History of the Wars [written c. 550 CE],
Book III, chapters iii-vii
Now the Vandals, dwelling about the Maeotic Lake [the Sea of Azov], since they were
pressed by hunger, moved to the country of the Germans, who are now called Franks, and the
river Rhine, associating with themselves the Alans, a Gothic people [Arkenberg: actually,
they were one of the Indo-Iranian peoples]. Then from there, under the leadership of
Godigisclus, they moved and settled in Hispania, which is the first land of the Roman
Empire on the side of the ocean [406-07 CE]. At that time Honorius made an agreement with
Godigisclus that they should settle there on condition that it should not be to the
detriment of the country. But there was a law among the Romans, that if any persons should
fail to keep their property in their own possession, and if, meanwhile, a time amounting
to thirty years should pass, that these persons should thenceforth not be entitled to
proceed against those who had forced them out, but they were excluded by demurrer from
access to the court; and in view of this he established a law that whatever time should be
spent by the Vandals in the Roman domain should not be spent by the Vandals in the Roman
domain should not by any means be counted toward this thirty-year demurrer. And Honorius
himself, when the West had been driven by him to this pass, died of disease [August 27,
423 CE].
Now before this, as it happened, the royal power had been shared by Honorius with
Constantius, the husband of Placidia [Galla Placidia], the sister of Arcadius and himself;
but he lived to exercise the power only a few days, and then, becoming seriously ill, he
died [421 CE] while Honorius was still living, having never succeeded in saying or in
doing anything worth recounting; for the time was not sufficient during which he lived in
possession of the royal power. Now a son of this Constantius, Valentinian, a child just
weaned, was being reared in the palace of Theodosius, but the members of the imperial
court in Rome chose one of the soldiers there, John by name, as emperor. This man was both
gentle and well-endowed with sagacity and thoroughly capable of valorous deeds. At any
rate he held the tyranny five years [actually he only ruled eighteen months] and directed
it with moderation, and he neither gave ear to slanderers nor did he do any unjust murder,
willingly at least, nor did he set his hand to robbing men of money; but he did not prove
able to do anything at all against the barbarians, since his relations with Byzantium were
hostile. Against this John, Theodosius, the son of Arcadius [Theodosius II, reigned
408-450 CE], sent a great army and Aspar and Ardaburius, the son of Aspar, as generals,
and wrested from him the tyranny and gave over the royal power to Valentinian, who was
still a child [Valentinian III, reigned 423-455 CE].
And Valentinian took John alive, and he brought him out in the hippodrome of Aquileia
with one of his hands cut off and caused him to ride in state on an ass, and then after he
had suffered much ill treatment from the stage-performers there, both in word and in deed,
he put him to death. Thus Valentinian took over the power of the West. But Placidia, his
mother, had reared this emperor and educated him in an altogether effeminate manner, and
in consequence he was filled with wickedness from childhood. For he associated mostly with
sorcerers and those who busy themselves with the stars, and, being an extraordinarily
zealous pursuer of love affairs with other men's wives, he conducted himself in a most
indecent manner, although he was married to a woman of exceptional beauty. And not only
was this true, but he also failed to recover for the empire anything of what had been
wrested from it before, and he both lost Libya in addition to the territory previously
lost and was himself destroyed. And when he perished, it fell to the lot of his wife and
children to become captives. Now the disaster in Libya came about as follows.
There were two Roman generals, Aetius and Bonifacius, especially valiant men and in
experience of many wars inferior to none of that time at least. These two came to be at
variance in regard to matters of state, but they attained to such a degree of
high-mindedness and excellence in every respect that if one should call either of them
"the last of the Romans" he would not err, so true was it that all the excellent
qualities of the Romans were summed up in these two men. One of these, Bonifacius, was
appointed by Placidia general of all Libya. Now, this was not in accord with the wishes of
Aetius, but he by no means disclosed the fact that it did not please him. For their
hostility had not as yet come to light, but was concealed behind the countenance of each.
