Participant in the Battle of Nations on the Catalaunian fields 4. Battle on the Catalaunian fields

1565 years ago, on June 20-21, 451, the last major battle took place with the participation of troops of the Western Roman Empire. The empire itself had another 25 years to live; in 476 it ceased to exist. But even in 451 it was already clear that “eternal Rome” was at the last line. By that time, he had lost more than half of his possessions - Africa, Britain, a significant part of Iberia and Aquitaine. And waves of conquerors were already sweeping across Italy itself, and there was nothing to stop them.

Nevertheless, when the horde of Huns, led by Attila, who came from the Asian steppes in 451, invaded Gaul, one of the last Roman provinces outside the Apennine Peninsula, the then commander-in-chief and de facto ruler of Rome, Flavius ​​Aetius, decided to resist. He understood that his own forces were not enough for this, so he turned for help to his neighbors and former opponents - the Franks, Alans, Burgundians and Visigoths (aka Visigoths), with whom the Romans had previously fought several times.

He managed to convince them that the Huns would make things worse for everyone, and that separately it was impossible to defeat their huge army. Most Western tribal unions contributed detachments to Aetius's army, and the Visigoth leader Theodoric decided to personally take part in the battle. The Visigothic contingent was the largest among the allies; according to some sources, it even surpassed the Roman army. Not only steppe nomads also fought on Attila’s side. His horde included many representatives of previously conquered Germanic tribes and peoples - the Ostrogoths, Gepids, Rugians, Thuringians, Sciri, Heruli, as well as part of the Alans who lived on the territory of the Hunnic “empire”.

On June 20, the armies met in battle on the Catalaunian fields. Historians have not yet been able to accurately localize this place. Presumably, it is located somewhere in the east of what is now France, near the city of Chalon-sur-Saône, however, no traces of a grandiose battle have yet been found there. The number of opposing armies is also impossible to determine. Although the Iberian chronicler Idatius wrote that there were as many as 300 thousand Huns, most modern historians they believe that this number is overestimated by five, or even ten times. Apparently, the number of warriors in the anti-Hun coalition was approximately the same as their opponents. In any case, none of the ancient chroniclers indicates that one of the armies was significantly superior to the other.

The battle began with a horse attack of the Huns on enemy battle formations. They were supported on the left flank by the Ostrogoths, and on the right by other allies. Aetius placed the Alans, Franks and Burgundians in the center, he and the Romans stood on the left, and Theodoric and the Visigoths were located on the right on the hill.

Soon the Huns managed to push through the enemy center, but the Visigoths withstood the onslaught, although their leader died in the process, and on the opposite edge of the field the Roman legionnaires put their opponents to flight. When the Visigoths, having repulsed the attack, also counterattacked, Attila realized the danger of his position. Its center advanced far forward, but both flanks were defeated. The Romans were about to link up with the Visigoths behind the Hun strike force, cut it off from the base camp and attack from the rear. The result was a classic Cannes.

To prevent such a development of events, the Hun leader ordered to immediately stop pursuing the Alans, Franks and Burgundians, turn 180 degrees and return to the camp. The Romans and Visigoths did not have time to close the encirclement. Attila and most of his fighters broke into the camp, surrounded by a fence of carts. By this time it began to get dark and the battle stopped. The next morning, the Visigoths tried to capture the camp, but the Huns repelled the attack.

Attila declared that he would stand to the last and ordered the killing of anyone who tried to escape. The Allies, who suffered heavy losses in yesterday's battle, did not dare to storm the Wagenburg again, deciding to starve it out. However, soon the son and heir of the deceased Theodoric Thorismond received a message that trouble was brewing in his domain and those who wanted to imprison someone else had already appeared to the vacant throne.

Upon learning of this, Torismond decided that power was more important than final victory. Without even warning Aetius, he immediately withdrew his troops to deal with the conspirators. This dramatically changed the balance of power. The Romans could not continue the siege alone, but the Huns had a chance to make a sortie and defeat the remaining enemies. Realizing the threat that had arisen, Aetius also ordered a retreat. This gave Attila a reason to declare that he did not lose the battle, although his advance on Gaul was stopped. On the Catalaunian fields, the Huns suffered such damage that they had to return to recuperate and recruit reinforcements to the Hungarian steppes.

