Author: import-en

Christianity in North Africa

Paulinus of Nola, slave of the Vandals in North Africa

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Paulinus of Nola was a Roman Senator and, later, bishop of the Italian city of Nola. A legend tells that after a Vandal raid in Southern Italy, he sold himself as a slave to the Vandals, in exchange for the son of a widow, who had been kidnapped. He spent some time serving the son-in-law of the Vandal King as a gardener, and then was freed when his master found out who he was.

Who was Paulinus of Nola?

Paulinus of Nola

Pontius Meropius Paulinus was a Roman aristocrat. Born 352 in Burdigala (Bordeaux), he was from a rich and influential family that owned domains in Gaul, Spain, and Southern Italy. He was educated by the famous Gallo-Roman poet Ausonius.

In his youth, Paulinus, like most young men of his rank, started a public career in the Roman administration. In 377, he was named consul by Emperor Gratian. In 380, he became governor of Campania, a Roman province in Southern Italy. In 384, he married Therasia, a Spanish noblewoman, and they moved to Spain together.

Statue of Paulinus of Nola

Paulinus was a Christian: he had been baptized by the bishop of Burdigala, and studied theology in Milan, under bishop Ambrosius. After their marriage, Paulinus and his wife felt increasingly challenged by the calling of Christ to the young rich man in the Gospels: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” After their only child died eight day after its birth, they finally decided to answer this call: they sold their lands and all their possessions, gave away the money to the poor, and entered a life of seclusion from the world. The rest of their life would be devoted to the service of Christ.

EIn 395, Paulinus and Therasia left Spain for Nola, in Campania. Paulinus considered Saint Felix, a bishop of Nola who had been put to death for his faith by Emperor Decius around 260, as his model: Felix also had sold all his possessions to give the money to the poor. At his arrival in Nola, he restored and enlarged the Basilica devoted to Saint Felix. Every year, he wrote a poem in his honor.

Therasia died around 410. Shortly after her death, Paulinus was ordained bishop of Nola. He spent the rest of his life in the city, until his death in 431.

Paulinus of Nola in Africa?

Paulinus of Nola as a slave in Africa – Image created by ChatGPT

According to a Christian tradition, while Paulinus was bishop of Nola, he used the Church treasure to redeem the inhabitants of the region who had been enslaved by the Vandals during a raid in Southern Italy. Finally, when a widow whose son had been kidnapped by the Vandals came to see him, as there wasn’t enough money left for the ransom, Paulinus sold himself as a slave in exchange of the widow’s son.

In Africa, Paulinus was asked about his skills, and answered that he was a good gardener. He was thus given as a slave to the son-in-law of the Vandal King (probably Gaiseric), who loved gardens. Some time later, the King found out through a dream who this slave really was, and freed him.

This story was told by Pope Gregory the Great, who lived over a century after Paulinus of Nola. Its historicity is doubtful, but the story seems quite plausible, in the light of all the other stories about the life of Paulinus of Nola.

Roman North Africa, The late Roman Empire

Olybrius: Emperor and friend of the Vandals

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Olybrius, one of the last Roman Emperors, was allied by marriage to Gaiseric, the Vandal King of Carthage. He tried to take power several times with Vandal support, and finally reigned for a few months in 472.

Gold coin with the effigy of Olybrius

Anicius Olybrius was born in Rome, in an ancient noble family. He married Placidia, the daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, shortly before the sack of Rome by the Vandals. It is also possible that Olybrius and Placidia were only engaged and got married after Placidia returned to Rome.

In 455, Placidia was taken as a prisoner to Carthage by the Vandals, together with her sister Eudocia, who was married to Huneric, the son of the Vandal King Gaiseric. Placidia was freed in 461.

After the death of Emperor Majorian in 461, the new master of the Empire was general Ricimer, who could not become Emperor himself because of his Germanic origins. Olybrius claimed the Imperial throne. He was supported by Gaiseric, who hoped that his reign would be favorable to Vandal interests. However, Ricimer chose another Emperor, Libius Severus. Olybrius became consul in 464.

