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The king of the Huns took her pleas as an offer of marriage and this became his justification for his invasion of the western European empire. Attila invaded the province of Gaul and he sacked and razed several cities. The Romans could not cope with the Huns and their hit and run tactics. A brilliant Roman general Aetius, who was called the ‘last of the Romans’ by Gibbon forged an anti-Hun coalition.<ref>Gibbon,p. 478</ref> He persuaded many Germanic tribes to join this alliance including the Visigoths and Vandals. The army of Attila penetrated deep into Gaul and they were confronted by a massive army, under Aetius. At the Battle of Cataluanian Fields or the Battle of Chalon’s (451 AD) in what has been described as one of the bloodiest battles in history, the army of Attila was halted. The Hunnic horde was halted but they were far from defeated. The year following the Battle of Cataluanian Fields the Huns invaded Italy. They caused widespread destruction and they sacked the great city of Aquileia that it ‘disappeared from history.’<ref> Gibbon,p. 491</ref>

The Huns caused massive devastation and entire populations moved and many cities and towns were abandoned. However, the Huns stopped at the River Po and did not proceed to Rome<ref> Gibbon, p. 497</ref>. Legend has it that Pope Leo persuaded Attila not to attack Rome. The real reasons why Attila did not attack Rome was that there was a famine and his army was running low on supplies.<ref>Kim, Hyun Jin. <i>The Huns, Rome, and the Birth of Europe</i>. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2013). pp. 17–19 </ref> Attila and his army returned to their Hungarian homelands. Soon after Attila died after a feast to celebrate a marriage. The Hunnic Empire was divided and soon the subject peoples defeated the Huns and their power was broken forever.