<story><title>Ancient Romans depicted Huns as barbarians – their bones tell a different story</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/03/22/ancient-romans-depicted-huns-as-barbarians-their-bones-tell-a-different-story/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>arethuza</author><text>Speaking of Scythia - somewhat bizarrely Scottish legends claim that the Scots were originally from there!&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;quot;They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today.&amp;quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Declaration of Arbroath, 1320.</text></item><item><author>empath75</author><text>The Fall of Rome podcast had a really interesting episode on The Huns:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.soundcloud.com&amp;#x2F;fallofromepodcast&amp;#x2F;fall-of-rome-episode-9-attila-and-the-empire-of-the-huns&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.soundcloud.com&amp;#x2F;fallofromepodcast&amp;#x2F;fall-of-rome-epis...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;He makes the argument that in the later Roman Empire, the Huns treated the Roman Empire as either a vassal or a buffer state to their own empire.  They demanded tribute from them and even forced the romans to chase down and return refugees.  It&amp;#x27;s really interesting to look at the Roman Empire from a hun-centered point of view-- just one more border state along a small section of a vast empire.&lt;p&gt;They seem to have been one of a long series of steppe empires with the same basic organization-- from the Scythians to the Mongols.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>GlennS</author><text>Geoffrey of Monmouth&amp;#x27;s History of the Kings of Britain makes similar claims for Scythian ancestry, &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; that the Scythians were in turn refugees from Troy.&lt;p&gt;He also claimed that ancient Britons laid seige to Rome.&lt;p&gt;Pretty funny how his bullshit survived and was repeated through the centuries.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ancient Romans depicted Huns as barbarians – their bones tell a different story</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/03/22/ancient-romans-depicted-huns-as-barbarians-their-bones-tell-a-different-story/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>arethuza</author><text>Speaking of Scythia - somewhat bizarrely Scottish legends claim that the Scots were originally from there!&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;quot;They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today.&amp;quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Declaration of Arbroath, 1320.</text></item><item><author>empath75</author><text>The Fall of Rome podcast had a really interesting episode on The Huns:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.soundcloud.com&amp;#x2F;fallofromepodcast&amp;#x2F;fall-of-rome-episode-9-attila-and-the-empire-of-the-huns&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;m.soundcloud.com&amp;#x2F;fallofromepodcast&amp;#x2F;fall-of-rome-epis...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;He makes the argument that in the later Roman Empire, the Huns treated the Roman Empire as either a vassal or a buffer state to their own empire.  They demanded tribute from them and even forced the romans to chase down and return refugees.  It&amp;#x27;s really interesting to look at the Roman Empire from a hun-centered point of view-- just one more border state along a small section of a vast empire.&lt;p&gt;They seem to have been one of a long series of steppe empires with the same basic organization-- from the Scythians to the Mongols.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tacomonstrous</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not an unreasonable legend. Conventional wisdom is that all Indo-Europeans sprang from the steppes of Central Asia. Having it mentioned in a 14th century declaration is pretty fascinating!</text></comment>