The next year, the leader of the Huns began a new campaign of conquest in Western Europe, but that’s another story. And on the screensaver - infantry of the late Roman Empire in battle, drawing by Igor Dzys. It’s not clear how Steven Seagal ended up there?

The Romans repulse the horse attack of the Huns.

The Visigoths are trying to attack the Huns' camp surrounded by wagons.

Roman infantry and cavalry of the 5th century. Second from the right is the centurion.

The Visigoths are temporary allies of the Romans in the Battle of Catalaunia.

Horsemen of Attila's army. The Hunnic aristocracy had a peculiar custom of deforming skulls, for which children's heads were tightly bandaged from infancy, forcing it to grow upward. This was done so that a noble person in any clothing, and even without it, could be immediately distinguished from a commoner. Such skulls were repeatedly found in rich Hunnic burials.

Hunnic infantry. In the right picture, the Huns collect spoils on the battlefield during the short night of June 20–21, 451.

Diagram of the climax of the Catalaunian Battle. The Romans and their allies are marked in red, the Huns and their allies in blue.

France, Troyes

The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, which took place in 451 on one of the plains in Champagne, became a kind of concentrated expression of all European conflicts of the era of the Great Migration. This was not a battle of East versus West or chaos versus order, it was a battle of all against all.

In the 70s of the IV century. New dangerous neighbors appeared on the borders of the empire - the Huns. These nomads came to Europe from Central Asia. In the first half of the 2nd century. The migration of Hunnic tribes began to Eastern Kazakhstan and Semirechye, and then, together with the Ugric tribes of Western Siberia, to the Urals, to the Caspian and Trans-Volga steppes. In the middle of the 4th century. The Huns invaded the area between the Volga and Don. Having conquered the Alans in the North Caucasus and defeated the troops of the Bosporan kingdom, they crossed the Don and crushed the multi-tribal power of the Ostrogothic king Germanaric in South-Eastern Europe (375).

Pressed by the Huns, the Visigoths crossed the Danube and settled in the province of Moesia. Under pressure from the same Huns, hordes of Vandals and Suevi rushed to the west. So the population of the Roman Empire, even those living in the west, quickly realized what a powerful force came from the east. The Huns repeatedly attacked the Balkan provinces in 395-397. they invaded Syria, Cappadocia and Mesopotamia, then Thrace and Illyria. By 420 they had settled in Pannonia.

Relations between the Huns and the Western Roman Empire were built for a long time on a completely civilized basis. Since the 20s of the 5th century. Hunnic troops were regularly hired to serve in the Roman army. The main force of the nomads was, of course, the cavalry; the Huns had practically no equal in the art of riding and mounted combat. And from the 40s, the leader of the Huns, Attila, began to pursue a virtually independent policy in relation to both parts of the Roman Empire.

The rise to power of Atilla Mor Zan. Triumph of Attila, 1870

Attila became the head of the Huns in 444. In fact, he was not such a cruel and savage Asiatic, “the scourge of God,” as the medieval chronicles call him. The court of the Hunnic leaders had already adopted many Roman customs; Attila was raised by the Greeks and Romans. He was an energetic and intelligent ruler who, moreover, possessed remarkable military talents. Under him, the Hunnic state reached enormous proportions - from Siberia to the Rhine. Both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires sought an alliance with the omnipotent Attila, and kings and leaders of other nations turned to him for help.

In Rome, a man also rose to prominence, an extraordinary, cunning politician and capable military leader, Aetius. It is curious that in his youth he spent several years in the retinue of the then heir to the throne, Attila. Then he often accepted Hunnic troops into his army and was proud of his friendship with the Hunnic leader, but later Aetius and Attila found themselves the heads of two opposing camps. Attila, to the displeasure of Rome, intervened in the internal affairs of the Franks. Moreover, a pro-Hunnic party appeared in the capital of the Western Empire, led by Emperor Valentinian’s sister Honoria. She laid claim to half of their father's inheritance and saw Attila as a possible ally. On this occasion, she herself offered her hand and heart to the warlike Hun. He began active preparations for war.

