to the emperor, use his intelligence to understand their disputes and establish harmony between the Romans and the Huns. It would, he said, not only be thenceforward advantageous to both nations but it would also provide many benefits for his own house: he himself and his children would forever be friends of the emperor and his descendants". It was supposed to be done by crossing into Roman territory, establishing relations with the emperor, studying and resolving the causes of the disputes. Onegesius responded: In the end he composed along his secretaries and Roustikios the letter according to Attila's will which has been delivered to the emperor. He also released the wife of certain Sullos for 500 gold coins, and his children sent as a gift to the emperor. They were captured in the fall of Ratiaria. Etymology Onegesius's name is attested in Greek as (). The same name may be attested in the Vita Sancti Lupi as Hunigasius. Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen and Omeljan Pritsak both considered the endings -os/us or -ios/ius to be a Greek addition to the name. Maenchen-Helfen considered the name to be of East Germanic origin, reconstructing it as Hunigis, a name attested elsewhere. He argues that the first element, hun-, most likely means either "cub of a bear, young man" or "high". Omeljan Pritsak derived Onegesi / Hunigasi from roots akin to Mongolian *ünen (truth) and the Oghuz Turkic suffix gās-i. The reconstructed form is actually an epithet *üne-gāsi (honest, faithful, truthful, loyal), which was shown by Onegesius in his loyal behaviour toward Attila. Others have suggested Turkic etymologies. L. Rásonyi derived the name from Turkic oneki (twelve), an etymology that Maenchen-Helfen rejects. F. Altheim and R. Stiehl derived it from Turkic on-iyiz, meaning "he who commands ten", a reference to the steppe system of organizing command in groups of ten. References Sources Huns Attila the Hun