But when Bonifacius had got out of the way, Aetius slandered him to Placidia, saying
that he was setting up a tyranny and had robbed her and the emperor of all Libya, and he
said that it was very easy for her to find out the truth; for if she should summon
Bonifacius to Rome, he would never come. And when the woman heard this, Aetius seemed to
her to speak well and she acted accordingly. But Aetius, anticipating her, wrote to
Bonifacius secretly that the mother of the emperor was plotting against him and wished to
put him out of the way. And he predicted to him that there would be convincing proof of
the plot; for he would be summoned very shortly for no reason at all. Such was the
announcement of the letter. And Bonifacius did not disregard the message, for as soon as
those arrived who were summoning him to the emperor, he refused to give heed to the
emperor and his mother, disclosing to no one the warning of Aetius. So when Placidia heard
this, she thought that Aetius was exceedingly well-disposed towards the emperor's cause
and took under consideration the question of Bonifacius.
But Bonifacius, since it did not seem to him that he was able to array himself against
the emperor, and since if he returned to Rome there was clearly no safety for him, began
to lay plans so that, if possible, he might have a defensive alliance with the Vandals,
who, as previously stated, had established themselves in Hispania not far from Libya.
There Godigliscus had died and the royal power had fallen to his sons, Gontharis, who was
born to him from his wedded wife, and Gaiseric, of illegitimate birth. But the former was
still a child and not of very energetic temper, while Gaiseric had been excellently
trained in warfare, and was the cleverest of all men. Bonifacius accordingly sent to
Hispania those who were his own most intimate friends and gained the adherence of each of
the sons of Godigisclus on terms of complete equality, it being agreed that each one of
the three, holding a third part of Libya, should rule over his own subjects; but if a foe
should come against any one of them to make war, that they should in common ward off the
aggressors. On the basis of this agreement the Vandals crossed the strait at Gades [modern
Cadíz] and came into Libya, and the Visigoths in later times settled in Hispania.
But in Rome the friends of Bonifacius, remembering the character of the man and
considering how strange his action was, were greatly astonished to think that Bonifacius
was setting up a tyranny, and some of them at the order of Placidia went to Carthage.
There they met Bonifacius and saw the letter of Aetius, and after hearing the whole story
they returned to Rome as quickly as they could and reported to Placidia how Bonifacius
stood in relation to her. And though the woman was dumbfounded, she did nothing unpleasant
to Aetius nor did she upbraid him for what he had done to the emperor's house, for he
himself wielded great power and the affairs of the empire were already in an evil plight;
but she disclosed to the friends of Bonifacius the advice Aetius had given, and, offering
oaths and pledges of safety, entreated them to persuade the man, if they could, to return
to his fatherland and not to permit the empire of the Romans to lie under the hand of
barbarians.
And when Bonifacius heard this, he repented of his act and of his agreement with the
barbarians, and he besought them incessantly, promising them everything, to remove from
Libya. But since they did not receive his words with favor, but considered that they were
being insulted, he was compelled to fight with them, and being defeated in battle, he
retired to Hippo Regius [modern Bona], a strong city in the portion of Numidia that is on
the sea. There the Vandals made camp under the leadership of Gaiseric and began a siege;
for Gontharis had already died. And they say that he perished at the hand of his brother.
The Vandals, however, do not agree with those who make this statement, but say that
Gontharis was captured in battle by Germans in Hispania and impaled, and that Gaiseric was
already sole ruler when he led the Vandals into Libya. This, indeed, I have heard from the
Vandals, stated in this way. But after much time had passed by, since they were unable to
secure Hippo Regius either by force or by surrender, and since at the same time they were
being pressed by hunger, they raised the siege. And a little later Bonifacius and the
Romans in Libya, since a numerous army had come from both Rome and Byzantium and Aspar
with them as general, decided to renew the struggle, and a fierce battle was fought in
which they were badly beaten by the enemy, and they made haste to flee as each one could.
