Marcian: the future Emperor who was a prisoner of the Vandals

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During the Vandal conquest of North Africa, the future Emperor Marcian was taken prisoner by the Vandals. A legend tells that the Vandal King Gaiseric predicted that he would become Emperor. In exchange for his freedom, Marcian reportedly promised never to attack the Vandals.

Context

In 429, the Vandals crossed the Gibraltar Strait and invaded North Africa. The Roman troops, led by Bonifatius, the last Roman governor of Africa, were defeated at the Battle of Calama (Guelma).

The Romans sent reinforcements in 432, led by Aspar, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar, who had Germanic origins himself (Alanic through his father, and Gothic through his mother), wanted to use his affinity with the Vandals to defeat them.

Despite this, the Vandals were victorious again. It was during this campaign that the future Emperor Marcian, who was an officer in Aspar’s army, was taken prisoner.

Marcian, prisoner of the Vandals

The imprisonment of the future Emperor gave birth to a legend that has been told by several ancient authors: while Marcian was a prisoner, an eagle flew over him and covered him with its shadow, while the other prisoners were exposed to the sun. When the Vandal King Gaiseric saw this, he predicted that Marcian would become Emperor, and set him free, in exchange for the promise that he would not wage war on the Vandals when he would be on the throne.

While this story is certainly fictitious, it was part of Marcian’s Imperial propaganda when he became Emperor some 20 years later, in 450. When the Vandal King Gaiseric sacked Rome in 455, taking the wife and daughter of the Western Emperor Valentinian III as prisoners, Marcian, as the Eastern Emperor, didn’t try to defend Rome, but was content with demanding that the imprisoned ladies be set free.