220 THE HUNS OF ATTILA. 



within half a mile of the Hunish camp for the possession of a 

 ridge which would command the flank of either side in the 

 coming battle. But in the uproar of the night it was unheard 

 or unheeded, although fifteen thousand were left dead on the 

 hill-side before Torismund, the valiant son of Theodoric, had 

 occupied the eminence for the Roman army. 



It was well past the mid-hour of the following day, when all 

 preparations were completed, and the two vast armies were 

 arrayed against each other on opposite sides of the little rivulet. 

 On one side Attila at the head of his brave and faithful Huns 

 occupied in person the center of his line. These grim-looking 

 warriors, dark and hard-featured, mounted on wild unbridled 

 horses, with the bow and quiver slung at their shoulders and in 

 their hands the huge naked sword, presented by far the most 

 terrific appearance in all that line of battle. While far away on 

 their right and their left, stretched the myriad tribes and nations 

 of the barbarous north. There were the Gepidse, the Heruli, 

 the Geloni, the Scyrri, the Rugians, Burgundians, Thuringians, 

 and Belonoti, and the thousand hordes that roamed the wilderness 

 from the Rhine to the Volga. On the extreme left were posted 

 the tall commanding Ostrogoths, next to the low ridge which 

 here extended along the ranks. On the other side of the stream, 

 Aetius commanded the left flank. The center was filled with 

 tribes of doubtful constancy or valor, the robust Alan, the sturdy 

 Armorican, and the gaudy Frank. While on the right, and 

 opposed to the Ostrogoths, were stationed the blue-eyed light- 

 haired Visigoths, led on by their aged king Theodoric. 



On this battle field of the early ages, were thus gathered one 

 and a half millions of warriors. It was the grandest and 

 completest armament that the world of those times could furnish. 

 The trained and selected fighters of a continent were facing each 

 other on that day of destiny. The Roman legions, skilled in all 

 the tactics of antiquity, the Scythian archers, the most noted 

 marksmen of all times, the dexterous spearmen of Gaul, the 

 powerful wielders of the Gothic battle-ax, and the Hunish horse- 

 men, beyond question the most daring riders in the world, 

 swelled the squadrons of a field the most momentous in the 

 annals of history. 



