The Night Attila Died: Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun

by Michael A. Babcock

Before Saddam, before Hitler, before Napoleon... ...there was Attila, the reviled leader of the Huns who cut a bloody swath of death across fifth-century Europe. Yet, for all his barbarian savagery, it took a mere nosebleed to end his life. At least that's how history has recorded it-a curious footnote to a legacy rife with violence. But history happens to be wrong. Michael Babcock, a noted philologist and recognized authority on the life and legend...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425202720
• ISBN13: 9780425202722
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Grouop
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Coldest Case Of All

I must preface my review by stating that, before reading this book, I knew little about Attila other than his name. Overall, I found it to be a surprisingly fascinating and involving tale, and the "murder" thesis quite plausible. (The "died-of-a-nosebleed-while-in-a-drunken-stupor-on-his-wedding-night" yarn does indisputably sound like the setup for a really, really bad Monty Python sketch.) Unfortunately, the fact that no original, uncorrupted accounts of his death survive make it impossible to tell for certain what the first "official" account of Attila's death even really was. (If he was murdered, I'd like to think that even a bunch of Barbarians could cook up a better cover story than that.) However, I wish the author had shown a little modesty in pushing his theory. When your one source for a death is what one author said one earlier author said about one even earlier author's account, which itself was probably based on hearsay and propaganda...well, it's hard to be too sure of anything much. Babcock would perhaps have been better off just spelling out what little information we have, and let that speak for itself. That said, I'm still giving the book five stars, simply because, aside from being quite a lively read, it's inspired me to find out more about Attila and his decidedly strange times. I have to thank Babcock for that. By the way, am I the only one who would like to know, more than anything else involving this story, whatever became of Ildico?

Short, sweet and oh, so interesting

Other reviewers give you the whole book. I prefer to read it myself. And, this book provided new information (at least for me), an intelligent and logical progression of actions and reactions, and an interesting murder plot. I was particularly intrigued by how the author teased out his conclusions from fragments of the past and the use of language. A worthwhile book which should appeal to a wide variety of readers.

Murder Mystery Solved? Highly Probable ...

Dr. Michael Babcock makes a compelling case that Attila the Hun did not die of natural causes - a nosebleed - but instead was murdered. Given the lifestyle Attila led, the liklihood of murder is a much higher probability in any case, than natural causes ... Like a modern detective the author examines the key players who had something to gain by Attila's death. He discovers the clues obtained from historical documents, some of which were altered in an attempt to mislead anyone who was looking for evidence, but just enough detail is left that points to an assasination plot which succeeded. The author suspected something was amiss in the generally accepted explanations for Attila's death when he was a student of philology (the study of reconstructing the past from words, taking into consideratin culture, history, phonetics and graphics). The author read the detailed account of Attila's death initially in the book "Gothic History" by Jordanes which included a tightly constructed explanation filled with precise details ... however the account was written a hundred years after Attila's death. It was written based on a historical document left by Priscus, a Fifth Century historian and diplomat. Priscus had attended Attila's court in 449 A.D. and a detailed description of this event survived in his autobiography. Unfortunately, Priscus's account of Attila's death did not survive, the only thing which remained was the second hand version written by Jordanes ... The most fascinating information contained within this book is how the politics of the past are revealed. At the time, the Roman Empire was separated into East and West: Marcinion was Emperor in the East and Valintinian III ruled as Emperor of Rome. Rome was losing some of its provinces as new nations in Europe were born from their ashes. Each of the two Empires had reasons to see Attila dead ... The book captures the imagination of the reader taking one back to ancient times. The reader's eyes are openedas to how different factions influenced and swayed each Empire and how power was wielded behind the scenes by those who could manipulate events to their own advantage. Whether or not the author is correct can not be factually proven but he provides enough information to make a great case for his side. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

Chatting up the deed.

Would you like to spend an evening with a forensic detective, sitting in front a a fire with mulled wine, talking about his latest case? If so, this is the book for you. In a chatty style with plenty of interesting asides, Mr. Babcock walks you through the crime and the subsequent coverup. Absolute truth or crackpot conspiracy theory? You be the judge. But you'll absolutely enjoy the evening, and the tortuous (but brilliantly spun) trail of clues leading to his conclusion. Highly recommended.

Attila occiditur

The classic story of Attila's death was handed down by the historian Jordanes in his "Gothic History," written in Constantinople about 100 years after Attila died. According to this narrative, Attila married a Germanic princess, Ildico, enjoyed a wild night of drunken revelry, and retired to his bed with his new bride. The next day, his guards found him dead with Ildico weeping by his side--he had evidently drowned from a nosebleed during his drunken stupor. Not a very flattering ending for the Scourge of God--and that, according to Babcock, is exactly the point. The author uses his skills as a philologist to explore the ancient texts and what they have to say about Attila's life and, ultimately, his death. It turns out there is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that Jordanes wasn't telling the truth. Babcock theorizes that Attila was murdered, possibly in revenge for the death of Bleda (the Hun's elder brother) and almost certainly with the complicity of the eastern and western Roman empires. And once Attila was gotten rid of, the historians and their powerful patrons conspired to make sure that his death would be remembered as a humiliating one, the better to discourage those who would attack the divinely protected Roman world. The conclusion that Attila was murdered is not all that surprising--he was a violent man in a violent time, and the traditional story of his demise sounds too much like a fable with a moral attached. After all, if you're a powerful, warlike Hun, what could be worse than to die in the comfort of your bed rather than on the battlefield? But it doesn't matter whether you ultimately agree with Babcock that Attila was murdered--what's enjoyable about "The Night Attila Died" is the journey through ancient texts and Wagnerian operas, through half-remembered legends and and the detritus of time. From the standpoint of his prospective victims, the method of Attila's death was less important than the critical fact that "Attila died." For the rest of us, there's an intriguing murder mystery here with lots of clues--shifty suspects, questionable motives, lots of people with opportunity, and plenty of self-serving testimony. Attila's death was and is a great story, and Babcock has done a nice job of telling it. For further reading about the Huns and their depradations, consider Patrick Howarth's "Attila, King of the Huns: The Man and the Myth" (short and readable) and Hugh Kennedy's "Mongols, Huns and Vikings," which does a great job of explaining why nomads like the Huns were such effective warriors--and how and why civilized societies were ultimately able to defeat them.