Huns

extinct nomadic people in Eurasia (14th BC–16th centuries)

75 dated entries naming Huns, drawn from 66 separate years between 43 CE and 697 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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1st century

43Warfare begins between the northern and southern Huns.source

2nd century

118The north-south feud between the Hun Dynasty ends.source

4th century

350About this time the Huns begin to invade the Sassanid Empire.source
352War begins between the Huns and the Alans.source
355The Huns of Central Asia begin their great drive westwards with an advance into Scythia (modern Ukraine). They overcome and absorb the Alans, a nomadic and warlike horse breeding people from the steppes northeast of the Black Sea.source
360The Huns invade the Pontic steppes by the thousands, spreading terror as they take over territories held for generations by Alans, Heruls, Ostrogoths and Visigoths.source
363The Huns first appear in Europe and reach the Caspian Sea.source
366Valens builds a pontoon bridge across the Danube, and drives the Visigoths further north, where they will come under pressure from the advancing Huns.source
370Germanic Invasions: Various Germanic tribes are forced against the northern borders of the Roman Empire as they flee the invading Huns.source
370The Huns migrate westward from the Volga into Europe and subjugate the Alans and the Ostrogoths. With their arrival, a tradition of composite bows is introduced.source
372The Huns attack the Tervingi on the Dniester, overwhelming them with light cavalry (horse archers), and devastating the settlements of the Goths. King Athanaric is defeated and seeks refuge in Caucaland in the Carpathian Mountains.source
373Battle of the Tanais River: The Huns defeat the Alans near the Don, sending the remnants fleeing westward.source
376The Greuthungi, led by Alatheus and Saphrax, displaced by the predations of the Huns and Alans, request asylum within the Roman Empire. They are refused. The Roman frontier forces stretched to the breaking point, they slip across the Danube and unite with Fritigern. With their situation critical and desperately short of food, discontent is rising amongst the Goths.source
377Gothic War: Famine in Lower Moesia (occupied by the Goths) takes a fearsome toll. Fritigern and his followers appeal for help, but the governors Lupicinus and Maximus regard them as second-class citizens. Little help is forthcoming, and thousands starve to death. The pressure on the Roman frontier is still severe, with the Taifali and other hostile bands of Goths on the Danube. In addition, groups of Huns and Alans have also moved up to the river.source
378The Goths, supported by the Huns, move on to Constantinople. Their progress is checked by the Saracens, recruited from Arab tribes who control the eastern fringes of the empire.source
380Rome's enemies (the Germans, Sarmatians and Huns) are taken into Imperial service; as a consequence, barbarian leaders begin to play an increasingly active role in the Roman Empire.source
381The Sciri together with the Huns attack along Rome's lower Danubian frontier.source
388Battle of the Save: Emperor Theodosius I defeats Magnus Maximus near Emona (modern Slovenia). Theodosius is in command of an army including Goths, Huns and Alans. Valentinian II, now 17, is restored as Roman Emperor.source
390The Visigoths and Huns, led by Alaric, invade Thrace. Stilicho, high-ranking general (magister militum) of Vandal origin, raises an army and begins a campaign against the Goths.source
390Bleda, king of the Huns (approximate date)source
392Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), defeats the Visigoths and Huns in Thrace. Emperor Theodosius I permits Alaric to go free on condition he provides, as foederati, military services to the Roman Empire.source
394Winter – The Huns cross the frozen Danube and destroy the villages built by the Goths. Theodosius I, six hundred miles away in Italy, sends no reinforcements to defend the northern frontier.source
395The Huns begin their large-scale attack on the Eastern Roman Empire. They invade Armenia, Cappadocia, and enter parts of Syria, threatening Antioch.source
398Eutropius, Roman general (magister militum), celebrates his victory over the Huns ("the wolves of the North") in a parade through Constantinople (see 395).source
400Winter – Gainas leads the remaining Goths back to their homeland across the Danube. They meet the Huns and are defeated; the Hunnic chieftain Uldin sends the head of Gainas to Constantinople, where Arcadius receives it as a diplomatic gift.source

