THE INFLUENCE OF THE EAST ON EUROPEAN HISTORY 49 
their former settlements; for example the Burgundian nation settled 
in Burgundy, the Franks in Gaul, and the Angles and Saxons in 
Britain. ‘The weakness of the outlying portions of the Roman Empire 
does not appear to me to be a stimulus strong enough to set such vast 
masses in motion. 
Under Attila (406-453) called “The Fear of the World,” and 
“The Scourge of God,” the Huns became the terror of the world. 
They overran the Eastern Empire, and subdued Central Europe. 
Their chief settlements were in Hungary, and Attila ruled over that 
belt of the world which stretches from the Rhine to the confines of 
China. He invaded Gaul with 700,000 men, and after ravaging it as 
far as Orleans his progress was checked at Chalons by the united 
forces of Actius, the Roman general, and Theodoric, King of the 
Visigoths. Heinvaded Italy the following year, and boasted that his 
horse would eat oats on the High Altar of St. Peter’s, but an embassy, 
headed by the Pope in person, diverted him from his object ; the 
reason for this diversion is obscure, and is sometimes explained by 
the presence of St. Peter and St. Paul in the embassy. However 
this may be, Northern Italy was ravaged, and several of the inhabi- 
tants took refuge in the islands and marshes of the Adriatic, near 
the mouth of the Po, and to this cause is due the foundation of 
Venice. Shortly afterwards Attila died ; dissensions arose amongst 
his followers, and the majority of them went back again into Asia. 
For a time Europe was free from their invasions 
After the death of Mahomet, in 632, his successors were inflamed 
with a desire to spread his doctrines and convert the world. Egypt 
was subdued, and the whole of Northern Africa. In no province of 
the Roman Empire did Christianity appear to be more firmly estab- 
lished than in Northern Africa; it had produced some of the most 
famous Bishops and Fathers of the Early Church, but after the 
conquest and up to the present time hardly any trace of it remained. 
From Africa they crossed over into Spain, overthrew the Visigothic 
monarchs, crossed the Pyrennees, and advanced into F rance as far as 
Tours, where they suffered defeat at the hands of the Franks, and 
retreated into Spain. In the East the Saracen conquests included 
Syria, a great part of Asia Minor and Persia. Being now close 
neighbours of the Greeks, the Saracens, on settling down in their 
new habitations, were eager students of the Greek learning ; they 
prided themselves on their coliections of manuscripts, and Aristotle 
