Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons

The Battle of Chalons was fought during the Hunnic Invasions of Gaul in present-day France. Pitting Attila the Hun against Roman forces led by Flavius Aetius, the Battle of Chalons ended in a tactical draw but was a strategic victory for Rome. The victory at Chalons was one of the last achieved by the Western Roman Empire.​ Date The traditional date for the Battle of Chalons is June 20, 451. Some sources indicate that it may have been fought on September 20, 451. Armies Commanders Huns Attila the Hun30,000-50,000 men Romans Flavius AetiusTheodoric I30,000-50,000 men Battle of Chalons Summary In the years preceding 450, Roman control over Gaul and its other outlying provinces had grown weak. That year, Honoria, the sister, of Emperor Valentinian III, offered her hand in marriage to Attila the Hun with the promise that she would deliver half the Western Roman Empire as her dowry. Long a thorn in her brothers side, Honoria had earlier been married to Senator Herculanus in an effort to minimize her scheming. Accepting Honorias offer, Attila demanded that Valentinian deliver her to him. This was promptly refused and Attila began preparing for war. Attilas war planning was also encouraged by the Vandal king Gaiseric who wished to wage war on the Visigoths. Marching across the Rhine in early 451, Attila was joined by the Gepids and Ostrogoths. Through the first parts of the campaign, Attilas men sacked town after town including Strasbourg, Metz, Cologne, Amiens, and Reims. As they approached Aurelianum (Orleans), the citys inhabitants closed the gates forcing Attila to lay siege. In northern Italy, Magister militum Flavius Aetius began mustering forces to resist Attilas advance. Moving into southern Gaul, Aetius found himself with a small force consisting primarily of auxiliaries. Seeking aid from Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths, he was initially rebuffed. Turning to Avitus, a powerful local magnate, Aetius finally was able to find assistance. Working with Avitus, Aetius succeeded in convincing Theodoric to join the cause as well as several other local tribes. Moving north, Aetius sought to intercept Attila near Aurelianum. Word of Aetius approach reached Attila as his men were breaching the citys walls. Forced to abandon the attack or be trapped in the city, Attila began retreating northeast in search of favorable terrain to make a stand. Reaching the Catalaunian Fields, he halted, turned, and prepared to give battle. On June 19, as the Romans approached, a group of Attilas Gepids fought a large skirmish with some of Aetius Franks. Despite foreboding predictions from his seers, Attila gave the order to form for battle the next day. Moving from their fortified camp, they marched towards a ridge that crossed the fields. Playing for time, Attila did not give the order to advance until late in the day with the goal of allowing his men to retreat after nightfall if defeated. Pressing forward they moved up the right side of the ridge with the Huns in the center and the Gepids and Ostrogoths on the right and left respectively. Aetius men climbed the left slope of the ridge with his Romans on the left, the Alans in the center, and Theodorics Visigoths on the right. With the armies in place, the Huns advanced to take the top of the ridge. Moving quickly, Aetius men reached the crest first. Taking the top of the ridge, they repulsed Attilas assault and sent his men reeling back in disorder. Seeing an opportunity, Theodorics Visigoths surged forward attacking the retreating Hunnic forces. As he struggled to reorganize his men, Attilas own household unit was attacked forcing him to fall back to his fortified camp. Pursuing, Aetius men compelled the rest of the Hunnic forces to follow their leader, though Theodoric was killed in the fighting. With Theodoric dead, his son, Thorismund, assumed command of the Visigoths. With nightfall, the fighting ended. The next morning, Attila prepared for the expected Roman attack. In the Roman camp, Thorismund advocated assaulting the Huns but was dissuaded by Aetius. Realizing that Attila had been defeated and his advance stopped, Aetius began to assess the political situation. He realized that if the Huns were completely destroyed, that the Visigoths would likely end their alliance with Rome and would become a threat. To prevent this, he suggested that Thorismund immediately return to the Visigoth capital at Tolosa to claim his fathers throne before one of his brothers seized it. Thorismund agreed and departed with his men. Aetius used similar tactics to dismiss his other Frankish allies before withdrawing with his Roman troops. Initially believing the Roman withdrawal to be a ruse, Attila waited several days before breaking camp and retreating back across the Rhine. Aftermath Like many battles in this time period, precise casualties for the Battle of Chalons are not known. An extremely bloody battle, Chalons ended Attilas 451 campaign in Gaul and damaged his reputation as an invincible conqueror. The following year he returned to assert his claim to Honorias hand and ravaged northern Italy. Advancing down the peninsula, he did not depart until speaking with Pope Leo I. The victory at Chalons was one of the last significant victories achieved by the Western Roman Empire. Sources Medieval Sourcebook: Battle of ChalonsHistorynet: Battle of Chalons