5th century

401Emperor Arcadius sends many gifts to the Hunnic chieftain Uldin, in appreciation of his victory over the Goths and Gainas. Arcadius then allies himself with the Huns.source
406Attila the Hun, ruler of the Hunnic Empire (approximate date) (d. 453)source
408August 22 – Stilicho is accused of treason against Honorius and is decapitated at Ravenna. His Hun bodyguard is killed; mass murders of Vandal soldiers follow.source
409Honorius agrees that sons of prominent families at court in Ravenna be sent beyond the Danube as hostages; in return, later he calls up ten thousand Hun mercenaries.source
412The forts on the west bank of the Danube, which were destroyed by the Huns, are rebuilt, and a new Danubian fleet is launched.source
412Winter – Olympiodorus, historical writer, is sent on an embassy by Honorius, and sails in stormy weather around Greece up the Black Sea, to meet the Huns who are located on the middle Danube (modern Bulgaria).source
421Rugila, chieftain of the Huns, attacks the dioceses of Dacia and Thrace (Balkans). Theodosius II allows Pannonian Ostrogoths to settle in Thrace, to defend the Danube frontier.source
422March 3 – Theodosius II issues a law to form provisions in peacetime. He instructs landowners leasing towers in the Theodosian Walls to assist with the build-up of emergency goods. Theodosius pays an annual tribute of 350 pounds of gold to the Huns in order to buy peace.source
424Roman usurper Joannes sends Flavius Aetius, governor of the Palace (cura palatii), to the Huns to ask for their assistance. After negotiating, he returns to Italy with a large force.source
425Flavius Aetius leads a force of Huns (60,000 men) into Northern Italy. He reaches a compromise with Placidia, in return for obtaining the rank commander-in-chief (magister militum) in Gaul.source
427The Roman province of Pannonia Prima is finally assimilated into the Hunnic Empire.source
430Octar, Hunnic ruler (approximate date)source
430The Huns led by Octar attack the Burgundians, who occupied territory on the Rhine near the city of Worms (Germany). During the fighting Octar dies, and his army is destroyed.source
432Roman civil war: Roman forces under command of Flavius Aetius are defeated near Rimini (Italy) in battle. His rival comes Bonifacius is mortally wounded and dies several days later. Aetius flees to Dalmatia and seeks refuge with the Huns.source
433Flavius Aetius returns to Italy with the support of the Huns. He gains control over the young emperor Valentinian III, and becomes his "protector".source
434Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum) in the service of Emperor Valentinian III, begins to hold power in Rome (this will continue for 20 years). He allows the Huns to settle in Pannonia, along the Sava River.source
434Rugila, king of the Huns (approximate date)source
436End of the Burgundian Revolt of Gunther: Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum), attempts to put an end to Burgundian raids in Gaul. He calls in Hun mercenaries under the command of Attila and his brother Bleda, which plunder Augusta Vangionum, killing some 20,000 Burgundians. The Kingdom of the Burgundians is destroyed; King Gunther and his family are killed (this epic disaster will later provide the source for the Nibelungenlied).source
439Winter – Hun and Roman envoys meet at Margum (modern Bosnia and Herzegovina), an important market town on the Sava River. After negotiations, Attila and his brother Bleda, who are present, accept a four-point peace plan. Trading rights between the two states are confirmed and emperor Theodosius II pays an annual tribute of 700 pounds of gold.source
440The Huns under Attila reappear in force, along the frontier of the Western Roman Empire. They attack merchants on the north bank of the Danube and cities in Illyricum, including (according to Priscus) Viminacium, city of Moesia.source
441The Huns, led by Attila, attack Constanţa (modern Romania), one of the few remaining Roman forts on the northern bank of the Danube, and designated as a secure trading post. On a crowded market day, the Huns take the town by surprise and slaughter the garrison.source
441The second Revolt of Bagaudae in Armorica under leading of Eudoxius is knocked down by the Alans. Eudoxius fled to the Huns.source
442The Huns, on a military campaign along the Danube and the Great Morava, destroy the city of Naissus (modern Serbia). They have mastered siege technology and are able to capture fortified cities. The Roman Senate agrees to pay Attila a tribute of 700 pounds of gold per year.source
445King Bleda of the Huns (approximate date)source
445Bleda, co-ruler of the Huns, dies in a hunting accident. He is possibly murdered at the instigation of his younger brother Attila, with whom he has ruled since 434. Now about 39, Attila takes the throne for himself, and becomes king of the Hunnic Empire.source
447The Huns, led by Attila, cross the Danube, and invade the Balkans as far as Thermopylae (Greece). During the invasion, Serdica (modern Sofia) is destroyed. For disobeying the terms of the treaty made in 442, Attila triples his demand for tribute to 2,100 pounds (ca. 700 kg) of gold per year; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner to 12 solidi.source
448Emperor Theodosius II sends an embassy to Attila the Hun; Anatolius, an Eastern Roman general (magister militum) responsible for the security of the Eastern frontier, achieves a peace treaty with the Huns, in exchange for an annual tribute of 2100 lb kg of gold per year.source
452The Huns under Attila invade Northern Italy. Emperor Valentinian III flees from Ravenna to Rome, and sends Pope Leo I to persuade Attila to return to the Hungarian Plain. The cities of Aquileia, Padua and Verona are destroyed by the Huns. Milan is saved because Attila is offered a huge amount of gold. Flavius Aetius (magister militum) is unable to raise a new army against him.source
453c. March – Attila the Hun is found dead in bed, after a wedding feast with the Goth princess Ildico. He dies of a nosebleed at his Hungarian stronghold, drowning in his own blood, aged about 47. The Huns celebrate a strava (lamentation) over his burial place with great feasting. Attila's son Ellac is appointed successor, but his brothers Dengizich and Ernakh divide the Hunnic Empire by establishing their own kingdoms north of the Black Sea (Ukraine), supported by vassal states.source
453c. March – Attila, ruler of the Huns (b. 406)source
454Battle of Nedao: Allied forces of subjected peoples (Gepids, Heruli, Ostrogoths, Rugii, Sciri and Suebi), under the leadership of King Ardaric, defeat the Huns under Ellac, eldest son of Attila the Hun, in Pannonia. Ellac is killed during the battle and succeeded by his brother Dengizich.source
455Skandagupta succeeds Kumaragupta I as ruler of the Gupta Empire (India). During his reign he crushes the Hun invasion; however, the expense of the wars drains the empire's resources and contributes to its decline.source
455March 16 – Emperor Valentinian III, age 35, is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers of the late Flavius Aetius, while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome), ending the Theodosian dynasty. His primicerius sacri cubiculi, Heraclius, is also murdered.source
458Emperor Majorian builds a Roman fleet at Miseno and Ravenna. He strengthens the army, by recruiting a large number of barbarian mercenaries (Bastarnae, Burgundians, Huns, Ostrogoths, Rugii, Scythians and Suebi).source
466Emperor Leo I repels the Hun invasion of Dacia (modern Romania). They ravage the Balkans but are unable to take Constantinople thanks to the city walls, which are rebuilt and reinforced.source
467Emperor Skandagupta dies after a 12-year reign, as the Huns consolidate their conquests in western India. He is succeeded by his half-brother Purugupta.source
468Dengizich, son of Attila the Hun, sends an embassy to Constantinople to demand money. Leo I offers the Huns settlement in Thrace in exchange for recognition of his authority. Dengizich refuses and crosses the Danube.source
469Dengizich, king of the Huns (approximate date)source
480Budhagupta, ruler of the Gupta Empire, establishes diplomatic relations with the Kannauj Kingdom and drives the Huns out of the fertile plains of northern India.source
484The Hephthalites (White Huns) invade Persia. King Peroz I gathers an army of 50,000-100,000 men, and places his brother Balash at the head of the government in Ctesiphon. At the Battle of Herat, the Persians are ambushed and defeated. Peroz I is killed, whose body is not found. Balash is crowned and becomes king of Persia.source
498Kavadh I returns from exile with support of 30,000 Hephthalites (White Huns), and again assumes the Sassanid throne. He punishes his opponents and probably his brother Djamasp, who usurped the throne from him.source

