Aquileia

The year following his defeat at Chalons, Attila mounted another invasion of the Western Roman Empire. This time he targeted the Italian peninsula. In 452 he swept southward, attacking the city of Aquileia at the top of the Adriatic. Aquileia was wiped off the face off the earth forcing many of its inhabitants to flee to the relative safety of the islands in the surrounding lagoons. Legend tells us that the city of Venice was founded as a result. Attila extended his path of destruction through the Po Valley sacking the cities of Milan, Verona, and Padua and threatening Ravenna, seat of the Western Roman Emperor.