Today is September 20. On this date in history, according to many but not all historians, we witness the Battle of Chalons in 451.

In this battle, Attila the Hun was defeated by a combined Roman and Gothic Army. This was the last great operation of the Western Roman Empire until it disappeared in 476.

Historians dispute the effect of this victory. Edward Gibbon considered it one of the more important battles of late antiquity. We all know Gibbon from the monumental "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

Edward Creasy lists it in his great work, "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World."

Most historians hold the victory saved the West from barbaric devastation.

I hold with Gibbon and Creasy.

Decide for yourself by reviewing the article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chalons

There is some debate among some modern historians over the importance of this battle, but I'm with the traditionalists whe regard this as immensely important, effectively saving Western Europe from domination by Asiatic barbarians.

Had the battle gone the other way the likely result would have been the extermination of Christianity and the devaluation (at very least) of many forms of learning and science.

It would have meant an even darker and more uncertain future than that which actually occurred, and it is very likely that a number of major events in future history (discovery of the New World, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution for example) would have never taken place or would have been delayed considerably.

The last great victory of Roman arms, and it was a big one indeed.

Arguments have gone back and forth over its real significance, especially among contemporary historians, many of whom feel it was not all that important.  Gibbon and others believed that this battle effectively saved Western civilization from destruction by barbarians, and I'm with them:  that's not far from the truth.  Europe would have been dominated by an Asiatic people for the first time in its history, probably resulting in the extermination of the new religion of Christianity, and a future hard to imagine (and the death of Ogodei in 1242 was to save Europe a second time, after the Mongols crushed their opposition at the Battle of Sajó River).

I hope there is a statue of Aetius somewhere.  We wouldn't be here rating things without his magnificent victory over Attila the Hun.