Editing Vandals (section)

==== Establishment ====
{{main|Vandal Kingdom|Vandalic conquest of Roman Africa}}
[[File:Vandal Kingdom at its maximum extent in the 470s.png|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The Vandal Kingdom at its greatest extent in the 470s]]
[[File:Bonifatius Comes Africae 422-431CE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Coin of [[Bonifacius]] ''Comes Africae'' (422–431 CE), who was defeated by the Vandals.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=153210 |title=CNG Coins |access-date=2017-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810171332/https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=153210 |archive-date=2017-08-10 |url-status=live }}</ref> Legends: DOMINUS NOSTRIS / CARTAGINE.]]
The Vandals under Genseric (also known as Geiseric) [[Vandalic conquest of Roman Africa|crossed to Africa in 429]].<ref name= Collins124>{{harvnb|Collins|2000|p=124}}</ref> Although numbers are unknown and some historians debate the validity of estimates, based on Procopius' assertion that the Vandals and Alans numbered 80,000 when they moved to North Africa,<ref>[[Procopius]] ''[[Procopius#The Wars of Justinian|Wars]]'' 3.5.18–19 in {{harvnb|Heather|2005|p=512}}</ref> Peter Heather estimates that they could have fielded an army of around 15,000–20,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Heather|2005|pp=197–198}}</ref>

According to Procopius, the Vandals came to Africa at the request of [[Bonifacius]], the military ruler of the region.<ref>[[Procopius]] ''[[Procopius#The Wars of Justinian|Wars]]'' 3.5.23–24 in {{harvnb|Collins|2000|p=124}}</ref> Seeking to establish himself as an independent ruler in Africa or even become Roman Emperor, Bonifacius had defeated several Roman attempts to subdue him, until he was mastered by the newly appointed Gothic [[count]] of Africa, [[Sigisvult]], who captured both [[Hippo Regius]] and [[Carthage]].<ref name= Frasseto/> It is possible that Bonifacius had sought Genseric as an ally against Sigisvult, promising him a part of Africa in return.<ref name= Frasseto/>

Advancing eastwards along the coast, the Vandals were confronted on the [[Numidia]]n border in May–June 430 by Bonifacius. Negotiations broke down, and Bonifacius was soundly defeated.<ref name= MM53>{{harvnb|Merrills|Miles|2010|pp=53–55}}</ref><ref name= Reynolds>{{harvnb|Reynolds|2011|pp=130–131}}</ref> Bonifacius subsequently barricaded himself inside Hippo Regius with the Vandals [[Siege of Hippo Regius|besieging]] the city.<ref name= Collins124/> Inside, [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]] and his priests prayed for relief from the invaders, knowing full well that the fall of the city would spell [[conversion or death]] for many Roman Christians.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}<!-- conversion to what? -->

On 28 August 430, three months into the siege, St. Augustine (who was 75 years old) died,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02084a.htm |title=Newadvent.org |access-date=2009-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020030610/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02084a.htm |archive-date=2017-10-20 |url-status=live }}</ref> perhaps from starvation or stress, as the wheat fields outside the city lay dormant and unharvested. The death of Augustine shocked the Regent of the [[Western Roman Empire]], [[Galla Placidia]], who feared the consequences if her realm lost its most important source of grain.<ref name= Reynolds/> She raised a new army in Italy and convinced her nephew in [[Constantinople]], the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Roman Emperor]] [[Theodosius II]], to send an army to North Africa led by [[Aspar]].<ref name= Reynolds/>

Around July–August 431, Genseric raised the siege of Hippo Regius,<ref name= MM53/> which enabled Bonifacius to retreat from Hippo Regius to [[Carthage]], where he was joined by Aspar's army. During the summer of 432, Genseric soundly defeated the joint forces of both Bonifacius and Aspar, which enabled him to seize Hippo Regius unopposed.<ref name= Reynolds/> Genseric and Aspar subsequently negotiated a peace treaty of some sorts.<ref name= MM53/> Upon seizing Hippo Regius, Genseric made it the first capital of the Vandal kingdom.<ref>{{harvnb|Merrills|Miles|2010|p=60}}</ref>

The Romans and the Vandals concluded a treaty in 435 giving the Vandals control of the Mauretania and the western half of Numidia. Genseric chose to break the treaty in 439 when he invaded the province of [[Africa Proconsularis]] and [[Battle of Carthage (439)|seized]] Carthage on October 19.<ref>{{harvnb|Collins|2000|pp=124–125}}</ref> The city was captured without a fight; the Vandals entered the city while most of the inhabitants were attending the races at the hippodrome. Genseric made it his capital, and styled himself the King of the Vandals and [[Alans]], to denote the inclusion of the Alans of northern Africa into his alliance.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} His forces also occupied [[Sardinia]], [[Corsica]] and the [[Balearic Islands]]. His siege of Palermo in 440 was a failure as was the second attempt to invade Sicily near Agrigento in 442 (the Vandals occupied the island from 468 to 476 when it was ceded to Odovacer).<ref>J.B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', Dover Vol. I. pp. 254, 258, 410 {{LCCN|5811273}}</ref> Historian Cameron suggests that the new Vandal rule may not have been unwelcomed by the population of North Africa as the great landowners were generally unpopular.<ref>{{harvnb|Cameron|2000|pp=553–554}}</ref>

The impression given by ancient sources such as [[Victor Vitensis|Victor of Vita]], [[Quodvultdeus]], and [[Fulgentius of Ruspe]] was that the Vandal take-over of Carthage and North Africa led to widespread destruction. However, recent archaeological investigations have challenged this assertion. Although Carthage's Odeon was destroyed, the street pattern remained the same and some public buildings were renovated. The political centre of Carthage was the Byrsa Hill. New industrial centres emerged within towns during this period.<ref>{{harvnb|Merrills|2004|p=10}}</ref> Historian Andy Merrills uses the large amounts of [[African Red Slip]] ware discovered across the Mediterranean dating from the Vandal period of North Africa to challenge the assumption that the Vandal rule of North Africa was a time of economic instability.<ref>{{harvnb|Merrills|2004|p=11}}</ref> When the Vandals raided Sicily in 440, the Western Roman Empire was too preoccupied with war with Gaul to react. Theodosius II, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, dispatched an expedition to deal with the Vandals in 441; however, it only progressed as far as Sicily. The Western Empire under [[Valentinian III]] secured peace with the Vandals in 442.<ref name= Collins125>{{harvnb|Collins|2000|p=125}}</ref> Under the treaty the Vandals gained [[Byzacena]], [[Tripolitania]], and the eastern half of Numidia, and were confirmed in  control of Proconsular Africa<ref name= Camerson>{{harvnb|Cameron|2000|p=553}}</ref> as well as the Vandal Kingdom as the first [[barbarian kingdom]] was officially recognized as an independent kingdom in former Roman territory instead of [[foederati]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjSqCwAAQBAJ&q=Vandals++treaty++442+++first++independent&pg=PA64|title=Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs– Google Knihy|date=2014|access-date=2016-12-25|isbn=978-0-8028-6931-9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226060050/https://books.google.sk/books?id=IjSqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64|archive-date=2016-12-26|url-status=live|last1=Patout Burns|first1=J.|last2=Jensen|first2=Robin M.|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company }}</ref> The Empire retained western Numidia and the two Mauretanian provinces until 455.