Who Were the Vandals and How Did They Get Such a Nasty Reputation?

The Vandals were a barbarian tribe originating in northern Europe who ruled over northern Africa for a century and were one of Rome’s most formidable enemies in the years leading up to the Fall of the Roman Empire. Carried to greatness on the back of one man, they achieved unprecedented success, yet their name has become synonymous with acts of malicious destruction. Why?

Origins

For a long time the origins of the Vandals were shrouded in mystery. Like many Germanic tribes encountered by the Romans in the waning decades of the Empire, they first appeared in the historical record in the first century AD but didn’t become a factor in international affairs until the Marcomannic Wars in 166 AD. There they were mentioned by Marcus Aurelius as one of a group of tribes who were allied with the Romans against the upstart Marcomanni. Some of the earliest records suggest they may have come from the area of modern day Poland. However, recent archeological studies suggest they may have migrated to Poland from Sweden, possibly from the Vendel region.

The name Vandal may derive from the verb wenđanan, meaning 'to wind', from the root word wanđ, meaning 'water', which suggests they were originally settled by a winding river in Sweden, but the Vandals were clearly a people on the move. Their whole history is marked by migration on an epic scale.

Migrant Nation

During the Marcomannic Wars the Vandals were deployed by the Romans in Sarmatia (modern day Ukraine) and over the course of the wars moved south to Dacia (modern day Romania). There they became a problem for the Romans when, after the war, they refused to go home and settled north of the Danube within shouting distance of the Roman border.

A hundred years later they had made themselves such a nuisance to the Romans that three successive emperors went about the task of driving them out. The Romans must have succeeded because the Vandals were next attested in the Kingdom of the Gepids (modern day eastern Hungary) where they found themselves surrounded by hostile neighbors, chief among them the Goths.

After coming into conflict with the Goths, the Vandals retreated south to the Hungarian Plains where they resided for the next 60 years until in 405 AD, for unknown reasons (possibly incursions by the Huns) they folded their tents and migrated west to Gaul (modern day France) where they ran afoul of the Franks.

The Birth of a Nasty Reputation

After defeating the Franks, the Vandals crossed the Rhine River and moved south into the area of southeast France known as Aquitaine, burning and pillaging along the way. By 409 AD they had crossed the Pyrenees into Hispania (modern day Spain) where they tangled with the Goths and the Suebi.

By this time the Vandals had established themselves as notorious irritants to the tribes they rubbed up against. Seeing them coming over the hill must have led to sighs of annoyance and frustration. Soon enough their name became associated not only with unprovoked belligerence but with acts of pointless destruction. No one liked the Vandals.

The Rise of a Ruthless Monarch

Having entered Hispania, the Vandals stirred the pot, setting various tribes against each other. During this chaotic period a new king acceded to the Vandal throne, a man steeped in the methods of mayhem. King Genseric (Gaiseric) made and broke treaties with abandon. He lied, cheated, and stole. He pretended to be a reliable ally then stabbed his friends in the back, all the time gathering more power for himself.

In 429 AD Genseric led the Vandals across the Straits of Gibraltar into North Africa. This was a development of deep concern to the Romans. North Africa was Rome’s breadbasket. The vast majority of grain that fed the Roman Empire came from North Africa. To lose it to the Vandals would be a disaster of the first magnitude. Alarmed, the Romans attacked the Vandals in an effort to drive them out. But infighting among the Roman generals weakened the Roman war effort, and Genseric seized the advantage. (This episode is related in book one of the Amulet Series: The Wind in the Embers.)

After running amok through North Africa, the Vandals signed a peace deal with the Romans in 435 AD in which the Romans ceded modern day Morocco to the Vandals for their promise to desist. Genseric made a great show of signing the treaty then promptly broke it. By 439 AD the Vandals put the principle Roman city of Carthage (modern day Tunis) under siege. By 442 AD the Vandals had conquered North Africa, and Rome’s grain supply was in Vandal hands.

History’s Greatest Agitators

For the duration of the Western Roman Empire King Genseric harassed the Romans, raiding the Sicilian and Italian coasts to loot and plunder, waylaying Roman merchant ships at sea, and coercing Roman leadership with threats of withholding the grain supply.  (This episode is related in Book Two of the Amulet Series: The Shadows of Nemesis.) Much of what Genseric did to the Romans had a mocking, vindictive quality about it, a jeering disdain that helped make the word Vandal synonymous with a mischievous nastiness meant to agitate and humiliate.

Unfortunately for the Romans, King Genseric lived a long time. In an era when most men didn’t live beyond 50, Genseric lived to be 87. By the time he died in 477 AD, the Roman Empire in the West had fallen, and Genseric could claim much of the credit. The Vandal Sack of Rome in 455 AD is recounted in Book Three of the Amulet Series: The Desecration of Fortune.

Given all they achieved in the past century, the Vandals didn’t last long after the death of King Genseric. The Vandal Kingdom in North Africa was overthrown by the Byzantines 50 years later, and the tribe was broken up and expelled. The Vandals faded into history, leaving only their name to remind us of what they had been. Now when we shake our heads at acts of wanton destruction with no purpose other than to annoy and antagonize, we get a little taste of what it was like to encounter Vandal horde in its heyday. They were truly history’s greatest agitators.