430 – 440s

Events in the 430s 1

• 434 – 453 Attila the Hun Attila rules the Hunnic Empire from 434 to 453 AD, terrorising both halves of the Roman Empire. He devastates the Balkans repeatedly, extracts enormous tribute from Constantinople, and invades Gaul in 451 AD — defeated at the Catalaunian Plains by the Roman general Aetius and his Visigothic allies in one of the most consequential battles in history. He invades Italy in 452 AD, sacking Aquileia and threatening Rome, but withdraws — perhaps due to plague, perhaps due to Pope Leo I's legendary intervention. He dies in 453 AD, apparently of a nosebleed on his wedding night.