And Aspar betook himself homeward, and Bonifacius, coming before Placidia, acquitted
himself of the suspicion, showing that it had arisen against him for no true cause.
So the Vandals, having wrested Libya from the Romans in this way, made it their own.
And those of the enemy whom they took alive they reduced to slavery and held under guard.
Among these happened to be Marcian, who later upon the death of Theodosius assumed the
imperial power. At that time, however, Gaiseric commanded that the captives be brought
into the king's courtyard, in order that it might be possible for him, by looking at them,
to know what master each of them might serve without degradation. And when they were
gathered under the open sky, about midday, the season being summer, they were distressed
by the sun and sat down. And somewhere or other among them Marcian, quite neglected, was
sleeping. Then an eagle flew over him spreading out his wings, as they say, and always
remaining in the same place in the air he cast a shadow over Marcian alone. And Gaiseric,
upon seeing from the upper storey what was happening, since he was an exceedingly
discerning person, suspected that the thing was a divine manifestation, and summoning the
man enquired of him who he might be. And he replied that he was a confidential adviser of
Aspar; such a person the Romans call a "domesticus" in their own tongue. And
when Gaiseric heard this and considered first the meaning of the bird's action, and then
remembered how great power Aspar exercised in Byzantium, it became evident to him that the
man was being led to royal power. He therefore by no means deemed it right to kill him,
reasoning that, if he should remove him from the world, it would be very clear that the
thing which the bird had done was nothing (for he would not honor with his shadow a king
who was about to die straightaway), and he felt, too, that he would be killing him for no
good cause; and if, on the other hand, it was fated that in later times the man should
become king, it would never be within his power to inflict death upon him; for that which
has been decided upon by God could never be prevented by a man's decision. But he bound
Marcian by oaths that, if it should be in his power, he would never take up arms against
the Vandals at least. Thus, then, Marcian was released and came to Byzantium, and when at
a later time Theodosius died he received the empire. And in all other respects he proved
himself a good emperor [reigned 450-457 CE], but he paid no attention at all to affairs in
Libya. But this happened in later times.
At that time Gaiseric, after conquering Aspar and Bonifacius in battle, displayed a
foresight worth recounting, whereby he made his good fortune most thoroughly secure. For
fearing lest, if once again an army should come against him from both Rome and Byzantium,
the Vandals might not be able to use the same strength and enjoy the same fortune (since
human affairs are wont to be overturned by Heaven and to fail by reason of the weakness of
men's bodies), he was not lifted up by the good fortune he had enjoyed, but rather became
moderate because of what he feared, and so he made a treaty with the Emperor Valentinian
providing that each year he should pay to the emperor tribute from Libya, and he delivered
over one of his sons, Huneric, as a hostage to make this agreement binding. So Gaiseric
both showed himself a brave man in the battle and guarded the victory as securely as
possible, and, since the friendship between the two people increased greatly, he received
back his son Huneric. And at Rome Placidia had died before this time, and after her,
Valentinian, her son, also died, having no male offspring, but two daughters had been born
to him from Eudoxia, the child of Theodosius. And I shall now relate in what manner
Valentinian died.
There was a certain Maximus [Petronius Maximus, reigned 455 CE], a Roman senator, of
the house of that Maximus [Emperor in Gaul, Britain, and Spain 383-388] who, while
usurping the imperial power, was overthrown by the elder Theodosius [Theodosius I] and put
to death, and on whose account also the Romans celebrate the annual festival named from
the defeat of Maximus. This younger Maximus was married to a woman discreet in her ways
and exceedingly famous for her beauty. For this reason a desire came over Valentinian to
have her to wife. And since it was impossible, much as he wished it, to meet her, he
plotted an unholy deed and carried it to fulfillment. For he summoned Maximus to the
palace and sat down with him to a game of draughts, and a certain sum was set as a penalty
for the loser; and the emperor won in this game, and receiving Maximus' ring as a pledge
for the agreed amount, he sent it to his house, instructing the messenger to tell the wife
of Maximus that her husband bade her come as quickly as possible to the palace to salute
the queen Eudoxia. And she, judging by the ring that the message was from Maximus, entered
her litter and was conveyed to the emperor's court. And she was received by those who had
been assigned this service by the emperor, and led into a certain room far removed from
the women's apartments, where Valentinian met her and raped her, much against her will.
