Gaiseric facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gaiseric |
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| Ruler of the Vandal Kingdom | |
| Reign | 428 – 25 January 477 |
| Predecessor | Gunderic |
| Successor | Huneric |
| Born | c. 389 Near Lake Balaton, Hungary |
| Died | 25 January 477 (aged 87) Carthage, Vandal Kingdom |
| Issue | |
| Father | Godigisel |
| Religion | Arianism |
Gaiseric (around 389 – January 25, 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric, was a powerful king of the Vandals and Alans. He ruled from 428 to 477 and created a strong kingdom. Gaiseric was a major figure during the time when the Western Roman Empire was facing many challenges in the 5th century.
During his nearly 50 years as king, he transformed a small Germanic tribe into a major power in the Mediterranean region. His most famous achievement was capturing and plundering the city of Rome in June 455. He also defeated two big Roman attempts to overthrow him. One was by Emperor Majorian in 460 or 461, and another by Basiliscus at the Battle of Cape Bon in 468. After Gaiseric died in Carthage, his son Huneric became king.
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Becoming King of the Vandals
Gaiseric was the son of King Godigisel. After his father died in a battle against the Franks, Gaiseric became a very important leader among the Vandals. He was second only to his half-brother, Gunderic, who was the new king.
When Gunderic died in 428, Gaiseric became the king of the Vandals. He wanted to make his people stronger and richer. At that time, the Vandals lived in a Roman area called Hispania Baetica (southern Spain). They had suffered many attacks from the Visigoths, another Germanic tribe.
Soon after becoming king, Gaiseric decided to move his people out of Spain. He had already started building a Vandal fleet (a group of ships) even before he was king. In 429, a large group of Suebi, led by Heremigarius, attacked Gaiseric. The Suebi army was defeated near Mérida, and their leader drowned while trying to escape.
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Moving to Africa
After becoming king, Gaiseric led most of his people across the Straits of Gibraltar to Northern Africa in 428 or 429. Some historians think there were as many as 80,000 people, but others believe the number was closer to 20,000. It's possible that the Roman governor, Bonifacius, invited the Vandals to help him fight against the Roman general, Aetius.
Gaiseric's group included not only Vandals but also Alans and Goths. Once in Africa, he quickly won many battles against the weak Roman forces. He took control of the land that is now modern Morocco and northern Algeria. His army then surrounded the city of Hippo Regius. They captured it after 14 months of hard fighting.
In 435, Gaiseric made a peace agreement with the Roman Emperor Valentinian III. In exchange for Gaiseric being recognized as king of the lands he had conquered, the Vandals agreed to stop attacking Carthage. They also promised to pay tribute to the Roman Empire. Gaiseric's son, Huneric, was sent to Rome as a hostage to ensure the peace. This treaty also allowed the Vandals to keep parts of Mauritania and Numidia as allies of Rome.
On October 19, 439, Gaiseric made a surprise move and captured Carthage. This was a huge blow to the Roman Empire. The Romans were caught off guard, and Gaiseric took control of a large part of the Roman navy docked in Carthage's port. The Catholic bishop of Carthage, Quodvultdeus, was sent away. Gaiseric wanted his close advisors to follow the Arian form of Christianity, which was different from Catholic Christianity.
Gaiseric's capture of Carthage meant he controlled the valuable tax money and grain supply from Africa. He used this wealth to build a large fleet of ships. This fleet challenged Rome's control over the Mediterranean Sea. Gaiseric ruled over a mix of Vandals, Alans, Goths, and Romans in Africa. He used parts of the Roman government system to help legitimize his rule.
In 440 AD, Gaiseric attacked Panormus (modern Palermo, Sicily) but was pushed back. Later, in a 442 treaty with Rome, the Vandals were recognized as independent rulers of some African regions. In 455, Gaiseric took control of the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and Malta. His fleet soon controlled much of the western Mediterranean.
