The Hun forces, that started their move from Middle
Hungary towards west in the beginning of 451's, in total consisted about 200 thousand
people of which 90-100 thousand had been Turks and about the same quantity had been German
and Slavic.
While the Hun armies crossed the river Rhine and
entered Gallia from three different points in February-March, the Roman army, which had
arrived to Gallia from Italy under the command of Aetius and increased its numbers to 200
thousand with the support of the Hun enemy "barbarians", quickly proceeded to
the north. As the Hun armies had captured Mettis (Metz in April 7) and Durocortum (Rheims)
and arrived at the city of Aurelium (Orleans), near todays Paris, Aetius had already
reached there. But the battle began at Campus Mauriacus (in the west of city Troyes in the
lowland of Champagne in June 20, 451) because Attila believed that this place was more
suitable according to Turkish war plans.
It is still a subject
of discussions, who had been the victor of this great battle, that had last for 24 hours,
and in which both halfes of the world that had fought against each other giving lots of
casualties (hundredthousands died according to sources). Western historians claim that
Atilla had been defeated and as a proof for this they show the withdraw of the Huns
without the destruction of the Roman forces. However, in the evening of the battle, the
Roman armies dispersed, and even Aetius who had lost communication with his units, fell
in-between the Hun detachments from where he could escape only with difficulties. In the
early hours of the next day, the army of the West Got under the command of Thurismund, the
son of King Theodorik, who had died during the battle, left the war place and the forces
of Franks who had lots of casualties, had followed them.
Besides, it is obvious
that Attila had reached his aim in this battle. In order to gain the domination over West,
he first proceeded to Gallia where he intended to defeat the Gallian barbarians, which had
been the human and soldier warehouse of the Roman Empire and finally breaking the war
power of these natural allied of Rome, he succeeded in leaving Rome without support. As a
result, the famous Aetius had fallen into disfavour in Rome. One of the most asked
questions in Rome had been, what the West Empire had gained in Campus Maruriacus, as
Attila, who brought his forces within 20 days from the center of Gallia to the capital
region healthy and in discipline, preserved his strength and "fearsomeness".
Thus, as Attila had began his expedition to Italy, not even one year had passed and the
Roman's had no power to resist to the Huns. According to the records of the contemporary
Prosper Tiro (secretary of Pope Leon I.), Aetius tried to convince the emperor
Valentinianus to leave Italy, due to the impossibility for resistance.
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