Attila Sacks Metz: Huns Expose Roman Weakness
Attila the Hun sacked the Roman city of Metz on April 7, 451 AD, during an invasion of Gaul that had already destroyed multiple cities along the Rhine. His army, estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 warriors, moved with terrifying speed through modern-day France. The Bishop of Metz and most of the population were killed. The devastation prompted the Roman general Aetius to forge an unprecedented alliance with his former enemies, the Visigoths under King Theodoric I. This coalition confronted Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in June 451, fighting him to a tactical draw that convinced the Hun to withdraw from Gaul. It was one of the few times a coalition of Roman and Germanic forces successfully checked Hunnic expansion.
April 7, 451
1575 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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