is said to have numbered five hundred thousand men.
He was a man born into the world to shake the nations,
the scourge of all lands, who in some way terrified all
mankind by the dreadful rumors noised abroad concerning
him. He was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes
hither and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit
appeared in the movement of his body. He was indeed
a lover of war, yet restrained in action, mighty in counsel,
gracious to suppliants and lenient to those who were
once received into his protection. He was short of stature
with a broad chest and a large head; his eyes were
small, his beard thin and sprinkled with gray; and he had
a flat nose and a swarthy complexion, showing the evidences
of his origin. And though his temper was such 183
that he always had great self-confidence, yet his assurance
was increased by finding the sword of Mars, always
esteemed sacred among the kings of the Scythians. The
historian Priscus says it was discovered under the following
circumstances: "When a certain shepherd beheld
one heifer of his flock limping and could find no cause
for this wound, he anxiously followed the trail of blood
and at length came to a sword it had unwittingly trampled
while nibbling the grass. He dug it up and took it
straight to Attila. He rejoiced at this gift and, being
ambitious, thought he had been appointed ruler of the
whole world, and that through the sword of Mars supremacy
in all wars was assured to him."

[Sidenote: GAISERIC INCITES HIM TO WAR WITH THE GOTHS]