The Sword of Attila

Also by David Gibbins

ATLANTIS

CRUSADER GOLD

THE LAST GOSPEL

THE TIGER WARRIOR

THE MASK OF TROY

THE GODS OF ATLANTIS

PHARAOH

TOTAL WAR ROME™: DESTROY CARTHAGE

PYRAMID

TOTAL WAR ROME™: THE SWORD OF ATTILA

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Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Historical Introduction

Glossary

Characters

PROLOGUE

PART ONE: CARTHAGE, NORTH AFRICA

1

2

3

4

PART TWO: ROME, ITALY

5

6

7

8

9

10

PART THREE: THE RIVER DANUBE

11

12

13

14

PART FOUR: THE CATALAUNIAN FIELDS, GAUL

15

16

17

18

EPILOGUE

Author's Note

Sources for the Novel

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Copyright

The fifth century
AD
was one of the most momentous periods in history, a time of violent upheaval and war that marked the transition from the ancient to the early medieval world. Almost five hundred years after Augustus had become the first emperor, and eight hundred years after Rome first embarked on her wars of conquest, the Roman Empire was a waning star, no longer on the offensive but struggling against barbarian invasions that threatened to consume it. Already the unthinkable had happened: the city of Rome itself had been sacked by a marauding army of Goths in
AD
408. Much had changed from the glory days of empire three centuries earlier. Rome was now Christian, with a new hierarchy of priests and bishops. The empire had been split in half, with two emperors and new capitals in Constantinople and Milan, both of them riven by dynastic feuds and infighting. The Roman army had changed almost beyond recognition; gone were the legionaries of old, replaced by men likely to have been of barbarian origin themselves. And yet there were still those among the Roman officer class who harked back to the days of old, men steeped in the traditions of the Caesars and the great generals of the Republic, men who believed that the ancient image of Rome could be thrust forward one last time to marshal the army against the forces of darkness that were bearing down upon her, so that if there were to be one final battle they would march forward, upholding the honour of those legionaries and generals of old.

For many, only death and destruction lay ahead. The bishop Augustine forsook earthly pleasures and looked only towards the promise of heaven, to the City of God. The monks of Arles believed that the biblical Apocalypse was upon them. And yet, for the first time in Roman history, we see writers of the day absorbed in what we might term ‘grand strategy'. Should Rome appease the barbarians, offering them concessions and land, or should she stand up to them militarily? This debate preoccupied all levels of society, involving even the lowliest soldier in a level of strategic thinking that had been rare among his legionary forbears. The main commentator on the years covered in this novel, Priscus of Panium, was himself a diplomat and much concerned with this issue. His work only survives in fragments, and he had little interest in military detail – my reconstruction of the great sieges and battles of this period required even more imagination than the second-century
BC
battles described in my previous novel,
Total War Rome: Destroy Carthage.
Nevertheless, just as the historian Polybius was an eyewitness to the destruction of Carthage in 146
BC
, so Priscus himself went to the court of Attila the Hun and gives us an extraordinarily vivid picture of what he saw. It is from him that we learn of the myth that the Huns were born of Griffons, of their bloody funeral rituals, of the cult of the sword, of all the reasons Rome had so much to fear from this terrifying new enemy that brought the western empire to the precipice in the middle years of the fifth century
AD
.

A more detailed summary of this period and of the late Roman army can be found in the Author's Note at the end of this novel, where there is also a note on the historical and archaeological sources.

Late-Roman terms used in this novel:

Caesars
– Generic term for the early emperors, up to Hadrian

Centurion
– A time-honoured rank for the senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a numerus (see below)

Comes
– ‘Count', the commanding officer of a limitanei (frontier) army

Comitatenses
– ‘Companions' a field army

Dux
– ‘Duke' the commanding officer of a comitatenses army

Foederati
– Barbarian war bands allied to the Romans

Limitanei
– A frontier army

Magister
– General in overall command of the armies of a diocese or province

Magister Militum
– Commander-in-chief

Numerus
– Military unit varying in size from under a hundred to several hundred men

Optio
– Rank similar to corporal

Sagittarii
– Archers

Saxons
– Generic for the north Germanic invaders of Britain

Tribune
– The officer commanding a
numerus

These are actual historical characters unless otherwise indicated.

Aetius –
Commander-in-chief of the western Roman army

Anagastus –
Roman general under Aetius, along with Aspar

Andag –
Gothic henchman of Attila

Apsachos –
Fictional Sarmatian archer in Flavius'
numerus

Ardaric –
Commander of the Gepids, under Attila

Arturus –
Semi-fictional British warrior monk

Aspar –
Roman general under Aetius

Attila –
King of the Huns

Bleda –
Eldest son of Mundiuk

Cato –
Fictional
optio
in Flavius'
numerus

Dionysius –
fictional Scythian monk, teacher of Flavius (and grandfather of Dionysius Exiguus, to whom
AD
dating is usually attributed)

Erecan –
Daughter of Attila

Eudoxia –
Wife of the emperor Valentinian

Flavius –
Fictional tribune, nephew of Aetius

Gaiseric –
King of the Vandals

Gaudentius –
Goth grandfather of Flavius and father of Aetius

Heraclius –
Greek eunuch in the court of the emperor Valentinian

Macrobius –
Fictional centurion, friend of Flavius

Marcian –
Emperor in the East who succeeded Theodosius

Maximinus –
Cavalry tribune in the eastern army

Maximus –
Fictional soldier in Flavius'
numerus

Mundiuk –
King of the Huns, father of Attila

Octr –
Brother of Mundiuk and Rau

Optila –
Hun bodyguard of Erecan, along with Thrastilla

Priscus –
Scholar and emissary of Theodosius to Attila

Quintus –
Fictional tribune, nephew of Flavius

Quodvultdeus –
Bishop of Carthage

Radagaisus –
fictional Visigoth commander under Thorismud (and grandson of Radagaisus who invaded Italy in 405)

Rau –
Brother of Mundiuk and Octr

Sangibanus –
King of the Alans of Orléans

Sempronius –
Fictional soldier in Flavius'
numerus,
a veteran of Britain

Theodoric –
King of the Visigoths

Theodoric –
Youngest son of King Theodoric, and brother of Thorismud

Theodosius –
Roman emperor in the East

Thiudimer –
Visigoth commander under Thorismud