why the collapse of empire
VANDALS AT ROME
The Vandals were a Germanic tribe who are first mentioned in Roman history in the Natural Historyof Pliny the Elder (77 CE). The Roman historian Tacitus also mentions them in his Germania (c. 98 CE), though he also refers to them as the "Lugi". Their name may mean "the wanderers" and was given by both Pliny and Tacitus as "Vandilii". The name "vandal" has now become synonymous with careless destruction owing to the accounts by Roman writers describing their violent behavior generally and their sack ofRome in 455 CE specifically. The historian Torsten Cumberland Jacobsen, among others, has observed that this identification of wanton destruction with the Vandals is unfortunate. Jacobsen writes, “Despite the negative connotation their name now carries, the Vandals conducted themselves much better during the sack of Rome than did many other invading barbarians” (52). Among the many other Germanic tribes, the Vandals were a part of the movement which historians call "The Wandering of the Nations," which took place roughly between 376-476 CE (though this is generally thought to have begun earlier and lasted later), in which large-scale migrations took place (often due to incursions by the Huns), bringing Germanic tribes into closer contact with the Roman Empire and other cultures. The Vandals breached the Roman frontier in c. 270 CE and became a part of Rome's history from that point on until the Battle of Tricamarum in North Africa in 533 CE, in which the Vandal king Gelimer was defeated by the Roman general Belisarius and, after this, the Vandals ceased to exist as a cohesive entity.
EARLY HISTORY
The Vandals are believed to have originated in Scandinavia and migrated to the region of Silesia c. 130 BCE. They have been identified with the Iron Age Przeworsk Culture of Poland, though, like the early identification of the Goths with the Wielbark Culture of Poland, this has been contested. Jacobsen, in his work, A History of the Vandals, writes:
To attempt to trace the origin of the Vandals, we must combine archeological and historical sources, which are shaky and contradictory at best. The difficult and scanty sources mean that each statement about the early history of the Vandals should be preceded with, "We believe that possibly...," and end with, "...but we have little or no real evidence of it (3).
It is not even known if "Vandal" was their original name, as Tacitus refers to them as both Vandals and Lugi, and historians are uncertain as to whether the Vandals were a dominant tribe of which the Lugi were a sub-group or if the entire tribe was simply referred to by two names. Whichever the case, it seems clear from Tacitus' work that there were a number of distinct Germanic tribes who called "Vandals" by the Roman writers. At some point, the tribe divided into separate units (or may have been separate all along and only decided to part ways), and two of these tribes, the Silingi and the Hasdingi, migrated south.
ROME WAS FORCED TO ASK FOR PEACE AND TO REINSTATE THE TREATY OF 442 CE, ALLOWING THE VANDALS TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANTED WHENEVER THEY PLEASED.
The Silingi Vandals did not go far and remained in Silesia (roughly modern Poland), while the Hasdingi inhabited the region of the Sudeten mountain range. The Hasdingi were invited into Daciaby the Romans as allies during the Marcommanic Wars of 166-180 CE but, during and after the conflict, they seem to have caused more problems for Rome than provide assistance. The "difficult and scanty sources" Jacobsen writes about come into play here as, according to The History by Peter the Patrician, the Vandals were the allies of Marcus Aurelius while, according to Eutropius, they were his adversaries. The historian Cassius Dio reports that they were neither but were simply farmers and federates of Rome who, in 171 CE, were allowed to live in Dacia under the rule of their kings Raus and Raptus. While it therefore remains unclear exactly what their relationship with Rome was early on, they gradually engaged in hostilities with Rome.
WAR WITH ROME
By 270 CE they were making regular incursions into Roman territories and, in 271 CE, were beaten back and defeated by the emperor Aurelian. Prior to this, however, they had been Rome's allies and, like the Goths, served in the military. Aurelian pushed them back across the Danube. In his History of the Goths, Jordanes writes:
At that time they dwelt in the land where the Gepidae now live, near the rivers Marisia, Miliare, Gilpil, and the Grisia, which exceeds in size all previously mentioned. They then had on the east the Goths, on the west the Marcommani, on the north the Hermunduli and on the south the Hister, which is also called the Danube. At the time when the Vandals were dwelling in this region, war was begun against them by Geberich, king of the Goths, on the shore of the river Marisia which I have mentioned. Here the battle raged for a little while on equal terms. But soon Visimar himself, the king of the Vandals, was overthrown, together with the greater part of his people. When Geberich, the famous leader of the Goths, had conquered and spoiled the Vandals, he returned to his own place whence he had come. Then the remnant of the Vandals who had escaped, collecting a band of their unwarlike folk, left their ill-fated country and asked the Emperor Constantine for Pannonia. Here they made their home for about sixty years and obeyed the commands of the emperors like subjects (83-84).
