The history of the Huns is still full of secrets. Why did only one of the many peoples of Asia move their wagons to distant Rome? Why did other barbarians, having conquered many lands of the Roman Empire, retreat under the onslaught of the Hunnic cavalry? Where did the Huns disappear after the death of their formidable leader Attila? Finally, where are the treasures plundered by the Huns hidden?
The ancestors of the Huns - a tribe of Xiongnu nomads - lived in the steppes of Central Asia, thousands of kilometers from Rome. The ancient chronicles reported that “they do not have houses and do not cultivate the land, but live in tents; respect their elders and gather at certain times of the year to organize their affairs. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote about the same:
Most likely, Ammianus is somewhat exaggerating here. The Hunnu were cattle breeders and could well eat boiled meat, horse meat and lamb. As for "rotten meat", the historian might not have known that in this way many nomadic tribes treated the backs of horses rubbed with a saddle.
From the end of the III century. BC. the Huns began to make regular raids on the northwestern borders of China. The energetic and talented leader of the Huns Mode rallied his tribe, conquered part of the neighboring peoples and after victories forced the emperor of China to conclude a "treaty of peace and kinship" with him, according to which the empire was actually obliged to pay tribute to the Huns! But, as often happens in the history of all nations, after the departure of a strong leader "from the stage", he is replaced by a series of insignificant figures. So it happened in the Xiongnu camp: civil strife actually divided the tribe into two hostile camps - northern and southern.
In 55 BC. the southern tribes went over to the side of China, the northern ones, led by the great Chzhi-Chzhi, migrated to the west and founded a new kingdom in the steppes of East Kazakhstan.
In 434 the Huns reached the Danube, invaded the Roman Empire and laid siege to Constantinople. At this time, as if from the underworld, "the son of the Devil, sent as a punishment for sins", Attila, crawled out into the world.
In Pannonia (Hungary), where the headquarters of the Hunnic leader Rutila was located, dramatic events took place after his death in 445. His two nephews - Bleda and Attila, who became the leaders of the Huns, did not share the throne, and soon Bleda was killed by an insidious brother.
Attila instilled fear not only in the European peoples, the soldiers of his own army, in which iron discipline and military training reigned, trembled before him. In addition, the Huns had excellent tactics: “They rush into battle, lining up in a wedge, and at the same time utter a terrible howling cry. Light and mobile, they suddenly disperse on purpose and, without lining up in a battle line, attack here and there, produce a terrible murder …
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They deserve to be recognized as excellent warriors, because from afar they fight with arrows equipped with skillfully worked tips of bone, and when they go hand-to-hand with the enemy, they fight with selfless courage with swords and, dodging the blow themselves, throw a lasso at the enemy to deprive him the opportunity to sit on a horse or walk away."
That is, contemporaries, for all their dislike for the Huns, could not fail to note their courage and military skill. But Christian writers and priests believed that the leader of the Huns and his army were strong in that they embody the victory on earth of the darkest forces. Gothic historian Jordan stated:
Did the northern Huns consciously choose the direction to the west? A question that historians find it difficult to answer unequivocally. Most likely, they knew something about the rich western lands, because many noble and educated Chinese, who possessed information about neighboring countries, lived among the Xiongnu themselves. Be that as it may, the steppe dwellers moved to the west and simultaneously mixed with other tribes, for example, with the Ugrians, who lived in the Urals and the Lower Volga. In 375, led by Tsar Balamir, they crossed the Don and occupied the lands from the Don to the Carpathians, defeating the Goths and Alans, "made terrible extermination and devastation in their lands." Then for the first time the Xiongnu got into the annals of European chronicles and began to be called the Huns - "the scourge of God." Jordan did not spare Attila himself:
The Huns managed to subjugate the entire barbarian world to their power. Both Roman Empires - Eastern and Western - shuddered under their blows. After Byzantium bought off, paying huge sums in gold, Attila turned his gaze to the Western Roman Empire, intending to receive tribute from her too.
Attila Beach of God.
In early 451, the Hunnic army moved up the Danube and further north along the banks of the Rhine, and then invaded Gaul. She destroyed all cities in her path, brutally exterminating their population. Finally, the Romans managed to muster enough strength to resist the onslaught of the savage tribe. In the early morning of June 21, 451, 150 km east of Paris on the Catalaunian fields, two forces - "light and darkness" - the army of Attila and the army of the Romans led by the commander Aetius Flavius met in a merciless duel. Together with the Romans, many barbarian peoples came out against the Huns: Goths, Franks, Alans, Visigoths, Burgundians and others. The battle lasted seven days. Killed 165 thousand soldiers.
It was “a fierce, variable, brutal, stubborn battle. No antiquity has ever told about such a battle”. Later it was called "the battle of the peoples".
The Huns were defeated, but a year later Attila again gathered a powerful army, invaded Gaul and attacked Italy, wrought terrible destruction in Venice and approached Rome. At the moment when the death of the great Rome seemed inevitable, an unforeseen event occurred. At the next wedding feast of Attila, his new wife, the young beauty Ildeka, the daughter of the leader of the German tribe of the Burgundians, stabbed the sovereign of half the world, avenging him for the death of his native tribe.
The Huns buried their leader at the bottom of the Tisza River in a triple coffin - iron, silver and gold. So the legend says.
Aetius Flavius.
Aetius Flavius, who justly demanded that the Roman emperor Valentinian III acknowledge his merits in the form of the hand of the imperial daughter Eudokia, promised to his son, was also killed during an audience on September 21, 454 on the Palatine Hill.
There were many rumors about the treasures plundered by the Huns during the campaigns. According to some of them, they are buried somewhere in Attida's last Italian residence - Bibione. However, this city, which was formerly in the coastal strip of the Adriatic Sea, like a number of other ancient seaports, was flooded due to the rise in the water level of the Mediterranean basin. Finding and exploring the legendary Bibion is the dream of any submarine archaeologist.
Attila's gold jewelry.
Archeology professor Fontani seemed to be closest to solving Bibion. He carefully studied the path of the Hunnic conquerors along the ancient Roman road from Ravenna to Trieste through Padua. A surprise awaited him: the ancient road ended abutting one of the lagoons of the Venetian Gulf. An interesting detail was also revealed: the inhabitants of the local coastal village mined stone for the construction of their houses from the sea, and sometimes they managed to get whole stone blocks from the bottom. Local fishermen told the professor that more than once they found ancient coins on the seabed, which were transferred to the museum for a fee. These coins date from the first half of the 5th century. Everything indicated that it was here that Bibion, lost one and a half millennia ago, should be sought.
Fontani gathered a group of experienced scuba divers who surveyed a fairly large section of the bottom of the bay. They found massive walls and watchtowers of an ancient fortress, the remains of stairs, various buildings. Scuba divers recovered from the seabed many coins, antique household items and even urns with ashes. But there was no confirmation that it was Bibion that was found. Nothing indicated that the coins found were part of Attila's treasure.
“Interesting newspaper. Secrets of history №14