6th century

502The Bulgars ravage Thrace. A semi-nomadic people, they have absorbed the surviving Huns and meet no opposition from Byzantine forces.source
505The white Huns (Hephthalites) from the Caucasus invade the Persian Empire.source
528Yasodharman, Maharaja ("great king") of Malwa, defeats the Hun invaders under Mihirakula in central India.source
533June 21 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails in 500 transports, escorted by 92 war vessels (dromons), manned by 20,000 seamen from Constantinople, to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily. The fleet carries 10,000 infantry, about half Byzantine and half foederati, and 5,000 cavalry, consisting of 3,000 Byzantine horsemen, 1,000 foreign allies (Huns and Heruli) and 1,500 of Belisarius' retainers (bucellarii). On the flagship Belisarius is accompanied by his military secretary Procopius, and his wife Antonina.source
537April 9 – Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements: 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. Despite shortages, he starts raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges is forced into a stalemate.source
557The Avars arrive in the northern region of the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. They send envoys to the Byzantines in Lazica (modern Georgia). Like the Huns, the Avars are the former elite of a central Asian federation, which has been forced to flee westwards.source
559Winter – The Kutrigurs and Huns under Zabergan cross the frozen Danube River, and invade the Balkans. They raid Thracia and Macedonia, but are driven back near Constantinople by a Byzantine force under Belisarius.source
585The Armenian bishop Kardutsat goes with 7 priests, on a missionary trip to the steppes north of the Caucasus. He succeeds in baptizing many Huns and in translating books into their language.source

7th century

697Paolo Lucio Anafesto is elected the first Doge of Venice, which begins its rise as a major power in the Mediterranean Sea. Built up from fishing villages settled by fugitives from the Huns (see 452), the city of Venice occupies some 60 marshy islands (Venetian Lagoon).source