Is Education The Key For Global Empowerment - 1053 Words

Is Education the Key to Global Empowerment? Unlike what is the case in the US, globally primary education is far from a guarantee. Every year, millions of children are going uneducated, stripping the intellectual capacity of many impoverished nations. No segment of the global population does this more acutely effect than girls. While many societies feel a strong cultural push educate boys, the same pressures are often absent when it comes to girls. Insert link to article on Michelle Obama Why is this important? Increasing access to education not only increases the intellectual ceiling of a region, but it has the power in revolutionizing the lives of millions. Each additional year of schooling will increase future wages of an†¦show more content†¦Contrast this to other areas of the globe where entire segments of the population are not allowed to drive, vote, travel, or even work. Their agency is dramatically restricted due to a host of governmental and cultural structural issues. I have been aware of this issue for some time now by gleaning information through isolated news articles and speakers. I must admit, however, I did not understand the full scope of the problems faced by this universal underclass of citizens until I read the book Half the Sky, written by married New York Times reporters Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I picked up this book on the recommendation of my girlfriend and found myself unable to put it down. Insert picture of book The book is an account of the wide range of structural issues faced by women in third world nations. The couple has traveled the globe as reporters and share their findings along with a list of action steps they believe should be taken. They did a phenomenal job both in detailing the horrors faced by women around the world and also the reasons to be optimistic about a brighter future. There is no need to mince words, women across the globe are subject to horrible, unthinkable situations: rampant human sex trafficking, forced child prostitution, honor killings, public gang rapes, genital mutilation, hunger, childbirth complications, lack of access to medical care, and lack of

Poetry 3 Essay Example For Students

Poetry 3 Essay Since the dawn of time, human beings have been in a constant struggle to survive. Whether you are a man or women, black or white, rich or poor, the hardships of life have seemed to bind us together in a very cruel world. Many poets write about poverty, envy, and the outcome of war which are just a few of the many battles people fight everyday.Poems such as â€Å"Women Work†, â€Å"Richard Corey†, and â€Å"The Sad Children’s Story† define the different meanings of life. â€Å"Women Work,† a poem by Maya Angelou, is the story of the monotony of a poor women’s day to day existence. It never changes; housework, feed and dress the kids, shop, cook, and work the fields. The only solace, the only redemption, is when she will become one with nature. She has no material goods to show for her hard work, but she has peace in the fact that the world around her is all that is hers. She says, â€Å"Shine on me, sunshine, rain on me, rain, fall softly, dewdrops, and cool my brow again.† The rain and the dewdrops symbolize tears falling on her in her final resting-place. She then says, â€Å"Storm, blow me from here with your fiercest wind. Let me float across the sky, ‘till I can rest again.† The storm represents death and the taking away of her soul to her heavenly inheritance. â€Å"Fall gentle snowflake, cover me with white cold icy kisses and let me rest tonight,† is the image of snow falling on her grave. The last sta nza is, â€Å"Sun, rain, curving sky, mountain, oceans, leaf and stone, star shine, moon glow, you’re all that I can call my own.† This last section sums up her beliefs that she finds comfort and eternal peace in nature. To her, death is nature. Edwin Arlington Robinson wrote the poem â€Å"Richard Cory† which is a fine example of envy. What you see is not always what you get. The poem states, â€Å"In fine, we thought he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place.† This line tells the reader that Richard Cory was a well know, well respected man of the community, but the people were naive to think that with riches and power comes happiness. They wanted to be like him so bad that their struggle was to attempt to live the lifestyle he was living. â€Å"So on we worked, and waited for the light and went without meat and cursed the bread,† is a perfect example of the lengths people will go to attain what they perceive is the ideal life. However, the last sentence states â€Å"And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head.† All is never what it seems. In the poem â€Å"The Sad Children’s Story†, written by Grace Paley, it describes the hardships our children’s children will have to overcome due to the careless actions of their elders. It also exemplifies the long-term effects of the devastation of war, and the attitude that prevails even today that whomever causes that devastation will not have to answer to those who will suffer from it. â€Å"This house is a wreck †¦Your papers are all over the place, the chairs are covered with books, and look, brown leaves are pilled on the floor under the wandering Jews.† This stanza illustrates what happens when matters get out of control. For example, the house is a wreck due to the uncontrollable effect of war. â€Å"Your face is a wreck†¦There are lines all over your face, your necks like curious turtles. Why did you let yourself go? Where are you going without us?† The face and the lines symbolize that the person is old and aged beyond his year s. The necks like curious turtles symbolize a person hiding and ashamed of their actions. When the children ask why did you let yourself go and where are you going, they are really trying to say how can you leave us without rectifying what you have done and why are you leaving us here alone to deal with your disaster. â€Å"The world is a wreck†¦there are bombs all over the place there’s no water the fields are poisoned,† is the visual image of the horrendous outcome of war. â€Å"Why did you leave things like this?† begs an answer. The whole poem deals with, regardless of what happens, how does one generation explain what they did to the generations to come? What has happened is that the children of the people who allowed the war to take place, are bringing home their children only to find destruction and no explanation. The poem can be summed up in the last sentence, â€Å"Where can we go said the children, what can we say to our children.†Life is a struggle. Life is not easy. The three poems show and define the frailty of man and his environment. We strive to live the good life, be the good person, and do the right things, but, more often than not, we fail. There are no easy, if any, answers. We go through life by living one day at a time, and hopefully we will learn from our mistakes.