Huns and the End of the Western Empire 227 society are, in the ultimate, things of understanding and will. There remained no will for the Roman empire in the world and so it came to an end. But though the Latin- speaking Roman empire died in the fifth century, something else had been born within it that was to avail itself enormously of its prestige and tradition, and that was the Latin-speaking half of the Catholic Church. This lived while the empire died because it appealed to the minds and wills of men, because it had books and a great system of teachers and mission- aries to hold it together, things stronger than any law or legions. Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries a.d. while the empire was decaying, Christianity was spreading to a universal dominion in Europe. It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. When Attila seemed disposed to march on Rome, the patriarch of Rome inter- cepted him and did what no armies could do, turning him back by sheer moral force. The Patriarch or Pope of Rome claimed to be the head of the entire Christian church. Now that there were no more emperors, he began to annex imperial titles and claims. He took the title of pontifex maximus, head sacrificial priest of the Roman dominion, the most ancient of all the titles that the Emperors had enjoyed.
