person
Attila the Hun
Attila
also: Atilla
Attila (d. 453), king of the Huns, who devastated the Roman Empire; placed first in Stroom's list of commanders whose strategies he claims to know — pointedly, Attila was an enemy of Rome, not a Roman general.
Reading notes
- The Civilizer §23 Attila, Scipio, Napoleon
Three commanders whose strategies Stroom claims to know. Attila the Hun (d. 453) is pointedly the non-Roman — indeed the enemy of Rome — placed first; Scipio Africanus (236–183 BC) defeated Hannibal; Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) reorganized Europe. The cockroaches' preference for laurel 'in a fricassee' deflates the martial boasting.
- Tales (Five Stories) §8 Attila
Attila (d. 453), king of the Huns, whose devastating campaigns across Europe make him a stock figure for a world-historical force that rises from and then recedes into the 'mass'; paired here with Mohammed as examples of the great individual who grows rarer in a leveling age.