The Huns were already a multi-tribal union. During their rapid advance from east to west, the Huns turned out to be only a small core of this alliance. In addition, in the war against Rome, Attila was joined by Alans, Slavs, Gepids, and Ostrogoths. Aetius also energetically put together an anti-Hunnic coalition from the peoples of Gaul and Spain. The main thing was the conclusion of a political alliance with the powerful Visigothic kingdom. The Burgundians, Franks, Saxons, Armorics and others also opposed the Huns.

Having crossed the Rhine, 56-year-old Attila headed to Trier and then in two columns to the northeast of Gaul. His army by this time numbered about 120 thousand people. The Romans and their allies had approximately the same number.

In April 451, Metz fell under the blows of the Huns, Tongeren and Reims burned. Paris, according to legend, was saved by a certain Genevieve, who convinced the population not to leave the city and thereby gained the respect and condescension of Attila.

Battle of the Catalaunian Fields

The site of the general battle between the two armies was the Catalaunian fields in Champagne. The “Battle of the Nations” (as it was called in connection with the mentioned motley ethnic composition of both hordes) began on the 20th of June 451. Among the Romans, the Visigothic king Theodoric commanded the left wing, Aetius commanded the right, in the middle were the Alans, Burgundians and other allies . In the center of the Hunnic army stood Attila and his fellow tribesmen, on the left flank were the Goths led by Valamir, on the right were the Gepids and other peoples. The Huns began the battle. Between the two armies there was a hill that both sides tried to capture first. The Visigothic cavalry managed to do this. Attila supported the actions of his vanguard by attacking the main forces of the center, personally rushing to the offensive shouting: “The brave attack first!” Then a brutal slaughter began along the entire front, the troops were mixed, chroniclers claim that the stream flowing on the battlefield overflowed its banks from blood. This truly was the largest battle of the entire ancient era and for a long time remained the largest in the Middle Ages.

Atilla-gun

During the battle, King Theodoric was killed, although his Visigoths defeated their counterparts (also Goths). The Visigoths and the Romans of Aetius managed to squeeze the Huns in a vice from two flanks and force them to retreat. Attila led his troops to the camp, and the Roman commander had to release the Visigoths, who wanted to bury their leader with due honors. However, there is a version that Aetius himself convinced the son of Theodoric that he should hurry to his kingdom so that no one would snatch power from his hands. Thus, Aetius may have wanted to give Attila the opportunity to retreat in order to use him in further political games and maneuvering between the barbarian kings. If this is so, then Aetius was quite successful in realizing this idea. The next day the Huns did not continue the battle, but retreated in good order. So in the bloody and crowded battle of the Catalaunian fields, neither side achieved a decisive victory. The very next year, Attila invaded the very heart of Italy and only after a mysterious conversation with Pope Leo I turned back.

Death of Attila

Death and burial of King Atilla

Attila died in Pannonia in 453. His empire did not long outlive its famous ruler. Aetius was killed in Rome by the conspirators. There is a suspicion that the battle on the Catalaunian fields, famous for centuries, did not bring any political dividends to any of the opponents. It only demonstrated the complex geopolitical situation in Europe, where everyone was trying to grab a piece of the collapsing Roman Empire.

Battle of the Nations

At the end of the 4th century, the Roman Empire, which by that time had split into Western and Eastern, had a new terrible enemy. These were the Huns - nomads who came from Central Asia. Back in 377, the Huns captured Pannonia (modern Hungary), but behaved relatively calmly and did not pose a serious threat to Rome. The Romans even used Hunnic troops for their military and political purposes. At the beginning of the 440s, the onslaught of the Huns on the Eastern Roman Empire intensified, since the Huns were led by the talented and warlike leader Attila, who killed his brother-co-ruler Bled in 445. Attila was a born commander. According to legend, one day a shepherd found and brought a rusty sword to Attila, Attila took the sword in his hands and said: “For a long time this sword was hidden in the ground, and now heaven will give it to me to conquer all nations!”

And indeed, the Hunnic alliance under the leadership of Attila extended its power in the east to the Caucasus, in the west to the Rhine, in the north to the Danish islands, in the south along the right bank of the Danube. In 447, the Huns devastated Thrace and Illyria and reached the outskirts of Constantinople, but the Eastern Roman Empire was able to pay off.