Reverse of a gold coin with the effigy of Olybrius: Christian cross surrounded by laurels

After Libius Severus died in 465, Olybrius claimed the throne again, still with Gaiseric’s support, but Anthemius was chosen instead of him. Olybrius finally succeeded in his third attempt to become Emperor, after Anthemius died in 472. Ricimer, who controlled the nomination of all Emperors since Majorian, died shortly after Olybrius’ accession to the throne.

Olybrius, through his marriage to Placidia, was the heir of the Theodosian dynasty, the last great Roman Imperial dynasty. His reign was short and uneventful. He had the reputation of being a devout Christian. The fact that the coins with his effigy show him without a spear of helmet seems to show that he didn’t have a strong interest for military affairs. Olybrius died of dropsy after four months on the throne.

The French word “olibrius”, which means a pompous and ridiculous person, comes from this Emperor’s historical reputation, due to his short reign, without any significant events.

Roman North Africa, The late Roman Empire

Majorian: The Roman Emperor Who Tried to Reconquer North Africa

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Translation: Ibrahim Ait Dami

Roman rule over North Africa, which had lasted more than four centuries, collapsed when the Vandals invaded the region. About thirty years later, a new Emperor, Majorian, led a campaign that allowed him to retake control of Spain. He then wanted to reconquer North Africa, but he lacked the means to do so.

Background

Gold coin bearing the image of Avitus

After the Vandals sacked Rome in 455, the Roman Empire was weaker than ever. The Gothic king Theodoric II imposed Avitus, a senator of Gallic origin who was close to him, as the new Emperor. During Avitus’s reign, the Goths invaded Spain, officially to bring the region back under Roman rule, but in reality for their own benefit. Abandoned by Theodoric, Avitus was killed in 456, after a year on the throne.

Majorian: Make Rome Great Again

Territories reconquered by Majorian – click to zoom

General Majorian, who proclaimed himself Emperor, decided to launch a vast campaign to reconquer the territories Rome had lost. He began by driving the Burgundians out of southern Gaul, then turned on the Goths in Spain. Within three years, he had retaken control of most of Spain. He also sent his officer Marcellinus to recapture Sicily from the Vandals.

Majorian wanted to use Spain as a base from which to attack the Vandals in Africa. But during his Spanish campaign, the Vandals managed to destroy the ships he was preparing for the invasion. Deprived of his fleet, Majorian was forced to cancel his plans. In 460, he concluded a peace treaty with the Vandal king Gaiseric and disbanded his troops.

On his return to Italy, Majorian was captured by Ricimer, a Roman general of Germanic origin. He was assassinated in 461.

Aftermath

Seal of Ricimer

For the following years, Ricimer, who could not become Emperor himself because of his Germanic origins, was the true master of the Empire, until his death in 472. The Emperors who reigned during these years were mere puppets. One of them, Olybrius, was linked by marriage to the Vandal king Gaiseric.

The last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer: this marked the end of the Roman Empire.

Roman North Africa, From Antiquity to Middle Age: cultural bridgebuilders

Aelius Donatus: a Roman African grammarian

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Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English

Aelius Donatus was a 4th-Century North African grammarian. His works on Latin grammar played an important role in the teaching of Latin in the Middle Age.

Statue of Aelius Donatus, Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain), Nürnberg, Germany

Aelius Donatus was born around 310-320, in Roman Africa, maybe Tipasa. He made his career in Rome, as a grammarian and rhetorician, from 354 to 363. After he retired, he devoted himself to writing. He was close to the philosopher Marius Victorinus, who was also from Roman Africa. He died around 380.

Jerome of Stridon, a disciple of Aelius Donatus

Aelius Donatus’ career spans the time when Christianity gradually supplanted classical paganism as the majority religion in the Roman world. North Africa was one of the most strongly Christian regions in the Empire, and Aelius Donatus was certainly in contact with Christians since his youth. Unlike his friend Marius Victorinus, who converted to Christianity in his old age, Aelius Donatus remained pagan all his life. This didn’t prevent him from influencing the Christian Church: he was the preceptor of the Church Father Jerome of Stridon, who is known mostly for his masterful translation of the Christian Bible into Latin – a task for which Aelius Donatus’ grammar lessons were certainly very useful.

