For the Eastern Empire, this was a critical time. Constantinople’s armies were gone, its treasury empty and its source of revenue–taxes–dried up by the devastation of the Hunnic raids. In 449 a delegation set out from Rome to sue for a lasting treaty with the seminomadic barbarian warriors of Pannonia. Attila was surprisingly accommodating, and in return for a huge cash payment he agreed to desist from further raids on the Eastern Empire. The shrewd warrior realized that the East was now exhausted, with little prospect left for plunder in the near future. The peace would leave him with a secure rear for his next project–an invasion of the virtually untouched Western Roman Empire.

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In the West, the patrician Flavius Aetius was trying to hold a crumbling empire together, with the child emperor Valentinian III and his mother and regent, Aelia Galla Placidia, serving mostly as figureheads.

Recent wars between Aetius and Theodoric the Visigoth, his theoretical vassal who had been allowed to settle within the empire, gave Attila confidence that the Western Empire’s strength would be drained and unable to resist his onslaught. In addition, he was sure that rather than unite with Aetius, Theodoric would use the opportunity of Attila’s invasion to assert his own independence. And so the Hunnic leader confidently crossed the Rhine into Gaul with a host consisting of not only Huns but also numerous German subjects, including Ostrogoths, Gepids, Franks, Rugians, Sciri, Burgundians and Thuringians. Advancing in three columns through modern-day Belgium, the Huns spread terror and destruction. Town after town was destroyed, including Metz, Cambrai, Strasbourg, Rheims, Amiens and Worms. Paris was saved only because the Huns considered it too small to be worth the trouble of a siege.

All the while, Aetius was marching to intercept Attila. In spite of Aetius’ entreaties, Theodoric at first refused to commit himself to an alliance against the Huns, just as Attila predicted. Eventually, however, he decided that the threat of Hunnic devastation was more serious than that of Roman domination, and summoning his warriors, he set out north to join Aetius.

Another barbarian tribe that Aetius had allowed to settle in the empire, the Alans, was settled around the town of Orlans, but they and their king, Sangiban, were of doubtful loyalty. As it transpired, it was at Orlans that the Hunnic host converged and also where Aetius and Theodoric met up. The allies arrived just in time to prevent Sangiban from opening the city’s gates to admit Attila. The Huns were already in the suburbs when Aetius arrived. Without hesitation the Romans fell on the scattered Huns, inflicting heavy casualties in the town, where the mounted Huns were at a severe disadvantage. As night fell, Attila withdrew his forces, heading east for the more open terrain around Châlons, which better suited his style of fighting. The Romans and Visigoths followed the retreating Huns closely, overtaking and annihilating their rear guard.

By that stage, with his warriors heavily laden with plunder, Attila would have been content to withdraw to Pannonia. Aetius, however, was determined to bring him to battle. The place chosen by the Huns to turn and fight was known as the Catalaunian Plains. Historians disagree on the exact site of the battle, but it is generally believed to lie somewhere between Troyes and Châlons. The terrain there was a virtually flat, featureless open plain, the only landmark being a hill that dominated Attila’s left flank.

Aetius and Theodoric drew up their army first, Attila remaining in his laager of wagons. Aetius deployed Sangiban and his Alans in the center, where both he and Theodoric could ensure that he stayed loyal. Theodoric and his Visigoths deployed on the right, with Theodoric commanding the main Gothic force, and his son Thorismund leading a smaller contingent on the extreme right opposite the hill. Aetius took the left with a mixed force of Romans and Germans. Attila was slow to emerge from his wagons, only doing so after midday. A fight rapidly developed for the hill, with Thorismund contesting the position against a detachment of Huns. Attila placed himself in the center of the army, deploying his Gepids on his right. The Ostrogoths under Walamir, together with various other German tribesmen, were deployed on his left.

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