Editing Attila (section)

== Historiography and sources ==
[[File:Attila Museum.JPG|thumb|Figure of Attila in a museum in Hungary.]]
[[File:AttilatheHunonhorsebackbyGeorgeSStuart.jpg|thumb|A reconstruction of Attila by [[George S. Stuart]], Museum of Ventura County, USA.]]
[[File:MorThanFeastofAttila.jpg|thumb|[[Mór Than]]'s 19th century painting of ''The Feast of Attila'', based on a fragment of [[Priscus]].]]
The historiography of Attila is faced with a major challenge, in that the only complete sources are written in [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] by the enemies of the Huns. Attila's contemporaries left many testimonials of his life, but only fragments of these remain.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=25}} [[Priscus]] was a [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]] diplomat and historian who wrote in Greek, and he was both a witness to and an actor in the story of Attila, as a member of the embassy of [[Theodosius II|Theodosius&nbsp;II]] at the Hunnic court in 449. He was obviously biased by his political position, but his writing is a major source for information on the life of Attila, and he is the only person known to have recorded a [[#Appearance and character|physical description]] of him. He wrote a history of the late Roman Empire in eight books covering the period from 430 to 476.{{r|Given}}

Only fragments of Priscus' work remain. It was cited extensively by 6th-century historians [[Procopius]] and [[Jordanes]],{{r|Rouche|p=413}} especially in Jordanes' ''[[Getica|The Origin and Deeds of the Goths]]'', which contains numerous references to Priscus's history, and it is also an important source of information about the Hunnic empire and its neighbors. He describes the legacy of Attila and the Hunnic people for a century after Attila's death. [[Marcellinus Comes]], a chancellor of [[Justinian]] during the same era, also describes the relations between the Huns and the [[Eastern Roman Empire]].{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=30}}

Numerous ecclesiastical writings contain useful but scattered information, sometimes difficult to authenticate or distorted by years of hand-copying between the 6th and 17th centuries. The [[Hungary|Hungarian]] writers of the 12th century wished to portray the Huns in a positive light as their glorious ancestors, and so repressed certain historical elements and added their own legends.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=32}}

The literature and knowledge of the Huns themselves was transmitted orally, by means of epics and chanted poems that were handed down from generation to generation.{{r|Rouche|p=354}} Indirectly, fragments of this [[oral tradition|oral history]] have reached us via the literature of the Scandinavians and Germans, neighbors of the Huns who wrote between the 9th and 13th centuries. Attila is a major character in many Medieval epics, such as the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'', as well as various [[Edda]]s and [[saga]]s.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=32}}{{r|Rouche|p=354}}

[[Archaeological]] investigation has uncovered some details about the lifestyle, art, and warfare of the Huns. There are a few traces of battles and sieges, but the tomb of Attila and the location of his capital have not yet been found.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=33–37}}