The Vandals were primarily farmers who laid out their lands, usually in river valleys, so as to form a circular village. They made a living from tending crops and raising animals for slaughter and also through trade. Jacobsen writes, "The houses were one or two rooms, with walls of wood, or wicker covered by clay...The Vandals were also craftsmen. Among the crafts, weapon smithing was highly respected" (6). They were also skilled in making jewelry, in ceramics, and in weaving. They were ruled by a king (or two kings who probably wielded equal power) and seem to have had an upper class of nobility. Jacobsen notes that they were famous for their skill in horsemanship and that "an important role was tending horses for warfare." The Vandals are described by the ancient sources as tall, blonde, and good-looking and, though mention is certainly made of their domestic life and social structure, the main emphasis is often on their brutality in waging war. The Roman emperor Probus defeated them twice in 277/278 CE and killed many either because they would not behave according to the peace treaty or because they would not stop fighting. Those who survived, and submitted, were incorporated into the Roman army and sent to Roman Britain.
Constantine secured the Vandals in Pannonia in 330 CE, and they co-existed with their Roman neighbors except in terms of religion. The Vandals were Arian Christians, while the Romans were Trinitarian (or Nicean) Christians. Religious differences caused problems between the Vandals and the Romans, but these were forgotten, temporarily, in the invasion of the region by the Huns. In 376 CE, when the Goths under Fritigernwere fleeing from the Huns, they were allowed entrance into the empire and, of course, those Roman citizens living in Pannonia were allowed in as well; the Vandals, and many other tribes, were not. The Hunnic invasions continued until, in 406 CE, there was a large population of barbarian tribes gathered along the Roman border of the far bank of the Rhine River seeking safety within the borders of the empire. The Roman general Stilicho had reduced the garrison guarding the border because he needed as many men as he could muster to fight off Alaric I and his Gothic army.
One winter night in 406 CE, the Vandals crossed the frozen river and poured into the empire. They ravaged Gaul and proceeded on to Hispania, settling their people in both regions. Hostilities between the Vandals, the Franks, the Romans, and other tribes continued until c. 420 CE, when the Vandals captured many of the most important ports in Hispania and were able to build a navy to defend them from Rome. At this time Gunderic was king of both the Vandals and the Alans and was able to effectively keep the Romans at bay. He was less successful, however, against the Visigoths of Hispania who already inhabited the region when the Vandals arrived. Gunderic died in 428 CE and was succeeded by his half brother, Gaiseric (also known as Genseric), who would become the greatest Vandal king and one of the most effective monarchs of the ancient world.
THE REIGN OF GAISERIC
While the Vandals were consolidating their power in Spain and fighting off the Visigoths, the Roman Empire was suffering its usual problems with court intrigue. The emperor in the west was Valentinian III, who was only a child, and actual power lay with his mother, Galla Placidia and the general Flavius Aetius. Romans generally favored either Aetius or Galla, and the two were almost constantly at work trying to devise plans to thwart the hopes of the other. In c. 428 CE, Aetius devised a scheme whereby a rival of his, Boniface (who ruled in North Africa), was charged with treason against Valentinian III and Galla Placidia. Aetius requested that Galla send for Boniface to come from North Africa and answer the charges while, at the same time, sending word to Boniface that Galla was planning to execute him when he arrived. When Boniface sent word to Galla that he would not come, Aetius declared this was proof of his treason.
At this point, the ancient historian Procopius claims, Boniface invited the Vandals of Spain to North Africa as allies against a Roman invasion. Boniface, as Galla would soon recognize, was innocent of the charges and, as he controlled six provinces in North Africa and the military might to defend them, would have had no need for an agreement with the Vandals. Still, as Aetius and Galla were formidable enemies, Boniface could have sent the invitation to Gaiseric in order to muster as many men as he could. Another account of the Vandals' invasion of North Africa suggests that Gaiseric had been injured in a fall from a horse and was lame and so decided to henceforth wage war by sea, which led him to invade in order to establish a naval base at Carthage. Historians have argued for and against both of these claims and continue to do so. Most likely, Gaiseric simply wanted a homeland for his people that was rich in resources and free of Visigoths and so took advantage of the confused situation of the Romans and invaded when he felt Boniface could do nothing about it (or, simply accepted Boniface's invitation with a plan in mind to take the province). North Africa was the major grain supplier for the Roman Empire, and if Gaiseric controlled it, he would be able to effectively negotiate with the Romans to his advantage.
Whatever his reasons, Gaiseric led 80,000 of his people from Spain to North Africa in 429 CE. Historians continue to debate whether the number was 80,000 or 20,000, but the historian Goffart (citing others) writes, "That Geiseric led 80,000 Vandals and associated peoples from Spain to Africa in 429 has been called the one piece of certain information we have about the size of barbarian groups in the age of the invasions. The certainty arises from its being vouched for by apparently independent informants, one Latin, the other Greek" (231). Once in Africa, if the claim that Boniface invited him is accepted, he turned on his host and led his forces against the imperial army. He took thecity of Hippo (where St. Augustine was bishop at the time) after a siege of fourteen months and, a few years after this, took Carthage. He continued on with a string of victories, conquering cities until he was master of North Africa and the Vandals had their own homeland, much to the dismay of Rome. Historian Roger Collins writes, "The determination to regain Africa dominated western imperial policy for the next fifteen years" (90). The Romans would be unsuccessful in this, however, until after Gaiseric's
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