TPS #6 - The Battle of Châlons

The build-up to the Battle of Châlons (also called the “Battle of the Cataulnian Plains”) is incredibly complex, and we are not certain which parts are actually true. Certainly much of the “invasion” of the Late Roman Empire were fierce peoples — Vandals, Goths, Alans, etc — who were fleeing from the even-fiercer Huns. But Hunnish leaders like Attila, were far more than merely brutal, playing alliances, taking advantage of the deaths of neighboring leaders, and playing both Eastern and Western Romans as clients and victims. The Roman leader, Aetius, had Hunnish warriors fighting FOR him in earlier battles, and spent time with both the Huns and Goths as a honored hostage (learning much about both peoples while there.) In fact, his father was a Roman general of “Scythian” origin, one of the original groups of powerful mounted nomads, so you could say he was closer to his allies and adversaries than most Roman commanders of the day, which is one reason he was one of the most influential men in the Western empire for over 20 years.