Later Roman Liburnian type galley
Geiseric (428–477) was certainly the most important of the
Vandal kings, and indeed was among the most influential figures of the fifth
century Mediterranean world. It was under his watch that the Vandals crossed
into Africa, and secured the two imperial treaties of settlement in 435 and
442. He established the position of the Vandals as a major naval power by
commandeering the Carthaginian merchant marine, and was able to spread Vandal
authority into Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands.
Fall of Carthage to the Vandals aggrieved the western and
eastern empire, as there was a large number of galleys and a great shipyards in
Carthage, creating the Vandal fleet as the equal to the joint navy of the two
empires. That the empire ever allowed for so many galleys to be left in
Carthage's port while the Vandals were so close by, must be one of the most
monumental blunders of its history. For the first time in nearly 6 centuries,
Carthage became the greatest danger to Rome since the Punic Wars.
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AD 468 witnessed the most ambitious campaign ever launched
against the Vandal state in Africa, which deserves admiration for its
logistical brilliance, if not its eventual result. A massive naval operation,
under the command of the emperor’s brother-in-law Basiliscus, lay at the heart
of this offensive, which was intended to strike directly at the Vandal capital.
The statistics for this campaign given by sixth- and seventh-century historians
are clearly grotesquely exaggerated, but even if we can reject Theophanes’
assertion that the fleet numbered 100,000 ships or even John the Lydian’s more
modest (but still unlikely) figure of 10,000 ships, it is clear that the logistical
operation was massive. Marcian ordered the extensive requisition of merchant
shipping in eastern ports, including considerable numbers of Carthaginian
vessels. Simultaneously, western troops were mustered under Anthemius or
Ricimer, and Sicily was again taken by Marcellinus and his barbarian federates.
The mobilization of this campaign startled the inhabitants
of Carthage into action. The Suevic and Gothic envoys in the city fled, and
Geiseric rapidly deployed his own legates in an attempt to make peace. Quite
what happened next is unclear, but Geiseric’s overtures apparently had some
effect. In the early stages of the campaign, the imperial forces enjoyed some
success, and may even have defeated Vandal ships sent out to intercept them.
Crucially, however, Basiliscus delayed the crucial landing operations and kept
his ships anchored at Mercurium off the African coast for five days. Various
explanations for this delay circulated among later historians. Some suggested
that Basiliscus had simply been bought off by Geiseric, others that Aspar had
promised him the eastern throne if he agreed to sacrifice his fleet to the
Vandal allies of the magister militum. Whatever the cause, the delay proved to
be fatal. After a long stand-off, a shift in the wind allowed Geiseric to
launch a fire-ship raid on the becalmed fleet. The effects were devastating.
Basiliscus’ vast armada was scattered and the opportunity for a crippling blow
at Carthage was lost.
As Basiliscus led his fleet towards the cataclysm of
Mercurium, and Marcellinus occupied Sicily, a third front was opened up on the
southern frontier of the Vandal kingdom. Drawing his army from the Byzantine
troops and federates of Egypt, Heracleius led an expedition by sea against the
Vandal coastal stronghold of Tripolis. Heracleius occupied the city, and then
followed an overland route towards Byzacena, with the intention of uniting with
Basiliscus in the Proconsular province. This expedition would have represented
a considerable threat to the Vandal kingdom, but it seems to have been halted
by news of Basiliscus’ defeat. Apparently demoralized, Heracleius led his army
back to the relative safety of Tripolis. Tripolis remained in Byzantine hands
until 470 when military pressures on the Balkan frontier, and political
infighting at court, required that the troops in Africa be withdrawn. A formal
peace treaty was probably signed in the same year.
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