The Eastern Roman government paid an annual tribute to the Huns from the 420s. Gold flowing from the empire transformed the Hun society. The introduction of a centralized monarchy is evidenced in a report written by Priscus of Panium, an Eastern Roman envoy sent to the ruler of the Huns, Attila, in 448. At that time, Gothic was widely spoken in the royal court since "the subjects of the Huns" spoke "besides their own barbarous tongues, either Hunnic or Gothic, oras many as have commercial dealings with the western RomansLatin".