In the early 450s, the Huns invaded Gaul, plundering and burning everything in their path. The Huns posed a mortal danger not only to the Gallo-Romans, but also to numerous barbarian tribes living in Gaul, on the territory of the Roman Empire. No wonder Attila was called the destroyer of the world. Therefore, a strong coalition was created against the Huns from the Franks, Alans, Amorians, Burgundians, Visigoths, Saxons, military settlers - Letoi and Riparii.

Having forced the Eastern Roman Empire to pay a huge annual tribute, Attila began to prepare for an attack on the Western Roman Empire, choosing revenge on the Goths, who were located in Southern Gaul and partly in Spain, as the reason for the war. Attila gathered a countless army, which included Alans, Slavs, Germans, Gepids, Ostrogoths, etc.

In January 451, Attila's 500,000-strong army set out on a campaign. Following up the Danube, the Huns approached the Rhine and invaded Gaul. Having defeated Worms, Mainz, Trier and Metz, they moved to Southern Gaul, where the Goths lived, and besieged Orleans. The Goths turned to the Roman commander Flavius ​​Aetius for help. Aetius was a talented military leader and had an unusual fate. His father guarded the Danube border of the Roman Empire from barbarians and was forced to give his son as a hostage to the Huns. Thus Aetius became intimately familiar with their military organization and methods of warfare. He later skillfully used barbarian forces against barbarians, including at the Battle of Catalunya, where he had auxiliaries of Franks, Sarmatians (Alans), Saxons, Burgunians, Amoriadians and Visigoths led by King Theodoric.

With the help of Aetius, they managed to defend Orleans. Attila retreated to the city of Troyes, to the west of which the battle took place on the Catalaunian fields, named after the city of Catalaunam.

Having approached here, the Romans set up a fortified camp according to all the rules, because the most important principle of their military life was the safety of the bivouac. Wherever and for how long the legion stops, it is here. He began to build a camp of logs, protected by a ditch and a wall. In the camp, in a once and for all established order, there were gates, a meeting area - the forum, command tents - the praetorium, tents of centurions (centurions) and foremen (decurions), horse stalls and other services.

Attila built his tents in the form of a circle, inside which tents were pitched.

The barbarian allies settled down without trenches or fortifications. Before the battle, Attila attracted soothsayers to himself, they peered into the insides of animals, then into some veins on scraped bones and announced that the Huns were in danger. The only small consolation for Attila was that the supreme leader of the opposing side was about to fall in battle. (Jordan. On the origin and deeds of the Goths. M„ 1960. P. 105.)

Attila chose the plain for the battle to give his light cavalry freedom of maneuver. He brought his troops onto the field quite late - at three o'clock in the afternoon. Attila himself stood with the Huns in the center, on his left flank were the Goths led by their leader Valamir, on the right wing were King Ardaric with the Gepids and other peoples. Apparently, Attila wanted to rush with the Huns against the Romans and, in case of failure, give his weak wings time to go on the offensive.

Aetius, led by the Romans, was on the left flank, the Visigoths, led by King Theodoric, were on the right. The center was occupied by Franks, Alans and other tribes. Aetius intended to cut off Attila himself from his flanks with his wings.

There was a small hill between the two armies, and both sides tried to take it. The Huns sent several squadrons there, separating them from the vanguard, and Aetius sent the Visigothic cavalry, which, arriving first, attacked from above and overthrew the Huns.

This was a bad omen for the Hunnic army, and Attila tried to inspire his soldiers with a speech, which Jordan cites in his work according to Gothic legend: “... Let us boldly attack the enemy, whoever is braver will always attack. Look with contempt at this mass of diverse peoples who do not agree with each other on anything: whoever, when defending himself, relies on the help of others, exposes his own weakness to the whole world...

So, raise your courage and fan your usual ardor. Show the Huns your courage as you should... I throw the first dart at the enemy, if anyone can remain calm while Attila is fighting, he has already died." (Jordan. About the origin and deeds of the Goths. M., I960. P. 106.)

Inspired by these words, everyone rushed into battle. The battle was fierce and desperate. The half-dried streams flowing through the valley suddenly swelled with streams of blood mixed with their waters, and the wounded, quenching their thirst, died instantly. (Ibid., p. 107.)

King Theodoric rode around the troops and encouraged them, but was knocked off his horse and trampled by his own. According to other accounts, he was killed with a spear. Apparently, this death was predicted by fortune tellers.

