Hun, Alan, Avar, and other Steppe Nomad Movements

[Flavivs Aetivs]

'Attila the Hun' says the two Hunnic kings were heirs of Hunnic king Balamber.

Jordanes can't be trusted: Balamber was not a real hunnic king. The reason for this is that most of that section of his Gothic history is muddled and he invents a lot of names (Although some are real). Furthermore a Hun at that point in time would not have borne a Gothic name, based on Maenchen-Helfen's analysis of Hunnic naming conventions.

Hi Evan, so are you saying Ultinzur Huns were the vanguard of the main Hunnic force?

Possibly; it seems to have changed over time. The Alpilcurs, who were at the forefront in 370, may have been absorbed, disbanded, or gone on to serve the Romans or Goths, as they disappear around 395. Agathias mentions the Ultinzurs being one of the "Great, but now extinct" Hunnic tribes. This is why I equate it with Ultzin (whose name may have been a title for king of the Ultinzurs?) and therefore Charaton as well (as Aetius was in both their courts suggesting a continuity of Hunnic power).

I am interested where you get your sources on Charaton as he is only mentioned in Olympiodorus's fragments along with Donatus.

All we know about Charaton basically comes from Olympiodorus. I get much of my information from OMH and PH, but also Ian Hughes mentions in Aetius: Attila's Nemesis that the reason Charaton must have succeded Uldin is that Aetius continued to remain in the Hunnic court, and had there been no appointed successor Aetius would have been sent back to Ravenna as was custom amongst Barbarian treaties.

Later information about Charaton can be extrapolated: the Huns were in discord in 427, with the incompetent Felix able to push them out of Pannonia Valeria. In 430 Octar and Rua are Dual Kings (Rua in Wallachia, Octar in Pannonia presumably). But in 425 there seemed to only be one Hunnic court and rather unified, as otherwise they could not have committed the forces to assist Ioannes via Aetius, who was a friend of Charaton and later Octar as well. Therefore, Charaton must have reigned from 412-426.

Donatus seems to have been possibly an interem ruler - it is thought that between 410 and 412 there was discord amongst some of the Hunnic tribes, and Charaton may have subdued enough to be considered "King of the Huns" by Olympiodorus. Donatus could have been one of those subdued rulers (although I should note the name is not Hunnic.)

Also in regards to Derbent pass Priscus mentions that the Sassanids wanted the Romans to contribute to the cost of guarding the pass as they were keeping the Huns at bay, which the Romans refused so I think at least around the time of Priscus and Attila that the Huns did not hold this strategic pass. :?

Entirely possible. Armenian sources are the primary scholarship for Huns and the Caucasus, so I'd have to consult them which I do not have.