The small booklets, mostly grammar books, printed with wooden blocks before the invention of the industrial printing press by Gutenberg, were called “donats” after Aelius Donatus

Aelius Donatus’ most famous work was his Ars Grammatica, a grammatical treatise that became the most largely used Latin grammar book for over a thousand years, playing a major role in the standardization of the Latin language. The Ars Grammatica was taught in schools, in parallel with the works of Priscian, another later grammarian, who was also North African.

Next to his grammatical works, Aelius Donatus wrote a commentary of the playwright Terence, another Roman African author. His commentary highlights the links between Terence and the Greek playwright Menander. He was also the author of a biography of the poet Virgil, and of a commentary of the Aeneid. Another more famous commentary of the Aeneid, often attributed to him, was actually written by another author, Tiberius Claudius Donatus, who lived around 50 years later, but drew inspiration from Aelius Donatus’ work.

Roman North Africa, The late Roman Empire

Zerco: the Moorish dwarf of the King of the Huns

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Zerco was a Moorish dwarf, and the slave and jester of Attila the Hun. Because his appearance was considered comical, he was used to entertain his master’s army. In this less than enviable life, Zerco managed to make himself popular with the Huns, and to transform his weakness into a strength that enabled him to take control of his destiny.

Zerco – Image created by ChatGTP

Zerco was from Mauretania. He was short, had a hunchback, twisted feet and a flat nose. Because of his appearance, he was sold as a slave for his masters’ amusement.

Zerco’s first master was the Roman general Aspar, who bought him in 432, during his military campaign against the Vandals with Bonifatius, the Roman governor of Africa. Zerco went to Constantinople with Aspar, and then accompanied his master in his military campaigns.

Around 442, Zerco was captured by the Huns. Bleda, the brother of Attila, became his new master. Bleda was so fascinated by Zerco that he took him everywhere with him. He even had a special armor made for him, that fitted his anatomy. One day, Zerco fled with other prisoners. Bleda let the others run away, but took Zerco back. When Bleda askec him why he had fled, Zerco said he wanted to find a wife, and Bleda married him to a maid of the Queen.

After Bleda died, Attila inherited Zerco. Unlike Bleda, Attila hated Zerco; but he was too popular in the army to get rid of him.

After some time, Attila offered Zerco to the Roman general Aetius, as a gift to seal a peace agreement. Aetius gave him back to his former master Aspar. However, Zerco still wished to return to the Huns. When a Roman delegation led by the diplomat and historian Priscus was sent to Attila, he asked for permission to go with them, but his request was denied. It is Priscus who mentions Zerco in his writings.

Zerco probably finished his life in Constantinople. Nothing more is known about him.

Why write about this?
We strongly condemn any kind of abuse against disabled people, even more so for entertainment.
However, such practices sadly existed. Mentioning it does not mean approving it.
Zerco is part of the history of North Africa. As we publish this article, our hope is that his story, the dignity he found in his unhappy life, would be a source of inspiration for others.
The Vandals in North Africa

Gaiseric the Vandal and Attila the Hun: a strategic alliance against Rome

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Gaiseric, the founder of the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, was a contemporary of another Barbarian king whom the Romans particularly feared: the terrible Attila the Hun, the “scourge of God”. The two men never coordinated their actions against their common enemy, but they both profited from the other’s victories to serve their own goals.

Context

Gaiseric on his way to Africa

Gaiseric (427-477) was the Vandal King who led his people in their conquest of North Africa. In 429, he crossed the Gibraltar Strait and landed at Tangier. Ten years later, he conquered Carthage and established his capital there.

Attila (434-453) was the King of the Huns, a nomadic people, originally from the Central Asian steppes, who started migrating towards Eastern Europe in the course of the 4th Century. The arrival of the Huns forced the Goths, who were previously settled on the other side of the Danube, to seek refuge in Roman territory. At the beginning of the 5th Century, the Huns reached the borders of the Roman Empire. The Huns were mighty warriors, and Attila was their greatest king.

