BEWARE OF HUNS BEARING SIEGE ENGINES THE SIEGE OF NAISSUS

In AD 443, the city of Naissus (modern Niš, Serbia), was besieged by the Huns. The siege was the first time the Huns are recorded as having siege engines and taking a fortified city. The city’s fall sent shockwaves throughout the Roman world - now, nowhere was safe from the Huns.

By Djordje Miltenovic

The first invasion of the Roman Empire under the Hunnic brother-kings Bleda and Attila came in 441. There had been previous Hunnic invasions of Roman territory since the late fourth century and several had occurred already during the fifth —our sources for them are, however, especially poor. Huns can also be found serving in Roman armies, and diplomatic contact between Rome and the Huns may have been extensive. There may have been a treaty between Milan and/or Constantinople and the new Hunnic kings as early as 435 (or perhaps 438) where the Huns agreed not to invade Roman territory but, when the terms of this agreement expired (or, perhaps, were not met), they did invade. Although the exact dates and courses of the various Hunnic invasions are difficult to pin down,…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVII.3

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