And she, after the outrage, went to her husband's house weeping and feeling the deepest
possible grief because of her misfortune, and she cast many curses upon Maximus as having
provided the cause for what had been done.
Maximus, accordingly, became exceedingly aggrieved at that which had come to pass, and
straightway entered into a conspiracy against the emperor; but when he saw that Aetius was
exceedingly powerful, for he had recently conquered Attila [at the Battle of Chalôns in
451 CE], who had invaded the Roman domain with a great army of Massagetae [i.e., Huns]
and the other Scythians, the thought occurred to him that Aetius would be in the way of
his undertaking. And upon considering this matter, it seemed to him that it was the first,
paying no heed to the fact that the whole hope of the Romans centered in him. And since
the eunuchs who were in attendance upon the emperor were well-disposed toward him, he
persuaded the emperor by their devices that Aetius was setting on foot a revolution. And
Valentinian, judging by nothing else than the power and valor of Aetius that the report
was true, put the man to death [September 21, 454 CE]. Whereupon a certain Roman made
himself famous by a saying which he uttered. For when the emperor enquired of him whether
he had done well in putting Aetius to death, he replied saying that, as to this matter, he
was not able to know whether he had done well or perhaps otherwise, but one thing he
understood exceedingly well, that he had cut off his own right hand with the other.
Later on Maximus slew the emperor with no trouble and secured the tyranny [455 CE], and
he married Eudoxia by force. For the wife to whom he had been wedded had died not long
before. And on one occasion in private he made the statement to Eudoxia that it was all
for the sake of her love that he had carried out all that he had done. And since she felt
a repulsion for Maximus even before that time, and had been desirous of exacting vengeance
from him for the wrong done Valentinian, his words made her swell with rage still more
against him, and led her on to carry out her plot, since she had heard Maximus say that on
account of her the misfortune had befallen her husband. And as soon as day came, she sent
to Carthage entreating Gaiseric to avenge Valentinian, who had been destroyed by an unholy
man, in a manner unworthy both of himself and of his imperial station, and to deliver her,
since she was suffering unholy treatment at the hand of the tyrant. And she impressed it
upon Gaiseric that, since he was a friend and ally and so great a calamity had befallen
the imperial house, it was not a holy thing to fail to become an avenger. For from
Byzantium she thought no vengeance would come, since Theodosius had already departed from
the world and Marcian had taken over the empire [March 17, 455 CE].
And Gaiseric, for no other reason than that he suspected that much money would come to
him, set sail for Italy with a great fleet. And going up to Rome, since no one stood in
his way, he took possession of the palace. Now while Maximus was trying to flee, the
Romans threw stones at him and killed him, and they cut off his head and each of his other
members and divided them among themselves. But Gaiseric took Eudoxia captive, together
with Eudocia and Placidia, the children of herself and Valentinian, and placing an
exceedingly great amount of gold and other imperial treasure in his ships sailed to
Carthage, having spared neither bronze nor anything else whatsoever in the palace. He
plundered also the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and tore off half of the roof. Now this
roof was of bronze of the finest quality, and since gold was laid over it exceedingly
thick, it shone as a magnificent and wonderful spectacle. But of the ships with Gaiseric,
one, which was bearing the statutes, was lost, they say, but with all the others the
Vandals reached port in the harbor of Carthage. Gaiseric then married Eudocia to Huneric,
the elder of his sons; but the other of the two women, being the wife of Olybrius, a most
distinguished man in the Roman senate, he sent to Byzantium together with her mother,
Eudoxia, at the request of the emperor. Now the power of the East had fallen to Leo [Leo
I, reigned 457-474 CE], who had been set in this position by Aspar, since Marcian had
already passed from the world.
