Althias ( gr, Ἀλϑίας;

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

530) was a

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

military commander in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. He is noted for defeating

Iaudas Iaudas or Iabdas was a Berber leader of the sixth century and king of the Kingdom of the Aurès who held the Byzantines in check for a long time in the Aurès, and played an important role in the Berber revolts following the Byzantine reconquest ...

, king of the Moors, and his army with just 70 men.

Biography

He commanded the Hun auxiliaries of the Byzantine Empire in about 530 AD. He fought for the Romans in the

Moorish wars The Moorish wars were a series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire attempting to restore all of Roman North Africa, and the various Berber kingdoms and Nomads which formed after the collapse of Roman rule over the region. The war also ...

. Here, he accomplished the feat of defeating

, King of the Moors, and his troops with just 70 cavalrymen. He led his seventy men to capture a spring located near to where Iaudas and his troop were attacking. The Moors reached the spring thirsty and Althias, who wanted to recover some prisoners, refused half of their booty in exchange of allowing them to the spring, proposing that he and the king of the Moors fight in

single combat Single combat is a duel between two single warriors which takes place in the context of a battle between two armies. Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants who repre ...

. The Moors rejoiced, as Althias was skinny and not tall, whereas Iaudas was their finest man. They fought mounted. Iaudas threw his spear at him but Althias, to the Moors' surprise, caught it with his right hand. Althias, who was

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

, then drew his bow with the other hand, instantly shot and killed Iaudas' horse. The Moors brought their king another horse, he leapt on it and galloped away. The whole army fled with him, and the Huns recovered both the captives and the whole booty.

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman ge ...

related that because of this deed, he achieved fame throughout Africa.

Etymology

His name is of Turkic origin. Rásonyi compared it to the Kazakh patronymic Altyev and listed many clan names and personal names containing ''altï'' as their first element (e.g. Altybai, Altyortak, Altyate).

References

{{Huns Hun military leaders Generals of Justinian I Byzantine people of Hunnic descent