[z3n]

“Once again, however, he sent the same men, advising us to go away unless we had something to say beyond what they already knew...”

~~~

Basically, Atilla had all the military leverage, and felt that the Romans were probably nothing more than afraid but full of guile, and he had no motivation to bother with speaking to what he felt were lowly ambassadors and emissaries. If they wouldn’t at the very least declare the nature of their business and what they have to offer, they should leave.

[Antoninus]

Basically, Atilla had all the military leverage, and felt that the Romans were probably nothing more than afraid but full of guile, and he had no motivation to bother with speaking to what he felt were lowly ambassadors and emissaries. If they wouldn’t at the very least declare the nature of their business and what they have to offer, they should leave.

I'm not sure I agree. Sending away the emissaries was a power move. He knew they were there with an ulterior purpose--to kill him. One of the plotters, Edekon, was his ally and had already revealed everything to him. Now that he was on his guard, he was going to make life as uncomfortable for the ambassadors as possible without actually rupturing the peace...yet. If you read the rest of the account, Attila demanded additional payments from the Romans AND that they hand the scheming eunuch, Chrysaphius, over to him for punishment. This threw the Eastern court into chaos.