Even though Attila the Hun was not as well known as many other men with power in his time, he was still one of the greatest generals of his time. Attila was a great leader because he united his people into one sovereign nation, helped in the destruction of the Western Roman Empire, survived his defeat in battle and died a Barbarian warrior's death.
Huns are a strictly nomadic people with a strict tribal structure. Attila, on the other hand, united all the Hun tribes in Western Europe and some parts of Eastern Asia to destroy the ever-growing Western Roman Empire. Attila united the Hun tribes by allegedly holding the sword of Mars. "Attila claimed to own the actual sword of Mars, and the other Barbarian chief could not look the king of the Huns directly in the eyes without flinching". (www.realm-of-shade.com/zarathistra/attila.html page 1.) The sword of Mars in Barbarian history is considered the Holy Grail. Possessing the sword meant Attila controlled all the Hun tribes and had the power to lead them to the west, where their future lay. Another key to Attila's rise to power was his ability to persuade people to his ideas. Attila said time and time again the West was the Huns future, and that no one could stop them. "Attila's Huns had become a sedentary nation and were no longer the horse nomads of the earlier days They now had a great leader that led them all the way west as far as Austria and Germany." (Attila: King of the Huns-The Man and the myth, by Patrick Howarth page 32.) What Attila said he would do came true and this is what was so appealing to his people. When Attila said he was going to give more land, he delivered by any means. Attila would have sacrificed anything to unite his people. Attila's main goal was to unite the Huns and he didn't care who he had to kill to do it. Attila's thirst for power can be perceived as a little psychotic considering the extent he went to, but Attila felt that it was his destiny to do so.