Attila receiving the Sword of Mars (Isten kardja) by Tulipán Tamás 2012
A year after the Huns (whom Priscus simply refers to as Scythians) and the Romans made a peace agreement to respect each other's territories, the deal fell apart. In roughly 441 CE, Attila accused the Christian bishop of Margos of heading an incursion into the Hun's lands and desecrating their graveyards. He demanded this bishop be handed over to receive punishment (probably impalement). The Romans denied the claim and refused to hand the bishop over. Attila also became aware that the Romans were harboring "Scythian" (Hunnic) fugitives, a violation of the peace deal. Attila threatened that the only result would be war if they didn't honor the peace deal terms. In retaliation, the Huns crossed the Istros (Danube) and began destroying the Roman military installations near the river. They also destroyed the city of Viminacium.
The unnamed Christian bishop, fearing the Romans might change their mind and surrender him to avoid the war, betrayed the Romans and made a private deal with the Huns. He would surrender the city for personal clemency. The bishop made good on his promise and the Huns took Margos. The peace deal no longer in effect resulted in further invasions: Naissos, Sirmium, Singidunum, etc.
"Naissos was a major strategic point...to control Naissos was to control access to the Balkans, Greece and Thrace." (taken from author's notes on Fragment 2 From the Excerpts on Foreigners’ Embassies to the Romans of Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos).
Priscus on Naissus in 448 CE: "When we arrived at Naissus we found the city deserted, as though it had been sacked; only a few sick persons lay in the churches. We halted at a short distance from the river, in an open space, for all the ground adjacent to the bank was full of the bones of men slain in war." (taken from Wikipedia).
-info from: Wikipedia & Priscus of Panium. The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430–476 (Christian Roman Empire Book 11) (p. 56). Evolution Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Source:
Quote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ni%C5%A1
Priscus of Panium. The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430–476 (Christian Roman Empire Book 11) (p. 56). Evolution Publishing. Kindle Edition.
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