The Huns, for half a century after the overthrow of the Visigoths, have extended their power over many of the Germanic peoples of central Europe and fought for the Romans.
Since Ammianus' time, the Huns have acquired huge sums of gold as a result of their treaties with the Romans as well as by way of plunder and by selling their prisoners back to the Romans.
This influx of wealth has altered the character of their society.
By 432, the leadership of the various groups of Huns has been centralized on the Hungarian Plain under a single king, Rugila, also called Rua.
He extracts annual peace payments from the Eastern Roman Empire.