But Theodoric's Goths defeated Attila's Goths. Attila rushed at the weak center of the Romans, crushed it, and was already celebrating victory when Theodoric’s Goths crashed into the right side of the Huns, and Aetius turned his wing against them and rushed in from the right. After a fierce struggle, the Huns, crushed on the right and left, could not stand it and rushed to their camp, and Attila himself barely escaped. (See Heroes and Battles. M., 1995. P. 52.)

It was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. According to Jordan, 165 thousand people died on both sides (Jordan. Op. op. p. 109.), according to other sources - 300 thousand people. (Stasyulevich M. History of the Middle Ages. St. Petersburg, 1863. P. 322.)

Attila withdrew to his camp and prepared to attack the next day. Sitting behind the tents, Attila behaved with dignity: the sound of a trumpet and the noise of weapons were heard from his camp; he seemed ready to strike again. “Just as a lion, driven from everywhere by hunters, retreats into its lair with a big leap, not daring to rush forward, and with its roaring terrifies the surrounding places, so the proud Atilla, the king of the Huns, among his wagons, terrified his conquerors,” wrote Jordanes . (Jordan. Op. op. p. 112.)

But Aetius did not resume hostilities due to the fact that the Goths left him for the funeral of their king. Attila, having learned that the Goths had left, ordered the carts to be pawned and asked Aetius to be allowed to leave freely. Aetius agreed, since he did not dare to start a new battle without allies. Attila was able to leave, but the Huns' campaign ended sadly for them: the half-million-strong army almost all died.

After the defeat on the Catalaunian fields, the vast and fragile state union of the Huns began to disintegrate, and soon after the death of Attila (453) it finally collapsed.

The Hunnic danger rallied disparate forces around the Roman Empire for a short time, but after the Catalaunian victory and the repulsion of the Hunnic danger, the processes of internal disunity in the empire intensified. The barbarian kingdoms ceased to reckon with the emperors and pursued independent policies.

Materials used from the book: “One Hundred Great Battles”, M. “Veche”, 2002

Literature

1. Vernadsky G.V. Russian history. Ancient Rus'. -Tver-M., 1996. P. 160-162.

2. Military encyclopedia: In the 8th volume / Ch. ed. commission P.S. Grachev (prev.). - M., 1995. -T. 3.-S. 508-509.

3. Military encyclopedic lexicon, published by the Society of Military and Writers. - Ed. 2nd. - In the 14th volume - St. Petersburg, 1855. - T.7. - P. 80-81.

4. Heroes and battles. Publicly available military-historical anthology. - M., 1995. P.45-52.

5. Jordan. About the origin and deeds of the Getae (Goths). - M., 1960. P. 104-109.

6. Marine Atlas/Ans. ed. G.I. Levchenko. -M., 1958. -T.Z.-Part 1. - L.2

7. Stasyulevich M.M. History of the Middle Ages in its writers and the research of the latest scientists. - St. Petersburg, 1865. - T. 1.-P. 316-329.

8. Toursky G. History of the Franks. - M., 1987. P. 33-35.

9. Encyclopedia of military and maritime sciences: In the 8th volume /Under the general. ed. G.A. Leera. - St. Petersburg, 1889. - T.4. - P. 181.

Because Yesterday Max and I talked a lot about the Merovingians, I tossed and turned half the night and remembered the battle on the Catalaunian fields.

This monstrous “battle of the peoples” took place on June 20 (estimated date) 451 in the territory of Champagne, in the Catalaunian fields, not far from Troyes.
Known for the fact that it was the last battle of the Roman army and the battle that stopped Attila’s devastating raid on Europe, as well as for the fact that for the first time it pitted related tribes against each other - the barbarian world was divided: some of the tribes sided with Rome and Senator Aetius as Roman federates (by the way, the Roman army at that time already consisted almost entirely of mercenaries, and not Roman citizens), some were with Attila, including the divided Franks.

Victory did not go to anyone (although Aetius believed that victory belonged to Rome, since the Roman army remained on the battlefield, and Attila retreated and did not advance further into Europe).
The losses were monstrous. Idatius in the Chronicle speaks of 300,000 people, Jordanes in the History of the Goths gives 165,000 dead, some researchers agree on 180,000 soldiers.
Prosper in the Chronicle also reports that Aetius, by cunning, sent away his barbarian allies and took incredibly rich booty from the field.
The symbol of the Catalaunian trophies becomes a certain valuable golden dish, a Gothic treasure, worth 16 kg. gold. This dish has excited the imagination of historians and chroniclers for many centuries... Researcher Nikolai Gorelov mentions that perhaps the golden dish was also a kind of national symbol for the Franks, whose kings (Merovingians) owned a golden dish of monstrous value and showed it to guests and ambassadors ...

