Brutal Ruler: Attila the Hun
Attila became the ruler of the Hunnic empire when his older brother died in 453 AD. Some reports state that he actually murdered his brother himself to sit on the throne. But that might have just been a smear campaign by the Roman Empire.
Let’s not forget that the Huns were a “barbaric” tribe that briefly invaded the Roman lands before the Western Empire’s fall. And they seem to have remained despicable monsters in the imaginations of the West ever since that time.
So, we should probably take many of the stories about him with a grain of salt. We know that the brutal ruler expanded the Hunnic empire into present-day Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and the Balkans and tried to conquer Gaul, which you’ll know as France.
Eventually, though, he was repelled. He also invaded Italy and nearly managed to take Rome, destroying the northern regions of the peninsula in his wake.
No matter the truth, the Huns are remembered in textbooks as feared by the Romans for their incredibly savage and unforgiving reputations.
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Attila is revered in Hungarian history books. I even have a biography of him buried somewhere on my bookshelves, though I can’t find it not. Title: Attila, King of the Huns, by Patrick Howarth. Terrifying conqueror: Yes, and I would have hated to be in his path. But the true Hungarians are the descendants of the Huns who settled in that region.
How is Nebuchadnezzar seen by his conquered states? The Jews revile his memory. Same for Vepasian and his general, Titus, who destroyed the second temple of the Jews. But in general, the history books don’t seem to see them as anything worse that conquerors consolidating their rule.