‘You will have the universe, leave Italy to me’. The Emperor of the East he says is old and frail and the ruler of the Western Empire is a mere boy. Ezio asks for a private audience, and reveals that he is alienated by the current decadence of the Roman Empire. It is Ezio, a Roman whom he has known in battle but whom he respects. The women leave and Attila sends for the envoy from Rome. Odabella vows to use it to avenge the death of her father. Odabella, their leader, so impresses Attila that he offers to grant her a favour: when she asks for a sword, he gives her his own. Against Attila’s orders, Uldino has saved a group of Italian women who took part in the fighting. Attila, the ‘scourge of God’, has invaded Italy and, on his way to besiege Rome, has destroyed the city of Aquileia.Īttila’s victorious army is celebrating the destruction of Aquileia.
