bject of direct attack under this
symbol and the poisonous qualities of their waters carried to far
distant points.

Under this striking symbol we have a description of the third important
step in the downward course of Rome--the short but eventful career of
Attila, with his terrible Scythians, or Huns. Singularly, Attila was
said to "possess the iron sword of the war-god _Mars_," and he claimed
for himself the designation or title "The Scourge of God"; while his
followers were even more cruel and barbarous, if possible, than the
Goths and the Vandals.

Coming from the remote solitudes of Asia under the leadership of their
fierce king, they poured like a tornado, first upon the inhabitants of
the Eastern empire (in 442, 445) and then turned their attention
westward. Attila ruled over "nearly all the tribes north of the Danube
and the Black sea," and under his banner fought Ostrogoths, Gepidae,
Alani, Heruli, and many other Teutonic peoples. Says Gibbon: "The whole
breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the
Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated
by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field." It was the
boast of Attila that the grass never grew on the spot which his horse
had trod. In 451 he led his forces, seven hundred thousand strong,
through the center of Germany into the heart of Gaul, where he was met
at Chalons by the combined forces of the Visigoths, Alans, Franks and
Romans, and was defeated, with the loss of one hundred and seventy
thousand of his men. This was one of the most gigantic as well as one of
the most important battles of history. A rivulet flowing through the
field of battle is said to have been colored and swollen by the blood of
the slain. The next year, however, with a greater force at his command,
he fell with headlong fury upon northern Italy; but he did not attack
Rome. Suddenly and seemingly without cause, he withdrew his army; and
this peculiar action of his has been the wonder of historians ever
since. Says the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Attila at once withdrew from
Italy, but the motive which led him to act thus is not known." According
to the prophecy, he was to fall upon the "rivers and fountains of
waters" only. A short time later, in 453, he died, and "the vast empire
over which he had ruled broke up _immediately_ after his death, no one
chief being powerful enough to seize the supremacy." Thus his short but
wond