John, your post reminds me of the curious history of Attila the Hun (supposedly of Mongol stock, or close enough for a segue) and Flavius Aetius, two supposed enemies with surprisingly much in common together. Attila was a child hostage in the Roman court of Honorius while Aetius was a child hostage in the Hun kingdom of Rugila. Aetius later was the Roman general who defeated Attila in Gaul at the Battle of Ch?lons ? but for some reason he did not kill him nor destroy the Huns when he had the chance.
Thus sprang up a conspiracy theory, fueled in large part on post hoc interpretation of the relationship between Attila and Flavius, that the Romans actually created Attila as a ruse for extending its Empire. It was, I’m sure you’ll recall, the subject of a slanderous scrollumentary by one Michael the Moor.