Attila and Gaiseric against the Romans

Against the Eastern Empire

Attila the Hun

Attila and his brother Bleda reigned together over the Huns since the death of their uncle Rugila, in 435.

In 439, Gaiseric, who had been in peace with the Romans for a few years, attacked Carthage by surprise and conquered the city.

Shortly after, the Huns reappeared at the Roman borders, after an unsuccessful campaign against the Persian Empire. They started attacking Roman merchants on the Northern side of the Danube, and then crossed the Danube and invaded the Roman Empire. The Roman troops that were usually stationed on the Danube had been sent to fight the Vandals in Africa and Sicily, enabling the Huns, led by Attila’s brother Bleda, to move forward quickly in the Balkans without resistance.

The Vandal Kingdom at its peak

To face this new threat, the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II called back his troops that were fighting the Vandals. The Roman retreat enabled Gaiseric to conquer Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. The Vandal and Hunnic attacks were not coordinated, but they had the effect of weakening the Roman army by forcing them to fight on two fronts simultaneously.

The Hunnic army, equipped with battering rams for the first time in its history, won victory on victory. In 443, the Huns were at the doors of Constantinople. Theodosius was forced to sign a peace treaty and to pay a tribute. The Huns drew back, but they later returned.

Soon after the Hunnic retreat, Bleda was killed by Attila, who became the sole King of the Huns.

Against the Western Empire

Roman villa sacked by the Huns

In 447, Attila launched another campaign in the Balkans. He advanced all the way to Greece, but was pushed back.

Gold coin with the effigy of Honoria

In 450, Honoria, the sister of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III, had an affair with a palace servant and became pregnant from him. Her lover was executed and Honoria was forced to marry the Senator Bassus Herculanus. She then sent a letter to Attila, to beseech him to come to save her from this unwanted marriage. With her letter, she sent her engagement ring. Attila interpreted the sending of the ring as a marriage proposal, although this was certainly not Honoria’s intention. Attila decided to invade the Western Roman Empire and fetch his bride.

Attila’s campaign in Gaul

Gaiseric, always the skillful diplomat, sent him messengers to encourage him to attack Theodoric, the King of the Goths, in Gaul. While Attila’s ambition was to later invade Italy from Gaul, Gaiseric mostly wanted to use him to weaken his old enemy Theodoric. Attila invaded Gaul and wrought much devastation there, forcing Theodoric to make an alliance with Rome. The Romans and Goths fought Attila’s army at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, in 451: Theodoric was killed in battle, and Attila forced to withdraw from Gaul, while the Romans won a semblance of victory.

Attila returned in 452, and invaded Italy. At the same time, the new Eastern Roman Emperor Marcian stopped paying the tribute due to the Huns. Attila left Italy and headed to Constantinople.

Gaiseric after Attila

Attila, at the height of his power, died suddenly in 453: during a feast given for his wedding, he got drunk, and then started nose-bleeding and choked in his own blood. His Empire was divided between his sons, and never again became a threat to Rome.

Sack of Rome by Gaiseric

After Attila’s death, Gaiseric became the main enemy of Rome. In 455, Emperor Valentinian III, who had promised his daughter Eudocia in marriage to Gaiseric’s son Huneric, was assassinated. His murderer forced Eudocia to marry his son. Gaiseric took this as a pretext to invade Rome and sack the city. He captured Eudocia, with her mother, and took her to Carthage, where she was married to Huneric.

After the Vandals left, the new Gothic King Theodoric II imposed Avitus, a Senator of Gaulish origin who was close to him, as new Emperor. His successors were submitted to the Goths.

The sack of Rome by Gaiseric contributed a lot to accelerate the decline of the Western Roman Empire, until its final fall: the last Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476, by the Germanic chief Odoacer. Gaiseric died the following year in Carthage, after a long and happy life: he was 87 years old.

The Vandals in North Africa, The late Roman Empire

Eudocia: a Roman Princess in Carthage

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Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English

Eudocia was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III. As the wife of Huneric, son of the Vandal King Gaiseric, she lived in Carthage and was destined to become Queen of the Vandals of Carthage. Later on, her son Hilderic becale King of the Vandals.

