东罗马帝国在严重受创後与之签定停战条约。451年阿提拉入侵高卢，但因罗马大将埃提乌斯与西哥德国王提奥多里克一世联合抗击匈奴而失败，这是阿提拉唯一的一次失败。452年匈奴人入侵义大利，四处劫掠，後因义大利大闹饥荒和瘟疫，这场侵略才告结束。阿提拉在新婚之夜突然死去，大抵为其妻子所弑。後由其子继位。他的帝国由诸子分割继承。

English version：

Attila

King of the Huns (434-53, ruling jointly with his elder brother until c. 445). He was one of the greatest of the barbarian rulers who assailed the Roman Empire. He and his brother Bleda inherited an empire that stretched from the Alps and the Baltic nearly to the Caspian Sea. The failure of the Romans to pay promised tributes prompted Attila to launch assaults along the Danube in 441 and 443. He murdered his brother in 445 and two years later invaded the Balkan provinces and Greece, a campaign later ended by another peace treaty that exacted heavy damages from the Eastern Romans. He invaded Gaul (451) but was defeated by an alliance of the Roman general Aetius and the Visigoths. His invasion of Italy (452) was ended by famine and plague. His depredations, which seemed to some like divine punishment, earned him the epithet Flagellum Dei (“Scourge of God”). Attila died on his wedding night, possibly murdered by his bride, and was succeeded by his sons, who divided his empire among them.