So, since the name of the Merovingians was mentioned here, I will report on the existing version, which is supported by most historians: the Franks who fought for Rome were led into battle by the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, the legendary Merovey (ruled 448-457). Thanks to this battle, the Franks were well established in vast Gaul, and Merovey himself was adopted by Flavius ​​Aetius, and therefore received Gallic possessions also with the legal support of Rome. The first Merovingians were considered pro-Roman kings (for example, Clovis Merovingian “solemnly celebrated receiving signs of consular dignity,” and Childeric (the son of Meroving, who captured Paris) was considered “the governor of the province of Belgica” - the same one whose image on the golden ring has come down to us). Childeric's son Clovis created the first united Frankish power, one of the strongest in Europe, with one of the most combat-ready armies in the world. However, he also “cut down” the roots of the family, dividing the country between four warring sons...
Can we say that in this way the achievements gained by the Franks at the cost of the monstrous losses of the Catalaunian Battle were somewhat devalued?

Useful links:
Pedigree of the Merovingians (table): http://www.hrono.ru/geneal/geanl_fr_01.html
Catalaunian Battle: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalaunian_fields
Merovei: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merovei

Sources:
Nikolai Gorelov: “Chronicles of the Long-Haired Kings” (translation of excerpts from medieval chronicles - Prosper, Fredegar, Gregory of Tours, etc.
Lawrence Gardner "The Realms of the Lords of the Rings"
"The Merovingian Age - Europe without Borders" (exhibition prospectus)
J.R.R. Tolkien "The Professor and the Monsters"

Images:
"Battle of the Catalaunian Fields", from a medieval manuscript of the 14th century, original - National Library of the Netherlands
Childeric of the Merovingian, image on a gold ring from Childeric's grave in Tournai (Belgium) opened in 1653
"Merovey, King of France" - bronze medal (by Auteur Dassier, Jean (1676-1763; médailleur))

Gunnia was little interested in the theological problems of Christianity. Priscus did not notice any particular passion for cults at headquarters, the capital of Attila.

But Leo’s main goal was to preserve the unity of the Church. He fought against the Pelagian heresy. But an even more intense war was waged against the Manichaeans, who arrived from Africa with the Vandals, and who settled in Rome, and succeeded in establishing the sacraments of the societies of His Holiness (the religious title of Mani). The Pope ordered that these heretics be pointed out to the priests, and in 443, together with senators and other officials, he conducted an investigation, during which the leaders of this religious community were identified. In several sermons he strongly warned the Christians of Rome about the need to take action against this reprehensible heresy, and repeatedly called upon them to give information regarding the followers of Mani, their places of stopping, acquaintances, and meetings.

Many Manichaeans in Rome were converted to Christianity and admitted to the sacrament; others who remained obdurate were exiled from Rome by civil judges in execution of imperial decrees. On January 30, 444, the Pope sent a letter to all the bishops of Italy, in which he added documents containing materials against the Manichaeans in Rome, and warned them to be vigilant and take measures against the followers of this sect. On June 19, 445, Emperor Valentinian III issued, undoubtedly under the influence of the Pope, a strict decree in which he established seven punishments against the Manichaeans. The presbyter of the Aquitaine states in his Chronicle wrote that, as a result of the energetic measures of Leo, the Manichaeans were also driven out of these regions, and even the Eastern bishops followed the example of the Pope in relation to the followers of Mani.

The extreme disorder of the spiritual life of some countries, as a consequence of the Great Migration, required closer ties between their episcopate and Rome for the better promotion of Orthodox life.
The primacy of the Orthodox Church was also demonstrated by this pope in the Christological disputes that then so deeply agitated the Eastern Christian world, brilliantly showing himself to be a wise, knowledgeable and energetic shepherd of the Church. From his first letter on the subject, written in 448 to Eutyches, and his last letter, to the new Patriarch of Alexandria, Timothy Salofasiolus, in 460, we cannot help but admire the clear and systematic way in which Leo dealt with this difficult and confusing situation.