Eudocia

Origins and childhood

Bust of Valentinian III, Eudocia’s father

Eudocia was born in Rome around 440. She was the eldest daughter of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III and his wife Licinia Eudoxia. She was of pure Imperial blood on both sides of her family: her father was the son of the Roman general Constantius and Galla Placidia, daughter of Emperor Theodosius the Great, while her mother was the daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II.

In 442, the Roman Empire concluded a peace treaty with the Vandals, recognizing their sovereignty over North Africa. To seal this agreement, Eudocia, who was just a child, was promised in marriage to Huneric, the son of the Vandal King Gaiseric.

Eudocia in Carthage

In 455, Valentinian III was assassinated by the Senator Petronius Maximus, who took the throne. The new Emperor married Valentinian III’s widow Licinia Eudoxia, and forced their daughter Eudocia to marry his son Palladius.

Coin with the effigy of Huneric

To the Vandals, the broken engagement between Eudocia and Huneric invalidated the peace treaty. When the Vandal King Gaiseric heard the news, he decided to attack Rome and pillaged the city. Eudocia, together with her mother and her sister Placidia, was kidnapped and taken prisoner to Carthage, where she was married to Huneric.

Little is known about the years Eudocia spent in Carthage. We only know that her relationship with her husband Huneric was difficult. Apart from the fact that Eudocia was forced to marry Huneric against her will, the main reason for the tensions between them was their religious difference: Huneric was an Arian, Eudocia a Catholic Christian.

Coin with the effigy of Hilderic

Around 460, Eudocia gave birth to a son, Hilderic. Shortly after Hilderic was born, Eudocia, who could no longer stand the tensions with her husband, decided to leave Carthage. Eudocia thus never became Queen of the Vandals, as she left Huneric before he became King. Her son Hilderic grew up at his father’s court and became King of the Vandals from 523 to 530.

Eudoxia, Eudocia’s grandmother

After her departure from Carthage, Eudocia settled in Jerusalem, where her grandmother Eudoxia, the wife of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II, had a domain. Eudoxia, a famous Hellenistic poetess, had been exiled from the Imperial court after she was falsely accused of being unfaithful to her husband. She then retired to Jerusalem, where she devoted the last years of her life to her literary work and to religion. When Eudocia arrived in Jerusalem, her grandmother was already dead, but she settled on her domain. At her death, she was buried in her grandmother’s tomb.

Roman North Africa, The late Roman Empire, The Vandals in North Africa

The revenge of the Vandals: Gaiseric sacks Rome

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At the beginning of the 5th Century, the Vandals, a Germanic people, invaded North Africa, putting an end to more than four centuries of Roman domination over the region. In 455, the Vandal King Gaiseric entered Rome, sacked the city, and kidnapped the daughter of Emperor Valentinian III, who became his son’s wife.

Context

In the 5th Century, the Roman Empire was divided between its Eastern and Western parts, and weakened by a long series of wars against new foreign populations – often Germanic – that weakened its territory. One of these tribes, the Goths, sacked Rome in 410. It was the first time that the Imperial capital was taken by a foreign army.

Vandal Kingdom

The Vandals settled in Spain, and then crossed the Gibraltar Strait in 429 and invaded North Africa. In 439, they founded a Kingdom, with Carthage as its capital. A peace treaty was concluded in 442, through which Rome recognized the Vandal control over Africa. Roman Emperor Valentinian III promised his daughter Eudocia in marriage to Huneric, the son of the Vandal King Gaiseric.

In 455, Valentinian III was assassinated by Petronius Maximus, who seized the throne. The new Emperor married Licinia Eudoxia, Valentinian III’s widow, and forced their daughter Eudocia to marry his son Palladius. To Gaiseric, the breaking of Eudocia’s engagement to his son Huneric invalidated the peace treaty. When Licinia Eudoxia called on him to avenge her husband, Gaiseric decided to attack Rome.

The Vandals in Rome

Sack of Rome by the Vandals

The Vandals set sail from Carthage and landed at Ostia, the port city of Rome. Petronius Maximus tried to flee Rome, but he was stoned to death by an angry crowd. The Vandals destroyed the aqueducts that supplied water to Rome.

