Onegesius

Showing favor to the wife of his adviser, he ate sitting on his horse as the barbarians accompanying him raised the platter up to him.

[6][4] Priscus recounts a rare story[7] of a Greek he encountered in the village, and who managed to get freedom from the Huns, but decided to live among them: He was a Greek-speaking Roman merchant from Viminacium, a city on the river Danube...

Having proven his valour in later battles against the Romans and the Akatziri and having, according to [Hunnic] law, given his booty to his master, he had won his freedom.

[11] Priscus recounts "Since Onegesius was away, I said, he [Skottas] needed to support us, and more his brother, in pursuit of this good business.

[12] The barbarians acted cleverly and "awaited Onegesios's return in order to deliver the gifts we ourselves wanted to give and those the emperor sent".

Maximinus, not knowing that the plot failed, tried to bribe Onegesius, "that the time has come for Onegesios to have greater fame among men, if he would go 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.

[19] Omeljan Pritsak derived Onegesi / Hunigasi from roots akin to Mongolian *ünen (truth) and the Oghuz Turkic suffix gās-i.