When the Land Was Called Pannonia
Hungary, because its central location, has always been a crossroad - a place where people met and usually clashed. For centuries, invaders and warring armies have crisscrossed the land, often bringing with them misery and ruin.
The ancient Romans arrived in the area west of the Danube in 35 B.C.
It was not long before they had conquered what is now western Hungary.
They named the land Pannonia. The people living there, who were descendants of an ancient group known as the Celt's, did not submit easily to Roman rule. They resented Rome's heavy taxation. They were also angry that their young men were forced to serve in the Roman army. Over the years, several rebellions broke out against Roman authority. The Romans were eventually forced to build forts to protect themselves and they were not able to extend their empire into what is now eastern Hungary.
By the late A.D.300s, Pannonia was under attack by the Huns, a much feared Germanic tribe. The Romans had finally had enough; they decided to withdraw.
The Huns then occupied the region, but they were soon replaced bye other people, who in turn were pushed out by others. No one group seemed capable of holding on the land.
