Gaiseric
(died 477) was the
king
of the
Vandals
and the
Alani
(428?477) who conquered a large part of Roman Africa and in 455 sacked
Rome.
Gaiseric succeeded his brother Gunderic at a time when the Vandals were settled in Baetica (modern
Andalusia
, Spain). In May 428 Gaiseric transported all his people, purported by him to number 80,000, to Africa. Evidently he was invited to Africa by the governor, Count Bonifacius, who wished to use the military strength of the Vandals in his struggle against the
imperial
government.
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Gaiseric caused great devastation as he moved eastward from the
Strait of Gibraltar
across Africa. He turned on Bonifacius, defeated his army in 430, and then crushed the joint forces of the Eastern and Western empires that had been sent against him. In 435 Gaiseric concluded a treaty with the Romans under which the Vandals retained
Mauretania
and part of
Numidia
and became
foederati
(allies under special treaty) of Rome.
In a surprise move on Oct. 19, 439, Gaiseric captured Carthage, thus throwing off Roman overlordship and striking a devastating blow at imperial power. In a 442 treaty with Rome the Vandals were recognized as the masters of proconsular Africa, Byzacena, and part of Numidia. Gaiseric’s
fleet
soon came to control much of the western Mediterranean, and he annexed the
Balearic Islands
,
Sardinia
,
Corsica
, and
Sicily
.
His most famous exploit, however, was the capture and plundering of Rome, June 455. Subsequently the King defeated two major efforts of the Romans to overthrow him, that of the emperor
Majorian
in 460 and that led by
Basiliscus
in 468. He was succeeded by his son Huneric.