Rugila or Ruga (also Ruas; died second half of the 430s AD),Lee, A.D. (2013) ''From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565: The Transformation of Ancient Rome''. Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, pp. 118-119. was a ruler who was a major factor in the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

' early victories over the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. He served as an important forerunner with his brother Octar, with whom he initially ruled in dual kingship, possibly a geographical division where Rugila ruled over Eastern Huns while Octar over Western Huns, during the 5th century AD.

Etymology

The name is mentioned in three variants, (Rougas), (Rouas), and (Roilas). Common spellings are Ruga, Roas, Rugila. Otto Maenchen-Helfen included this name among those of Germanic or Germanized origin, but without any derivation, only comparison with Rugemirus and Rugolf.

Denis Sinor Denis Sinor (born Dénes Zsinór, April 17, 1916 in Kolozsvár (Austria-Hungary, now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) – January 12, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana) was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Central Asian Studies at the Department of C ...

considered a name with initial ''r-'' not of

Altaic The Altaic () languages are a group of languages comprising the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families, with some linguists including the Koreanic and Japonic families. These languages share agglutinative morphology, head-final ...

origin (example Ragnaris).

Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak (; 7 April 1919 – 29 May 2006) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of History of Ukraine, Ukrainian History at Harvard University and the founder and first director (1973–1989) of the Harvard Ukrainian Rese ...

derived it from

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

and considered it to be of composite form, with the change ''ουγα-'' > ''ουα'', Greek suffix ''-ς'', and those with ''ila'' as Gothicized variant. The Ancient Greek ''Ρ'' (

rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

) would thus render Hunnic ''*hr-'', which Pristak connects to Old Turkic ''*her'' > ''har/ar/er'' (man), common component of names and titles. He connects the second part, ''ουγα-'' or ''ουα'', to the Old Turkic title ''ogä'' (to think). Thus Pritsak reconstructs a development of ''*hēr ögä'' > ''*hər ögä'' > ''hrögä''.

History

Initially Rugila had ruled together with his brother Octar, who died in 430 during a military campaign against the

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

. In 432, Rugila is mentioned as a sole ruler of the Huns. According to

Prosper of Aquitaine Prosper of Aquitaine (; – AD), also called ''Prosper Tiro'', was a Christian writer and disciple of Augustine of Hippo, and the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle. Particularly, Prosper is identified with the (later) axiom ''� ...

, "''After the loss of his office, Aetius lived on his estate. When there some of his enemies by an unexpected attack attempted to seize him, he fled to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and from there to

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

. By the way of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, he reached the Huns. Through their friendship and help he obtained peace with the rulers and was reinstated in his old office. Ruga was ruler of the gens Chunorum''".

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

recounts "''in the land of the Paeonians on the river

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

, which according to the treaty of Aetius, general of the Western Romans, belonged to the barbarian''", some scholars explain this as meaning that Aetius ceded part of

Pannonia Prima Pannonia Prima was an ancient Roman province. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Previously, it was a part of the province of Pannonia Superior, which, along with Pannonia Inferior, was gradually divided into ...

to Ruga. Scholars date this cession to 425, 431, or 433. Maenchen-Helfen considered that the area was ceded to Attila. In 422, there was a major Hunnic incursion into

Thracia Thracia or Thrace () is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkans, Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical Greece, Classical and Hellenistic period, Hellenis ...

launched from

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, menacing even

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, which ended with a peace treaty by which Romans had to pay annually 350 pounds of gold. In 432–433, some tribes from Hunnic confederation on the Danube fled to Roman territory and service of

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...

. Rugila demanded through his experienced diplomat Esla return of all fugitives, otherwise the peace would be terminated, but soon died and was succeeded by sons of his brother Mundzuk,

Bleda Bleda () was a Hunnic ruler, the brother of Attila the Hun. As nephews to Rugila, Attila and his elder brother Bleda succeeded him to the throne. Bleda's reign lasted for eleven years until his death. While it has been speculated by Jordanes th ...

and

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

, who became joint rulers of the united Hunnic tribes. The Eastern Roman politician Plinta along ''quaestor'' Epigenes nevertheless had to go for adverse negotiations at Margus; according to

, it included trade agreement, the annual tribute was raised to 700 pounds of gold, and fugitives were surrendered, among whom two of royal descent, Mamas and Atakam probably because of conversion to Christianity, were crucified by the Huns at ''Carso'' ( Hârșova). According to Socrates of Constantinople, Theodosius II prayed to God and managed to obtain what he sought - Ruga was struck dead by a thunderbolt, and among his men followed plague, and fire came down from the heaven consuming his survivors. This text is panegyric on Theodosius II, and happened shortly after 425 AD. Similarly,

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

recounts that God helped Theodosius II because he issued a law that ordered destruction of all pagan temples, and Ruga's death was ''the abundant harvest that followed these good seeds''. However, the edict was issued on November 14, 435 AD, so Ruga died after that date.

Chronica Gallica of 452 The ''Chronica Gallica of 452'', also called the ''Gallic Chronicle of 452'', is a Latin chronicle of Late Antiquity, presented in the form of annals, which continues that of Jerome. It was edited by Theodor Mommsen in the ''Monumenta Germaniae His ...

places his death in 434, "''Aetius is restored to favor. Rugila, king of the Huns, with whom peace was made, dies. Bleda succeeds him''".

References

Sources

* * * {{Huns Kings of the Huns 435 deaths 5th-century monarchs in Europe 5th-century Hunnic kings Year of birth unknown