The incredible story of Attila the Hun and Flavius Aetius.

[Gordopolis]

In AD 451, two colossal armies gathered on the fields of Chalons, northern Gaul. Almost every  man - from Europe and beyond - of fighting age was there, armed to the teeth, waiting for the battle horns to herald a clash that would shape the fate of the ailing Roman Empire and history itself.

On one side stood Flavius Aetius, high commander of the Roman and allied armies. Leading the enemy horde was Attila, King of the Huns.

What followed was a seismic clash that would inspire legends - including Tolkien himself (The Battle of Chalons inspired his depiction of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in Lord of the Rings).

Close your eyes and imagine the two leaders. You might see Flavius in his shining Roman armour and plumed helm, and nomadic Attila on his battle horse, draped in goatskin? Two starkly contrasting figures - one representing imperium and order, one the barbarian 'other'. 

Now consider this:

Firstly, that Flavius, son of a senatorial family, actually spent his adolescence with the Huns, in the wilderness of the Eurasian steppe. There he became a man, learning the nomadic way of life and honing his survival skills.

Secondly, Attila the Hun, the so-called "Scourge of God", nemesis of the Romans, very likely spent years of his youth in Roman Empire. There, he was educated in the imperial ways in the great marble cities so very different to his wild homeland.

It's quite incredible, isn't it? To think that the opposing high commanders at Chalons might have - during boyhood - stepped through a mirror, each into the other's shoes.
How would such a great and early switcharound come about?

Read on at my blog, here:

https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/writeblog/the-incredible-story-of-attila-the-hun-and-flavius-aetius