In 455, the Roman emperor Valentinian III was killed. A man named Petronius Maximus took the throne. Petronius Maximus then married Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia, and also arranged for his son to marry the emperor's daughter, Eudocia. However, Eudocia had already been promised to Gaiseric's son, Huneric. Gaiseric saw this as a reason for war. On May 31, he and his men landed in Italy.
Sack of Rome
Gaiseric led a large force from Carthage to Italy and attacked Rome. This attack was even more thorough than the one by Alaric I's Goths in 410. Unlike Alaric, who was a general in a difficult situation, Gaiseric was the king of a successful kingdom. He was able to plan and carry out the attack systematically. Historians believe Gaiseric's invasion was a huge blow to the Roman Empire. Some say he contributed more to its fall than any other single person.
Before Gaiseric marched into Rome, Pope Leo I asked him not to destroy the city or kill its people. Gaiseric agreed, and the gates of Rome were opened to him and his men. Once inside, the Vandals thoroughly plundered the city. They took gold, silver, and many other valuable things. They even stripped gold from the ceiling of the Jupiter Capitolinus temple. More importantly, they captured important people and leaders from the city. These captives became bargaining tools between the Vandals and the Empire for many years.
Petronius Maximus, the new emperor, ran away instead of fighting Gaiseric. Even though history remembers the Vandal sack of Rome as very brutal—leading to the word "vandalism" for destructive acts—the Vandals did not cause widespread destruction to the city itself. Gaiseric also took Empress Eudoxia and her daughters, Eudocia and Placidia, along with the city's riches. The shock of the Vandal sack paralyzed the Roman government across Italy. Eudocia later married Gaiseric's son, Huneric, in Carthage. Their son, Hilderic (Gaiseric's grandson), later played a key role in Emperor Justinian's conquests of North Africa.
Later Years and Death
Around 460, Emperor Majorian started gathering a fleet to attack the Vandals. When Gaiseric heard about this, he acted first. He sent ships from Carthage to Carthago Nova, where they burned the Roman ships while they were still docked. This showed again that Gaiseric was more than a match for the Roman empires of both the West and the East. In early 462, Gaiseric sent Empress Eudoxia and her daughters, Eudocia and Placidia, back to Constantinople. He had captured them during the sack of Rome. This was an act of peace with the Empire, likely to keep his son Huneric's marriage to Eudocia strong.
In 468, Gaiseric's kingdom was the target of the last big effort by both parts of the Roman Empire (East and West) to defeat the Vandals. Emperor Leo sent a large fleet from Constantinople, led by Basiliscus. Gaiseric sent a fleet of 500 Vandal ships against the Romans. He lost 340 ships in the first fight. But in the second battle, he managed to destroy 600 Roman ships using fire ships. This huge defeat for the Roman fleet cost them a lot of gold and silver. The Romans gave up the campaign. Gaiseric remained in control of the western Mediterranean until his death, ruling from the Strait of Gibraltar all the way to Tripolitania.
After defeating the Byzantine fleet, the Vandals tried to invade the Peloponnese (a region in Greece). However, they were pushed back by the Maniots at Kenipolis and suffered heavy losses. In revenge, the Vandals took 500 hostages at Zakynthos. They cut them into pieces and threw the body parts overboard on their way back to Carthage.
In 474, Gaiseric made peace with the Eastern Roman Empire through a treaty. He died in Carthage in 477. His son, Huneric, became king after him. Huneric was not as strong a leader as his father, and the Vandal power began to weaken. However, the peace Gaiseric made with the Eastern Roman Empire lasted until 530.
See also
- Alaric I
- Augustine: The Decline of the Roman Empire.
- Barbarians Rising
- Battle of Agrigentum (456)
- Odoacer
Images for kids
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Gaiseric Sacking Rome, a painting by Karl Briullov (1833–1836).
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Pope Leo the Great attempts to persuade Gaiseric, prince of Vandals, to abstain from sacking Rome. (miniature ca. 1475)
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