Attila The Hun Launched His Largest Attacks During Severe Droughts, According To Rings Of Oak Trees
Attila the Hun was an infamous barbarian known for his military power and his thirst for blood that could seemingly never be quenched.
He ruled the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. His conquests helped expand the Hun Empire, and he even raided Rome.
Attila is often depicted as a relentless warrior and a fearsome enemy who used savagery and cruel tactics to conquer entire regions for the sake of power and bloodlust.
However, his violent raids may have actually been conducted out of desperation to save his people from drought and starvation.
According to 2,000 years of climate data preserved in the rings of oak trees along Central Europe’s Danube and Tisza rivers, Attila and his Huns launched their largest attacks during severe droughts.
These dry periods likely strained food supplies and pastureland, suggesting that hunger and desperation played a part in driving these raids.
It is believed that the Huns traveled from Asia to Eastern and Central Europe sometime around A.D. 370 before settling on the Great Hungarian Plain, located east of the Danube. Just 60 years later, they took over much of Central Europe.
At its peak, the Hun Empire extended from the Black Sea to central Germany. The Huns also largely contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
“Historical sources tell us that Roman and Hun diplomacy was extremely complex,” said Susanne Hakenbeck, a study author and an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge.
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“Initially, it involved mutually beneficial arrangements, resulting in Hun elites gaining access to vast amounts of gold [in exchange for not attacking the empire]. This system of collaboration broke down in the 440s, leading to regular raids of Roman lands and increasing demands for gold.”
Between A.D. 420 and 450, the Eurasian Steppe suffered multiple intense droughts, forcing the Huns to both farm in established areas and herd their animals to greener pastures.
When times became desperate, and the Huns faced starvation, they became ruthless raiders. They looted Western and Southern Europe. The most violent incursions occurred in A.D. 447, 452, and 451. In those years, the summers were extremely dry.
The raids were mainly focused on finding food supplies rather than gaining power. In A.D. 451, Attila and the Huns invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul and northern Italy.
They captured the city of Milan and stole gold from the Western Roman Empire. They likely used the gold to maintain their alliances with various warlords.
Attila also seized a large patch of land along the Danube to provide grazing land for his people. His reign did not last for much longer, though. In A.D. 453, Attila was found dead after a night of heavy drinking. He choked to death on his own nosebleed.
Soon, the Huns began to turn on each other, broke up, and scattered across the region. Rome never fully recovered from the Huns’ raids, and 23 years later, the Western Roman Empire fell. The whole situation highlights how the climate can impact advanced human societies.
“Climate alters what environments can provide, and this can lead people to make decisions that affect their economy and their social and political organization,” Hakenbeck said.
“This example from history shows that people respond to climate stress in complex and unpredictable ways and that short-term solutions can have negative consequences in the long term.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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