Afterwards Gaiseric devised the following scheme. He tore down the walls of all the
cities in Libya except Carthage, so that neither the Libyans themselves, espousing the
cause of the Romans, might have a strong base from which to begin a rebellion, nor those
sent by the emperor have any ground for hoping to capture a city and by establishing a
garrison in it to make trouble for the Vandals. Now at that time it seemed that he had
counseled well and had ensured prosperity for the Vandals in the safest possible manner;
but in later times when these cities, being without walls, were captured by Belisarius all
the more easily and with less exertion, Gaiseric was then condemned to suffer much
ridicule, and that which for the time he considered wise counsel turned out for him to be
folly. For as fortunes change, men are always accustomed to change with them their
judgments regarding what had been planned in the past. And among the Libyans all who
happened to be men of note and conspicuous for their wealth he handed over as slaves,
together with their estates and all their money, to his sons Huneric and Genzon. For
Theodorus, the youngest son, had died already, being altogether without offspring, either
male or female. And he robbed the rest of the Libyans of their estates, which were both
very numerous and excellent, and distributed them among the nations of the Vandals, and as
a result of this these lands have been called "Vandals' estates" up to the
present time.
And it fell to the lot of those who had formerly possessed these lands to be in extreme
poverty and to be at the same time free men; and they had the privilege of going away
wheresoever they wished. And Gaiseric commanded that all the lands which he had given over
to his sons and to the other Vandals should not be subject to any kind of taxation. But as
much of the land as did not seem to him good he allowed to remain in the hands of the
former owners, but assessed so large a sum to be paid on this land for taxes to the
government that nothing whatever remained to those who retained their farms. And many of
them were constantly being sent into exile or killed. For charges were brought against
them of many sorts, and heavy ones too; but one charge seemed to be the greatest of all,
that a man, having money of his own, was hiding it. Thus the Libyans were visited with
every form of misfortune.
The Vandals and the Alans he arranged in companies, appointing over them no less than
eighty captains, whom he called "chiliarchs" [i.e., "leaders of a
thousand"], making it appear that his host of fighting men in active service amounted
to eighty thousand. And yet the number of the Vandals and Alans was said in former times,
at least, to amount to no more than fifty thousand men. However, after that time by their
natural increase among themselves and by associating other barbarians with them they came
to be an exceedingly numerous people. But the names of the Alans and all the other
barbarians, except the Mauretanii, were united in the name of Vandals. At that time, after
the death of Valentinian, Gaiseric gained the support of the Mauretanii, and every year at
the beginning of spring he made invasions into Sicily and Italy, enslaving some of the
cities, razing others to the ground, and plundering everything; and when the land had
become destitute of men and of money, he invaded the domain of the emperor of the East.
And so he plundered Illyricum and the most of the Peloponnesus and of the rest of Greece
and all the islands which lie near it. And again he went off to Sicily and Italy, and kept
plundering and pillaging all places in turn. And one day when he had embarked on his ship
in the harbor of Carthage, and the sails were already being spread, the pilot asked him,
they say, against what men in the world he bade them go. And he in reply said:
"Plainly against those with whom God is angry." Thus without any cause he kept
making invasions wherever chance might lead him.
