"The Huns’ original rise in the east had been predicated on excellent horsemanship and superior military technology, in the form of the composite bow. These gave huge tactical field advantage over the nomadic peoples they drove before them, but was of less use against imperial powers whose people occupied walled cities and whose troops commanded timber or stone-built fortresses. However, at around the time of Attila’s accession, the Huns added to their armoury a critical new technological skill – siege engineering. Although they could not match the resources of the great powers whose lands they neighboured – principally the Sassanid Persians and Romans – they posed a very serious danger. They could stage campaigns far more devastating than mere horseback raids, for when they captured cities, the Huns could take hundreds or thousands of captives at a time, to be driven back into Hunnic territory and either enslaved or ransomed at high cost."