Editing Huns (section)

===Extent of Hunnic territory===
The extent of Hunnish control in Barbarian Europe is poorly understood, as it is not much covered in Roman sources.{{sfn|Rodzińska-Nowak|2020|p=406}} It is generally assumed that they established an empire that stretched as far West as the Rhine and perhaps as far north as the Baltic, though it is difficult to establish its boundaries with certainty.{{sfn|Kelly|2015|pp=196-197}} Some scholars, such as Otto Maenchen-Helfen and Peter Golden, believe that the extant of Attila's empire has been exaggerated and he probably only controlled Pannonia and some adjacent areas.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=91}}

In the 390s, the majority of the Huns were probably based around the [[Volga]] and [[Don (river)|Don]] on the Pontic Steppe.{{sfn|Kelly|2015|p=203}} But by the 420s, the Huns were based on [[Great Hungarian Plain]], the only large grassland near the Roman empire capable of supporting large numbers of horses.{{sfn|Kelly|2015|p=195}} However, Aleksander Paroń believes that they likely continued to control the Pontic Steppe north of the Black Sea.{{sfn|Paroń|2021|p=71}} They had conquered the Hungarian Plain in stages. The precise date that they conquered the north bank of the Danube is unclear.{{sfn|Kulcsár|Istvánovits|2019|p=167}} Maenchen-Helfen argued that they may have already taken control of it in the 370s.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=43}} The dates when they gained control of the Roman territory south of the Middle Danube, [[Pannonia Valeria]] and the other provinces of [[Pannonia]], is likewise disputed, but probably in 406/407 and 431/433 respectively.{{sfn|Kulcsár|Istvánovits|2019|p=167}} Otherwise, the Huns made no attempt to conquer or settle on Roman territory.{{sfn|Kelly|2015|p=195}} Following Attila's death, the Huns were driven out of Pannonia and some appear to have returned to the Pontic Steppe, while one group settled in [[Scythia Minor (Dobruja)|Dobruja]].{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=92}}

One of the only written sources for the size of Attila's domain is given by the Roman historian Priscus.{{sfn|Wołoszyn|2020|p=118}} Priscus refers to Attila ruling as far as the islands in the "ocean" ({{lang|grc|Ὠκεανός|italics=yes}}), but it is unclear if this meant the Baltic Sea or the world-encircling Ocean that the Greeks and Romans believed in. In either case, the description of Attila ruling as far as the islands in the "ocean" may be hyperbole.{{sfn|Wołoszyn|2020|pp=118-119}} Archaeology is often used to argue for an area having been under Hunnic control; however, nomadic peoples often control territories beyond their immediate settlement.{{sfn|Wołoszyn|2020|p=121}} A large number of major finds from [[Silesia]] and [[Lesser Poland]], north of the Carpathian Mountains, have been attributed to the time of Attila and associated with the nomadic milieu of the Huns.{{sfn|Rodzińska-Nowak|2020|p=371}} While scholars have speculated about direct Hunnic control and settlement here, it is entirely unclear what kind of relationship the population of these regions had to the Huns.{{sfn|Rodzińska-Nowak|2020|pp=408-409}}