And the Emperor Leo, wishing to punish the Vandals because of these things, was
gathering an army against them; and they say that this army amounted to about one hundred
thousand men. And he collected a fleet of ships from the whole of the eastern
Mediterranean, showing real generosity to both soldiers and sailors, for he feared lest
from a parsimonious policy some obstacle might arise to hinder him in his desire to carry
out his punishment of the barbarians. Therefore, they say, thirteen hundred centenaria
were expended by him to no purpose. But since it was not fated that the Vandals should be
destroyed by this expedition, he made Basiliscus commander-in-chief, the brother of his
wife Berine, a man who was extraordinarily desirous of the royal power, which he hoped
would come to him without a struggle if he won the friendship of Aspar. For Aspar himself,
being an adherent of the Arian faith, and having no intention of changing it for another,
was unable to enter upon the imperial office, but he was easily strong enough to establish
another in it, and it already seemed likely that he would plot against the Emperor Leo,
who had given him offence. So they say that since Aspar was then fearful lest, if the
Vandals were defeated, Leo should establish his power most securely, he repeatedly urged
upon Basiliscus that he should spare the Vandals and Gaiseric.
Now before this time [468 CE.] Leo had already appointed and sent Anthemius as Emperor
of the West [reigned 467-472 CE], a man of the senate of great wealth and high birth, in
order that he might assist him in the Vandalic war. And yet Gaiseric kept asking and
earnestly entreating that the imperial power be given to Olybrius, who was married to
Placidia, the daughter of Valentinian [III], and on account of his relationship [his
son-in-law] well-disposed toward him, and when he failed in this he was still more angry
and kept plundering the whole land of the emperor. Now there was in Dalmatia a certain
Marcellianus, one of the acquaintances of Aetius and a man of repute, who, after Aetius
had died in the manner told above [III.iv.27], no longer deigned to yield obedience to the
emperor, but beginning a revolution and detaching all the others from allegiance, held the
power of Dalmatia himself, since no one dared encounter him. But the Emperor Leo at that
time won over Marcellianus by very careful wheedling, and bade him go to the island of
Sardinia, which was then subject to the Vandals. And he drove out the Vandals and gained
possession of it with no great difficulty. And Heracleius was sent from Byzantium to
Tripolis in Libya, and after conquering the Vandals of that district in battle, he easily
captured the cities, and leaving his ships there, led his army on foot toward Carthage.
Such, then, was the sequence of events which formed the prelude of the war.
But Basiliscus with his whole fleet put in at a town distant from Carthage no less than
two hundred and eighty stades (now it so happened that a temple of Hermes had been there
from of old, from which fact the place was named Mercurium; for the Romans called Hermes
"Mercurius"), and if he had not purposely played the coward and hesitated, but
had undertaken to go straight for Carthage, he would have captured it at the first onset,
and he would have reduced the Vandals to subjection without their even thinking of
resistance; so overcome was Gaiseric with awe of Leo as an invincible emperor, when the
report was brought to him that Sardinia and Tripolis and been captured, and he saw the
fleet of Basiliscus to be such as the Romans were said never to have had before. But, as
it was, the general's hesitation, whether caused by cowardice or treachery, prevented this
success. And Gaiseric, profiting by the negligence of Basiliscus, did as follows. Arming
all his subjects in the best way he could, he filled his ships, but not all, for some he
kept in readiness empty, and they were the ships which sailed most swiftly. And sending
envoys to Basiliscus, he begged him to defer the war for the space of five days, in order
that in meantime he might take counsel ad do those things which were especially desired by
the emperor. They say, too, that he sent also a great amount of gold without the knowledge
of the army of Basiliscus and thus purchased this armistice. And he did this, thinking, as
actually did happen, that a favoring wind would rise for him during this time. And
Basiliscus, either as doing a favor to Asper in accordance with what he had promised, or
selling the moment of opportunity for money, or perhaps thinking it the better course, did
as he was requested and remained quietly in the camp, awaiting the moment favorable to the
enemy.