The bishop of Rome Leo I opened negotiations with Gaiseric, and convinced him to spare the inhabitants who didn’t resist, not to burn the buildings and not to torture prisoners. The Vandals sacked the city for two weeks.

Sack of Rome by the Goths, in 410

The sack of Rome by the Vandals was even more destructive than the 410 sack by the Goths. The Vandals tore off half the roof of the Temple of Jupiter Capitoline, the largest temple in Rome, to take its gilded bronze tiles. The Vandal tendency to pillage is at the origin of the word “vandalism”, which means the destruction of others’ property. However, there were no exactions against the population: Gaiseric, true to his word given to the bishop of Rome, restrained his troops.

According to certain sources, after the Vandal King Gaiseric pillaged Rome in 455, he took back to Carthage the sacred utensils of the Temple of Jerusalem, that had been kept in the Roman city treasure. After the Byzantines reconquered Carthage in 533, the Roman general Belisarius had them transported to Constantinople, from where they were later send back to Jerusalem. The possession of these sacred objects was believed to be a sign of divine blessing.

Return to Carthage

Huneric and Eudocia – Image created by ChatGPT

Two weeks later, the Vandals returned to Carthage. Eudocia, the daughter of Valentinian III, was brought back to Carthage as a prisoner, together with her mother and her sister Placidia. Soon afterwards, Eudocia was married to Huneric. Their marriage was difficult because of their religious difference: Huneric was an Arian, Eudocia a Catholic Christian. Because of the tension between them, Eudocia left Huneric before he became King, and ended her life in Jerusalem. The Vandal King Hilderic (523-530) was the son of Huneric and Eudocia.

Several ships full of captives arrived in Carthage, where the captives were given as slaves to the Vandal warriors. The bishop Deogratias of Carthage sold all Church property to buy back all those he could, and then hosted them in the big churches in Carthage, and sent them back to Rome.

Gold coin with the effigy of Marcian

Marcian, the Eastern Emperor, did not react violently after the Vandal attack. He was content with asking for Eudocia and her mother to be freed. Marcian, who served as a soldier in the Vandal-Roman wars in North Africa, had been taken prisoner by the Vandals in 432. A legend told that he was set free when Gaiseric predicted that he would become Emperor, and that in exchange for his freedom, he promised to never attack the Vandals.

Later on

After the Vandals left, Avitus, a Senator of Gaulish origin, was proclaimed Emperor by the Gothic King Theodoric. The last Western Roman Emperors were submitted to the Goths.

The former Empress Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian III and the mother of Eudocia, was freed in 461, after the Eastern Emperor Leo I paid a ransom for her. She lived the rest of her life in Constantinople.

Gold coin with the effigy of Olybrius

Olybrius, one of the last Roman Emperors, was married to Placidia, Eudocia’s sister. After Placidia was freed, he tried to take power several times with Vandal support. He finally reigned for a few months in 472.

The sack of Rome by Gaiseric contributed a lot to accelerate the city’s decline, until the final fall of the Roman Empire in 476.

Roman North Africa, The late Roman Empire

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

Gold coin with the effigy of Marcian

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

Sack of Rome by Gaiseric

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.

The Vandals in North Africa

Gaiseric: the Vandal King who conquered Africa

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Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English

Roman domination over North Africa, which had lasted for over four centuries, finally crumbled when the Vandals, a Germanic people, invaded the region. In 429, the Vandals, led by their King Gaiseric, landed in Tangier. Ten years later, they conquered Carthage, where they founded a Kingdom. In this article, we will discover the life of Gaiseric, the King who led the Vandal conquest of North Africa.

Coin with the effigy of Gaiseric

Origins

Source

Gaiseric was an illegitimate son of the Vandal King Godigisel and a Roman slave. His name means “powerful with the spear”. He was born in 389, close to Lake Balaton, in modern-day Hungary. At this time, the Vandals, together with other Germanic tribes, were migrating towards territories controlled by the Roman Empire.

