In 452 AD, Attila the Hun was on a rapid streak of sacking cities in Western Rome on his way to the ultimate treasure of Rome. Attila allegedly requested that the sister of the Emperor Valentinian III (425-455 AD) be sent to him with great amounts of gold and money. In rejoinder, the Emperor sent a consul, a former urban prefect, and Pope Leo the Great to negotiate with Attila. Not many specifics were divulged as to why Attila withdrew from Italy and returned to his homeland. Some possible theories were that Pope Leo the Great may have offered Attila large sums of gold, a ghastly plague in Northern Italy, food shortages, or even that Attila’s army was greatly weighed down from loot from previous raids. Pope Leo the Great was successful because he knew that this was his last chance to save Italy from being destroyed and he used all of his strength to coax Attila out of Italy.
Pope Leo’s last negotiation proved