But the Vandals, as soon as the wind had arisen for them which they had been expecting
during the time they lay at rest, raised their sails and, taking in tow the boats which,
as has been stated above, they had made ready with no men in them, they sailed against the
enemy. And when they came near, they set fire to the boats which they were towing, when
their sails were bellied by the wind, and let them go against the Roman fleet. And since
there were a great number of ships there, these boats easily spread fire wherever they
struck, and were themselves readily destroyed together with those with which they came in
contact. And as the fire advanced in this way the Roman fleet was filled with tumult, as
was natural, and with a great din that rivaled the noise caused by the wind and the
roaring of the flames, as the soldiers together with the sailors shouted orders to one
another and pushed off with their poles the fire-boats and their own ships as well, which
were being destroyed by one another in complete disorder. And already the Vandals too were
at hand ramming and sinking the ships, and making booty of such of the soldiers as
attempted to escape, and of their arms as well. But there were also some of the Romans who
proved themselves brave men in this struggle, and most of all John, who was a general
under Basiliscus and who had no share whatever in his treason. For a great throng having
surrounded his ship, he stood on the deck, and turning from side to side kept killing very
great numbers of the enemy from there, and when he perceived that the ship was being
captured, he leaped with his whole equipment of arms from the deck into the sea. And
though Genzon, the son of Gaiseric, entreated him earnestly not to do this, offering
pledges and holding out promises of safety, he nevertheless threw himself into the sea,
uttering this one word, that John would never come under the hands of dogs.
So this war came to an end, and Heracleius departed for home; for Marcellianus had been
destroyed treacherously by one of his fellow-officers. And Basiliscus, coming to
Byzantium, seated himself as a suppliant in the sanctuary of Christ the Great God, and
although, by the intercession of Berine, the queen, he escaped this danger, he was not
able at that time to reach the throne, the thing for the sake of which everything had been
done by him. For the Emperor Leo not long afterwards destroyed both Aspar and Ardaburius
in the palace, because he suspected that they were plotting against his life [471 CE].
Thus, then, did these events take place.
Now Anthemius, the emperor of the West, died at the hand of his son-in-law Ricimer
[August 11, 472 CE], and Olybrius, succeeding to the throne, a short time afterward
suffered the same fate. And when Leo also had died in Byzantium [October 10, 472 CE], the
imperial office was taken over by the younger Leo [Leo II], the son of Zeno and Ariadne,
the daughter of Leo I, while he was still only a few days old. And his father [Zeno,
reigned 474-491 CE] having been chosen as partner in the royal power, the child forthwith
passed from the world. Majorinus also deserves mention, who had gained the power of the
West before this time [reigned 456-461 CE]. For this Majorinus, who surpassed in every
virtue all who have ever been emperors of the Romans, did not bear lightly the loss of
Libya, but collected a very considerable army against the Vandals and came to Liguria,
intending himself to lead the army against the enemy. For Majorinus never showed the least
hesitation before any task and least of all before the dangers of war. But thinking it not
inexpedient for him to investigate first the strength of the Vandals and the character of
Gaiseric and to discover how the Mauretanii and the Libyans stood with regard to
friendship or hostility toward the Romans, he decided to trust no eyes other than his own
in such a matter.
Accordingly he set out as if an envoy from the emperor to Gaiseric, assuming some
fictitious name. And fearing lest, by becoming known, he should himself receive some harm
and at the same time prevent the success of the enterprise, he devised the following
scheme. His hair, which was famous among all men as being so fair as to resemble pure
gold, he anointed with some kind of dye, which was especially invented for this purpose,
and so succeeded completely in changing it for the time to a dark hue. And when he came
before Gaiseric, the barbarian attempted in many ways to terrify him, and, in particular,
while treating him with engaging attention, as if a friend, he brought him into the house
where all his weapons were stored, a numerous and exceedingly noteworthy array. Thereupon
they say that the weapons shook of their own accord and gave forth a sound of no ordinary
or casual sort, and then it seemed to Gaiseric that there had been an earthquake, but when
he got outside and made enquiries concerning the earthquake, since no one else agreed with
him, a great wonder, they say, come over him, but he was not able to comprehend the
meaning of what had happened.
