Capture of Carthage (439)
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Capture of Carthage | |||||||
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Part of Vandalic conquest of Roman Africa | |||||||
![]() Vandal cavalryman, c. AD 500, from a mosaic pavement at Bordj Djedid near Carthage | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Vandals |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Genseric | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
Carthage was captured by the
Background
In Gaul
In 406, the Vandals advanced from Pannonia travelling west along the Danube without much difficulty, but when they reached the Rhine, they met resistance from the Franks, who populated and controlled Romanized regions in northern Gaul. Twenty thousand Vandals, including Godigisel himself, died in the resulting battle, but then with the help of the Alans they managed to defeat the Franks, and on December 31, 406 the Vandals crossed the Rhine to invade Gaul, which they devastated terribly. Under Godigisel's son Gunderic, the Vandals plundered their way westward and southward through Aquitaine.[5]
To Spain
In 409, Godigisel's son
Over to Africa
Following his death early in the year 428, Gunderic was succeeded by his half brother
Siege of Hippo and capture of Carthage
The siege of Hippo Regius (May 430 to July 431) ended unsuccessfully for the Vandals. Peace was made on 30 January 435 between the emperor Valentinian III and Gaiseric. The emperor was to retain Carthage and the small but rich proconsular province in which it was situated, while Hippo and the other six provinces of Africa were abandoned to the Vandals.
Gaiseric observed this treaty until it no longer suited his purpose. On 19 October 439, without any declaration of war, he suddenly attacked Carthage and took it. The Vandal occupation of this great city, the third among the cities of the Roman Empire, lasted for 94 years. Gaiseric seems to have counted the years of his sovereignty from the date of its capture. Though most of the remaining years of Gaiseric's life were passed in war, plunder rather than territorial conquest seems to have been the object of his expeditions. He made, in fact, of Carthage a pirate's stronghold and attacked, in his words, "the dwellings of the men with whom God is angry."
He created probably the only barbarian fleet and was for 30 years the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. Gaiseric's
Gallery
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Vandal kingdom in Africa
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File:AR 50 Denarii minted in Carthage in 530–534
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Genseric, King of the Vandals
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Genseric, King of the Vandals
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Map of the Vandal Kingdom in 455 AD
Attribution
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandals". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in theReferences
- ISBN 9781107460416.
- ISBN 978-0393003888.
- ISBN 978-0717271733.
- ISBN 978-0313335372.
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandals". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Livermore, Harold Victor (1966). A New History of Portugal. pp. 22–24.
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandals". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandals". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vandals". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the