Editing Attila (section)

== Early life and background ==
{{Main|Huns}}
[[File:Hunnen.jpg|thumb|left|Huns in battle with the [[Alans]]. An 1870s engraving after a drawing by [[Peter Johann Nepomuk Geiger|Johann Nepomuk Geiger]] (1805–1880).]]
The Huns were a group of [[Eurasian nomads]], appearing from east of the [[Volga]], who migrated further into [[Western Europe]] c.&nbsp;370{{r|Grousset}} and built up an enormous empire there. Their main military techniques were [[mounted archer]]y and [[javelin]] throwing. They were in the process of developing [[sedentism|settlements]] before their arrival in Western Europe, yet the Huns were a society of pastoral warriors{{r|Rouche|p=259}} whose primary form of nourishment was meat and milk, products of their herds.

The origin and [[Hunnic language|language of the Huns]] has been the subject of debate for centuries. According to some theories, their leaders at least may have spoken a [[Turkic language]], perhaps closest to the modern [[Chuvash language]].{{r|Pritsak|p=444}}  According to the ''Encyclopedia of European Peoples'', "the Huns, especially those who migrated to the west, may have been a combination of central Asian [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], [[Mongols|Mongolic]], and [[Ugrians|Ugric]] stocks".{{r|Waldman}}

Attila's father [[Mundzuk]] was the brother of kings [[Octar]] and [[Rugila|Ruga]], who reigned jointly over the Hunnic empire in the early fifth century. This form of [[diarchy]] was recurrent with the Huns, but historians are unsure whether it was institutionalized, merely customary, or an occasional occurrence.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=80}} His family was from a noble lineage, but it is uncertain whether they constituted a royal [[dynasty]]. Attila's birthdate is debated; journalist [[Éric Deschodt]] and writer Herman Schreiber have proposed a date of 395.{{r|Deschodt}}{{r|Schreiber}} However, historian [[Iaroslav Lebedynsky]] and archaeologist Katalin Escher prefer an estimate between the 390s and the first decade of the fifth century.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=40}} Several historians have proposed 406 as the date.{{r|Harvey|p=92}}{{r|Cooper|p=202}}

Attila grew up in a rapidly changing world. His people were nomads who had only recently arrived in Europe.{{r|Bona}} They crossed the [[Volga]] river during the 370s and annexed the territory of the [[Alans]], then attacked the Gothic kingdom between the [[Carpathian Mountains]] and the [[Danube]]. They were a very mobile people, whose mounted archers had acquired a reputation for invincibility, and the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] seemed unable to withstand them.{{r|Rouche|p=133–151}} Vast populations fleeing the Huns moved from [[Germania]] into the Roman Empire in the west and south, and along the banks of the [[Rhine]] and Danube. In 376, the Goths crossed the Danube, initially submitting to the Romans but soon rebelling against Emperor [[Valens]], whom they killed in the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378.{{r|Rouche|p=100}} Large numbers of [[Vandals]], Alans, [[Suebi]], and [[Burgundians]] [[crossing of the Rhine|crossed the Rhine]] and invaded Roman [[Gaul]] on December&nbsp;31, 406, to escape the Huns.{{r|Lebedynsky:Report|p=233}} The Roman Empire had been split in half since 395 and was ruled by two distinct governments, one based in [[Ravenna]] in the West, and the other in [[Constantinople]] in the East. The Roman Emperors, both East and West, were generally from the [[Theodosian dynasty|Theodosian]] family in Attila's lifetime (despite several power struggles).{{r|Lebedynsky:Campaign|p=13}}

The Huns dominated a vast territory with nebulous borders determined by the will of a constellation of ethnically varied peoples. Some were assimilated to Hunnic nationality, whereas many retained their own identities and rulers but acknowledged the [[suzerainty]] of the king of the Huns.{{r|Lebedynsky:Campaign|p=11}} The Huns were also the indirect source of many of the Romans' problems, driving various Germanic tribes into Roman territory, yet relations between the two empires were cordial: the Romans used the Huns as [[mercenary|mercenaries]] against the Germans and even in their civil wars. Thus, the usurper [[Joannes]] was able to recruit thousands of Huns for his army against [[Valentinian III|Valentinian&nbsp;III]] in 424. It was [[Flavius Aetius|Aëtius]], later Patrician of the West, who managed this operation. They exchanged ambassadors and hostages, the alliance lasting from 401 to 450 and permitting the Romans numerous military victories.{{r|Rouche|p=111}} The Huns considered the Romans to be paying them tribute, whereas the Romans preferred to view this as payment for services rendered. The Huns had become a great power by the time that Attila came of age during the reign of his uncle Ruga, to the point that [[Nestorius]], the Patriarch of Constantinople, deplored the situation with these words: "They have become both masters and slaves of the Romans".{{r|Rouche|p=128}}