Editing Huns (section)

=== Marriage and the role of women ===
The elites of the Huns practiced [[polygamy]],{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=187}} while the commoners were probably monogamous.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1959|pp=233–234}} Ammianus Marcellinus claimed that the Hunnish women lived in seclusion; however, the first-hand account of Priscus shows them freely moving and mixing with men.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=185}} Priscus describes Hunnic women swarming around Attila as he entered a village, as well as the wife of Attila's minister [[Onegesius]] offering the king food and drink with her servants.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|pp=186–187}} Priscus was able to enter the tent of Attila's chief wife, [[Kreka|Hereca]], without difficulty.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=186}}

Priscus also attests that the widow of Attila's brother Bleda was in command of a village that the Roman ambassadors rode through: her territory may have included a larger area.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=186}} Thompson notes that other steppe peoples, such as the [[Utigurs]] and the [[Sabirs]], are known to have had female tribal leaders, and argues that the Huns probably held widows in high respect.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=186}} Due to the pastoral nature of the Huns' economy, the women likely had a large degree of authority over the domestic household.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=187}}