New research suggests severe drought in eastern and central Europe triggered the 5th century, arid conditions on the Danube frontier from the 430s to 450s likely devastated crops and cattle, prompting the Huns and allied barbarian tribes to push south and west and take on the power of Rome. “We found that periods of drought recorded in biochemical signals in tree rings coincided with an intensification of raiding activity in the region,” said co-author Ulf Büntgen of the University of Cambridge. During his concurrent 434–453 reign Atilla the Hun led major invasions into northern Italy and to the gates of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). The Western Roman empire ultimately collapsed in 476.
