Battle of Nedao

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Battle of Nedao

Part of War of the Hunnic Succession

Date	454
Location	Pannonia
Result	Victory of Gepids and Ostrogoths

Belligerents

Gepids,
Ostrogoths

Huns

Commanders

King Theodemir of the Ostrogoths,
King Ardaric of the Gepids

King Ellac of the Huns†

Strength

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Unknown

The Battle of Nedao, named after the Nedava, a tributary of the Sava, was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454. After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the Germanic subject peoples under the leadership of Ardaric, king of the Gepids, defeated the Hunnic forces of Ellac, the son of Attila, who had struggled with his half-brothers Irnik and Dengizich for supremacy after Attila's death, and eventually killed him in single combat. According to the 6th century historian Jordanes:

And so the bravest nations tore themselves to pieces. For then, I think, must have occurred a most remarkable spectacle, where one might see the Goths fighting with pikes, the Gepidae raging with the sword, the Rugi breaking off the spears in their own wounds, the Suavi fighting on foot, the Huns with bows, the Alani drawing up a battle-line of heavy-armed and the Heruli of light-armed warriors.^[1]

Hunnic dominance in Central and Eastern Europe was broken as a result. The handful of Hunic forces left retreated to the Hunnivar (Corneşti, Timiş County, Romania)^{[citation needed]} before being expelled by Ardaric after a long siege.

The battlefield was not confirmed by archeology until 2007.^{[citation needed]}