ATTILA

ATTILA

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destructive. The beautiful Roman “ column ofIgel” received the name of “Attila’s triumphalarch”; and the miracles of St.Mathias {Act. SS.Boll. Feb. iii. 448) distinguish by Attila’s namethe bridge that spans the Moselle at Trfeves.Strassburg, under the name Argentoratum , hadbeen entirely demolished by Attila. The city,gradually rebuilt during the two following cen-turies, took its present name from its situation.on the Roman military road ( Strata-burgum\,but the Alsatians, dissatisfied with this etymo-logy, supposed that Attila had made four roadsthrough the city walls, so as to open free com-munication between Gaul and Germany; and inreply to the objection of Schdpfiin in his Alsatia/ llustrata, that Attila could not well give Ger-man names to towns, the defenders of the tra-dition appealed to an ancient medallion over theKronenburg gate, probably intended to representa burgomaster, as an image of Attila. (See proofsin Thierry, l. c, 228-230.)

“ Attila , the scourge of God” is, as Thierryshows, the culminating point of the Latin legend.Undoubtedly the great and distinguishing feature.of the war in the eyes of the 5th century Chris-tians would be the threefold repulse of Attilafrom Orleans by St. Agnan, from Troyes by St.Loup, and, above all, from Rome by St. Leo.In any age so signal a triumph of the Church’sspiritual weapons over the hosts who were heldto symbolize the powers of darkness, would havearrested general attention, in the 5th centuryit absorbed it, and every history of the campaigntook its colour from the Divine interpositionwhich guarded the Church and the Saints. Itwas the final and conclusive answer to the fewstill surviving murmurs of the heathen partywhich referred all the misfortunes of the empireto a national desertion of the ancient polytheism.In vain was Attila’s retreat traced to the actionof the stars. Christendom triumphantly ren-dered honour to St. Leo, and with him to hisGod. Sidonius Apollinaris, in withdrawing thepromise which he had made to Prosper, bishopof Orleans, successor to St. Agnan, of writing ahistory of the war of Attila, discloses the mostsalient features of his proposed scheme—“thepraises due to the very great and holy pontiffAnianus, equal to Lupus, and not inferior toGermanus—how the city of Orleans was besieged,forced, broken into, though not sacked” (Sidon.Apollin, Ep, viii. 15). An ecclesiastical his-torian, imbued with the spirit which promptedSt. Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, would havebrought out into strong prominence two figures,the barbarian, the agent of God’s wrath—thepriest, the agent of His mercy.

The next age materialised the hidden workingsof God’s Providence; and the motive powerwhich compelled Attila’s departure became inthe legend the figure of St. Peter with a drawnsword, to whom was afterwards very naturallyadded St. Paul. This tradition, first found inPaul Warnefrid, a writer of the 8th century,was generally adopted by subsequent writers,consecrated by the Roman Breviary, and immor-talized by the genius of Raphael. In like man-ner the touches of genuine character and actionwhich mark the contemporary lives of SS. Agnan,Loup, and Genevieve disappear in proportion astheir later biographers try to invest their personswith traits of the marvellous and supernatural.

The title flagellum Dei, though, no doubt, weltknown before, first appears in the legend of St.Loup, written in the 8th or 9th century, by apriest of Troyes {Act. SS. Boll. Jul. v. 67-72).Italy and Gaul both claim the honour of its in-vention. The Italian legend ascribes it to St.Benedict, who was not born till after Attila’sdeath; the Gallic tradition places it in the mouthof a hermit of Champagne, who, when broughtto Attila, replied to his question as to the issueof the battle of Chalons—“ Tu es flagellum Dei —but God breaks, when he pleases, the instrumentsof His vengeance. God will take this sword fromthee, and will give it to another” (Thwrocz.Chron. Hung. i. 15). Thierry shows that thereis nothing improbable in this legend, which pre-serves the language and ideas of the 5th century.Cf. the apostrophe to Sennacherib in Isaiah x.5, 15, with Isidore of Seville’s expression aboutthe Huns {Hist, Goth, ad ann. 457). “They arethe rod of the Lord’s anger.” The legend how-ever, makes Attila assume the hermit’s saying asa new title. “ The star falls, the earth quakes,I am the hammer of the world ” {Chron. Hung.i. 16). It is interesting to trace the effect of thisdominant idea on the story of St. Loup’s en-counter with Attila at Troyes. History repre-sents Troyes as defenceless, without competentgarrison or fortifications. St. Loup meets theking, who consents to spare the city on conditionof detaining him as a hostage. The legend isobliged to place this interview after the battleof Chdlons. Troyes has recovered its ramparts,when Attila approaches it at the head of a vastarmy. Mounted on his war-horse, he gives animperious order that the gates should be opened.“ Who art thou ” says the bishop, “ who tramp-lest under foot the earth?” “I am Attila, kingof the Huns, the scourge of God.” “Welcome,then, scourge of the God whom I serve! Enter,and go where thou wilt! ” (2 a Vita St. Lupi y 45,ap. Boll. Act . SS. Chron. Hung. i. 16). Accord-ingly, the legend continues, Attila enters thecity with his army, but they see nothing, forthey are smitten with supernatural blindnessuntil they have passed out by the opposite gate.So, in the version of the siege of Metz, given byPaul Warnefrid {Episc. Mett. ap. Bouquet, Bee.i. 650), the oratory of St. Stephen appears tothe barbarians, who are trying to demolish itlike a great rock. The Italian legends imitatethose of Gaul. Cf. the Life of St. Geminianus,bishop of Modena, composed about the 10th cen-tury, in Act. SS. Boll. Jan. ii. 1097. “If thouart the servant of God,” says Attila, “I am thescourge of God. Disobedient servants arc de-servedly beaten.” The tendency to impersonatethe opposing powers of good and evil sometimeswarrants the introduction of the devil as theinstigator of Attila in his acts of violence andpersecution; so in the martyrdom of SS. Nicasiusand Eutropia (Surius Vit. SS. 14 Dec.), thePrince of Darkness appears near the gate ofReims. Attila is endowed with diabolical attri-butes—sarcasm, pride, malice, and hideous ugli-ness, joined with credulity and a certain comicalgood nature, such as characterizes the Bon diableof modern French pleasantry. The ecclesiasticallegends even show an affinity to those of Teutonicorigin in sometimes representing Attila as gene-rous, chivalrous, and ready to promote all goodends. Thus he appears in the history of the