Flagellum Dei (the Scourge of God) was as tough a customer as the Romans ever faced. He appears in the Nibelungenlied as Etzel and as Atli in the Icelandic sagas.
So terrible was the onslaught of the Huns that the eastern empire took every opportunity to pay him tons of gold in tribute. Proving himself not simply a man of the sword, he was a cunning and dangerous negotiator, and generally bested the Romans at every diplomatic encounter.
In 451, Attila turned his attention to the western empire, claiming the emperor's sister as his wife and demanding half the empire as dowry. An alliance between the Visigoths and Romans met him somewhere near Orleans, and in a bloody engagement drove the Huns back.
It was Attila's only defeat.
He later invaded Italy, ravaging the north before abandoning the campaign due to pestilence in the region.
Records describe him as a short, squat man with a large head. Truculent and irritable, he was nonetheless a skilled and persistent negotiator. One record left by a Roman ambassador tells of Attila being served off wooden plates while his chief captains dined off silver platters.
Died on the eve of another planned invasion of the Eastern Empire, reputedly of a stroke while cavorting with a new wife.