Gaiseric was a teenager at the Vandal crossing of the Rhine, in 406, to settle in Gaul. His father died during the crossing, in battle against the Franks. His half-brother Gunderic then became King, while Gaiseric became the second most powerful man in the tribe. He played an important role in the pillage of Gaul, as well as in the invasion of Spain, in 409.

Gaiseric is described as a middle-sized man, who talked little, got angry easily, and was greedy for riches. He was lame since falling from his horse as a young man. Like all the Vandals, he followed the Arian religion, a doctrine considered heretical by the official Church.

Vandal gold jewelry

Gunderic died in 428 and Gaiseric succeeded him as King. The reasons behind Gunderic’s death are unclear: he might have been killed by Gaiseric. Later, Gaiseric would have Gunderic’s widow executed by throwing her alive into the Oued Rhummel, close to Constantine, with a stone tied around her neck.

In Spain, the Vandals were weakened by the attacks of the Goths, another more numerous Germanic tribe. Gaiseric, understanding he wasn’t strong enough to resist, decided to abandon Spain to his rivals and find a new land for his people.

The Vandals in Africa

Gaiseric on his way to Africa

At this time, Bonifatius, the governor of Roman Africa, was in conflict with the Imperial family. Gaiseric seized the opportunity to invade North Africa: in 429, 80.000 Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and landed in Tangier.

Less than a year later, the Vandals, led by Gaiseric, had taken control of all Mauretania and started attacking Numidia. In 430, they won a decisive victory against the Roman troops, led by Bonifatius, at the Battle of Calama (Guelma). They then besieged Hippo (Annaba) and destroyed the city; its bishop, Augustine of Hippo, died during the siege.

The Romans sent reinforcements in 432, led by general Aspar. Gaiseric’s Vandals were again victorious. The future Roman Emperor Marcian was taken prisoner during this campaign.

In 435, Gaiseric signed a peace treaty with the Romans, through which Rome recognized Vandal sovereignty over Mauretania and Numidia, in exchange for a tribute. Gaiseric’s son Huneric was sent to Rome as a hostage.

Gaiseric, breaking the truce, launched another offensive in 439: the Vandals attacked Carthage by surprise and took the city without resistance. Gaiseric founded the Vandal Kingdom of Africa, with Carthage as its capital. The Vandals extended their domination over Byzacene (Southern Tunisia) and Tripolitania.

Quodvultdeus, Bishop of Carthage

Gaiseric, wanting to convert all his subjects to Arianism, persecuted the North African Christians, both Catholic and Donatist. After the Vandal conquest of Carthage, its bishop Quodvultdeus (“what God wants”) was exiled with most other North African bishops. These bishops were put aboard an old ship without sail or oars, which luckily managed to cross the sea to Naples. The exiled bishops then settled in Italy. One of them, Gaudiosus, became bishop of Naples.

When the Vandals conquered Carthage, Gaiseric took control of the major part of the Roman fleet, which was stationed at the Carthaginian port. Later, the Vandal Kingdom built its own fleet, threatening the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea. The Vandals conquered Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands. It was said that Gaiseric, who, being lame, was unable to ride a horse, assuaged his thirst for glory at sea.

The sack of Rome

A new peace treaty between Rome and the Vandals was concluded in 442. The Roman Emperor Valentinian III committed to give his daughter Eudocia in marriage to Gaiseric’s son Huneric.

Sack of Rome by Gaiseric

In 455, Valentinian was assassinated. His murderer forced Eudocia to marry his own son. Gaiseric used this as a pretext to invade Rome and pillage the city. He kidnapped Eudocia, together with her mother, and took her back to Carthage, where she was married to Huneric. The sack of Rome by Gaiseric significantly accelerated the city’s decline, until the final fall of the Roman Empire.

Last years of Gaiseric’s reign

In the last years of his reign, Gaiseric resisted several Roman attempts to reconquer North Africa. By the end of his life, he even tried to conquer the Peloponnese, but failed.

He died in 477, at 87 years of age. The fall of the Roman Empire had come one year before his death. His son Huneric succeeded him. All other Vandal Kings after him were his descendants, but none of them had the same authority as him over their subjects.