So Majorinus, having accomplished the very things he wished, returned to Liguria, and,
leading his army on foot, came to the Pillars of Hercules, purposing to cross over the
strait at that point, and then to march by land from there against Carthage. And when
Gaiseric became aware of this, and perceived he had been tricked by Majorinus in the
matter of the embassy, he became alarmed and made his preparations for war. And the
Romans, basing their confidence on the valor of Majorinus, already began to have fair
hopes of recovering Libya for the empire. But meantime Majorinus was attacked by the
disease of dysentery and died [461 CE], a man who had shown himself moderate toward his
subjects, and an object of fear to his enemies.
And another emperor, Nepos, upon taking over the empire [July 24, 474 CE], living to
enjoy it only a few days, died of disease, and Glycerius after him entered into this
office and suffered a similar fate [474-475 CE]. And after him Augustus [Romulus
Augustulus, 475-476 CE] assumed the imperial power. There were, moreover, still other
emperors in the West before this time, but though I know their names well, I shall make no
mention of them whatever. For it so fell out that they lived only a short time after
attaining the office, and as a result of this accomplished nothing worthy of mention. Such
was the course of events in the west.
But in Byzantium Basiliscus, being no longer able to master his passion for royal
power, made an attempt to usurp the throne, and succeeded without difficulty, since Zeno,
together with his wife, sought refuge in Isauria, which was his native home. And while he
was maintaining his tyranny for a year and eight months he was detested by practically
everyone and in particular by the soldiers of the court on account of the greatness of his
avarice. And Zeno, perceiving this, collected an army and came against him. And Basiliscus
sent an army under the general Harmatus in order to array himself against Zeno. But when
they had made camp near one another, Harmatus surrendered his army to Zeno, on the
condition that Zeno should appoint as Caesar Harmatus' son Basiliscus, who was a very
young child, and leave him as successor to the throne upon his death. And Basiliscus,
deserted by all, fled for refuge to the same sanctuary as formerly. And Acacius, the
priest of the city, put him into the hands of Zeno, charging him with impiety and with
having brought great confusion and many innovations into the Christian doctrine, having
inclined toward the heresy of Eutyches. And this was so. And after Zeno had thus taken
over the empire a second time, he carried out his pledge to Harmatus formally by
appointing his son Basiliscus Caesar, but not long afterwards he stripped him of the
office and put Harmatus to death. And he sent Basiliscus together with his children and
his wife into Cappadocia in the winter season, commanding that they should be destitute of
food and clothes and every kind of care. And there, being hard pressed by both cold and
hunger, they took refuge in one another's arms, and embracing their loved ones, perished.
And this punishment overtook Basiliscus for the policy he had pursued. These things,
however, happened in later times.
But at that time Gaiseric was plundering the whole Roman domain just as much as before,
if not more, circumventing his enemy by craft and driving them out of their possessions by
force, as has been previously said, and he continued to do so until the emperor Zeno came
to an agreement with him and an endless peace was established between them, by which it
was provided that the Vandals should never in all time perform any hostile act against the
Romans nor suffer such a thing at their hands. And this peace was preserved by Zeno
himself and also by his successor in the empire, Anastasius. And it remained in force
until the time of the emperor Justinus. But Justinian, who was the nephew of Justinus,
succeeded him in the imperial power, and it was in the reign of this Justinian that the
war with which we are concerned came to pass, in the manner which will be told in the
following narrative.
Gaiseric, after living on a short time, died at an advanced age, having made a will in
which he enjoined many things upon the Vandals and in particular that the royal power
among them should always fall to that one who should be the first in years among all the
male offspring descended from Gaiseric himself. So Gaiseric, having ruled over the Vandals
thirty-nine years from the time when he captured Carthage, died, as I have said [477 CE]
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