Eutyches (archimandrite of one of the monasteries near Constantinople) turned to the Pope after he was excommunicated by Patriarch Flavius ​​of Constantinople because of his Monophysite views. The Pope, after studying this matter, sent an important letter to Josephus, briefly expounding and confirming the doctrine of the Incarnation, and the union of the Divine and human natures in Jesus Christ.
In 449, a Council was held in Ephesus, which was later named by Leo as the “Robber Council”. Flavius ​​and other prominent prelates of the East turned to the Pope. The latter sent urgent letters to Constantinople, in particular to Emperor Theodosius II and Empress Pulcheria, urging them to convene an Ecumenical Council to restore peace in the Church. For this purpose he used his influence with the Western emperor Valentinian III, and his mother Placidia, especially during their visit to Rome in 450.
This Ecumenical Council was held in Chalcedon in 451 under Marcian, the successor of Theodosius. He solemnly accepted Leo's letter to Josephus as an expression of the Orthodox Faith regarding Jesus Christ. It was in this year that the famous “Battle of the Nations” took place, where on the lands of future France, mainly two forces of the powerful East (districts of future Rus') clashed - pro-Western (Aetius) and anti-Western (Attila). They were not interested in debugging religious dogma.

The Pope persuaded the new emperor in Constantinople, Leo I, to remove the heretical monophysical patriarch, Timothy, from the see of Alexandria. A new Orthodox patriarch, Timothy Salofasiolus, was chosen to take his place and received the pope's congratulations in the last letter Leo sent to the East.

Pope Leo died on November 10, 461 and was buried in the vestibule of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The Catholic Church celebrates the day of St. Leo the Pope on April 11, and in the Eastern Church it falls on February 18 (old style).

Raphael, along with “The Meeting of Leo I and Attila,” also painted the painting “The Triumph of Philosophy,” mainly dedicated to the Athenian school of philosophy.

16th century

The idea of ​​the painting belonged to the Pope of that time - Julius II. The compiler of the picture separated philosophy from religion and set aside a separate temple for it, where the great thinkers of antiquity gathered.
The temple itself resembles Bramante's design and, according to some critics, may have been painted by the artist based on the drawings of this architect.
The central figures were Plato and Aristotle in Greek clothes - calm, solemn, not arguing, but only proving their philosophical positions. Both of them noted Scythian thinkers and more than once mentioned the Scythians and Scythia in their works.
Plato and Aristotle are surrounded by many excellent heads, each the fruit of long and hard work: Pythagoras (the teacher of Abaris), Democritus, Socrates, Alcibiades, Aristippus, Epicurus, Gallienus, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Hipparchus and others.
Die Schule von Athen. 1. Plato 2. Aristoteles 3. Socrates 4. Xenophon 5. Aischinos (oder Alkibiades) 6. Alkibiades (oder Alexander) 7. Zeno 8. Epikur 9. Federico Gonzaga 10. Averroes 11. Pythagoras 12. Francesco Maria Della Rovere13. Heraklit 14. Diogenes 15. Euklid (Bramante) 16. Zoroaster (Pietro Bembo?) 17. Ptolemäus 18. Raffael 19. Sodoma (Michelangelo)

Among the unidentified figures one can easily find the still popular Anacharsis. He was also depicted in Rus'.

After the death of Attila, the younger sons (the eldest Ilek was killed) Irnek and Dengizik withdrew the main forces to the lower reaches of the Danube, to the Azov and Caspian regions. The territory of the state began to shrink. A Dengizikh dish with Turkic (?) inscriptions was found in the Volga region.

The name of Irnek, like other kings of Gunnia, is attested in various spellings: Ernakh (Priscus), Hernak (Jordan), Ernek (Hungarian sources), Irnik (“Name-name of the Bulgarian khans”), and in Armenian sources he appears under the name of the “king of the Huns” Kheran, which almost coincides with the version of Priscus of Panius - Ernach. The form Ernakh, Heran is based on the Turkic Eren. Hence the epic - Alp-Eren, which also confirms the deification of historical figures among a number of late antique and early medieval peoples (this is how Radogost and Prov.
The Armenian historian Yeghishe reported: “...This Heran... destroyed Persian troops in Albania (the territory of present-day Azerbaijan) (in 451) and in his raid reached the Greek country (Byzantium), and sent many prisoners and booty from Greece and Armenia, and from Iberia, and from Albania." It is also known that Heran (Eren) was an ally of the Armenians in their fight against the Sasanian king Yazdegerd II and helped them defeat the troops of the Iranian Shah in 451. This was during Attila's lifetime.

