The Vandals were a Germanic tribe who were displaced by the expansion and westward migration of the Huns early in the 5th century. They crossed the Rhine with the Alani and Suebi into Roman territory at Moguntiacum (Mainz) in 406, then raided across Gaul and settled in Andalusian Spain around 409. In 429, led by their king Gaiseric and numbering about 80,000, they migrated across the straits of Gibraltar established their rule over the North African coast in what is now Tunisia and northeastern Algeria. In 430 they besieged the Roman colony at Hippo Regius (near modern Annaba, Algeria), where St Augustine had been bishop from 395, and occasioned his death. Ten years later they captured Carthage. Unusually for a Germanic tribe the Vandals learned the arts of seafaring and were thus able to…

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Vandals Sack Rome". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 November 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1620, accessed 22 November 2024.]