Attila and Aetius - Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 35 Part 1

Faced with the arrogance of Attila, the court at Constantinople found some courage to face down the demands he continued to place on them.  But this didn't alter his overwhelming military advantage.  They might have found their backbone but still lost their empire had Attila not chosen to start his conquest of the Roman world in the West rather than the East.