In 460, the Huns of Heran were on the side of Shah Peroz and against the Albanian king Vache, who rebelled against the Sassanids. Ambazuk was from the royal family. According to Procopius, in 498-518. he owned the Caspian Gate, and the other - the Daryal Passage. Under him, the Huns skillfully “traded with Byzantium and Iran,” Ambazuk was on friendly terms with the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. “As he approached death, he offered Anastasius to buy the fortress from him, but he refused, not seeing the possibility of maintaining a Byzantine garrison there. When Ambazuk died, the Persian Shah Kavad captured the fortress, expelling Ambazuk’s children from there.

The king of (all?) the Huns at the beginning of the 6th century was Bolakh (Valakh, Volakh; the onym is known for the oppressors of the Slavs of the Danube region), and his wife was the famous Boa-rix, (Berichos) - an ally of Byzantium. The residence of the queen, according to one version, was the city of Varachan, where now Ullu-Boynak (Ullubiyaul) is located. In the language of the Huns, the name may have sounded: “Berik”, “Berik-kiz”. N.A. Baskakov gives the etymology from berik (“gift, donation, gift”) + Greek ending. If the Byzantines remembered the name in the Gothic transmission, then it meant the queen of Boya (Boya-rix).
Then Ziligd (Zilgivin, Zilgibi), the probable son of Ambazuk, reigned.
He, too, was in friendship and alliance with the Byzantine emperor Justinian against the Sassanids. He fielded a 26,000-strong Hun army against them. Killed in the war with Kavad.

The name in Byzantine sources is read differently: Ziligd, Zilgivin, Zilgi, Zilgibi. In the original the name could have been Zilgi biy (= 3ilgi prince). He bore a similar name in the 9th century. and the king of the Volga Bulgars Silki. Zilgi/Silki possibly meant yylky/zhylky in the meaning of “horse, herd” (Theophanes the Confessor, Theophanes the Confessor. Chronography // Chichurov I.S. Byzantine Historical Works. M. 1980. P.49, 50).
The king of the Huns in the first half of the 6th century was also Muager, Muager or Muageris. He became the king of the Huns after the murder of his brother Gorda, a Christian. Subsequently, he himself converted to Christianity. But the Byzantines associated the events of this Christianization with the Bosporus (Azov region), and not with the Caspian region. According to G. Moravcsik, the name comes from the Hungarian Moderi, a variant of which is the form Magyar. Y. Nemeth, calls Moghieri the king of the Kuban Hun-Bulgars

About Gorda, Theophanes the Confessor reported: “In 527/528, the king of the Huns living near the Bosporus, named Gorda, came to the emperor, became a Christian and was enlightened. The emperor accepted him and, having given him many gifts, sent him to his country to guard the Roman state and the city of the Bosphorus.” Then, during the harsh introduction of Christianity in the Azov region, he was killed.

The Greek lists of the “Chronographia” give the readings Gordas, Hordasd. The etymology of the name - if not from the Slavic Gord, Proud - is not entirely clear. G. Moravcsik offers a Turkic-Hungarian etymology from Ogurd - “friend of cucumbers” and Turkic from Kurt - “wolf”. There are also Turkic variants from Kardash - “half-brother”. But among the multi-ethnic Huns there were already Slavs who gravitated towards Christianity and could well have had the nickname Proud. King of the Huns Styrax, ally of Shah Kavad, in 520 with 12 thousand. The army acted on the side of the Shah, but on the way it was intercepted by the troops of Boariks and defeated in the area now called Manas, Manas (Kumykia). Styrax was shackled and sent in chains to the king in Constantinople. It is believed that the possession of Stirax was located on the territory of the current Buinaksky region, where archaeologists have excavated numerous early medieval settlements and fortifications (Fedorov Ya. A. Fedorov G. S. Early Turks in the North Caucasus. M., 1978, p. 184.).