02-27-2002, 01:47 PM
The source is most likely Jordanes' "History of the Goths". The 200.000 figure is doubtful. Jordanes himself was of gothic origin and the fact that the battle pitted --amongst others-- Goth against Goth may have something to do with his grandiose depiction.<br>
What isn't doubtful is that the battle of the Mauric Plains or the Catalaunian Fields was one of the biggest fought in the ancient world and may have involved a grand total of 200.000 for both armies.<br>
Some historians however dismiss the importance of this battle as a world-shaping event and some even wrote books about the period not even mentioning it, as a sort of exercise in style, I guess...<br>
The battlefield lies somewhere near Châlons sur Marne, in eastern France. Its precise location is of course hotly disputed between a couple of villages of the area. I am sure they'll even be able to show you "the inn in which Attila slept the night before the battle"...<br>
..Anyways I hope someday someone will be able to find enough artefacts, like at Alise Sainte Reine for Alesia and Kalkriese for the Teutoburg, to seriously put that battle in its precise location.<br>
Yes, I know, he slept in a tent, not at an inn. <p></p><i></i>
What isn't doubtful is that the battle of the Mauric Plains or the Catalaunian Fields was one of the biggest fought in the ancient world and may have involved a grand total of 200.000 for both armies.<br>
Some historians however dismiss the importance of this battle as a world-shaping event and some even wrote books about the period not even mentioning it, as a sort of exercise in style, I guess...<br>
The battlefield lies somewhere near Châlons sur Marne, in eastern France. Its precise location is of course hotly disputed between a couple of villages of the area. I am sure they'll even be able to show you "the inn in which Attila slept the night before the battle"...<br>
..Anyways I hope someday someone will be able to find enough artefacts, like at Alise Sainte Reine for Alesia and Kalkriese for the Teutoburg, to seriously put that battle in its precise location.<br>
Yes, I know, he slept in a tent, not at an inn. <p></p><i></i>
