Vandals

Quick Facts: Who was Vandals?

Subject:

Vandals

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East Germanic tribe whose kingdom ruled Roman North Africa until 534 CE.

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2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

The Vandals were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned in passing by a small number of Roman writers in the first and second centuries, but became more prominent starting in the late second century during the tumultuous Marcomannic Wars of the Romans against many of the Germanic peoples north of the Danube, when Hasdingi-led Vandals took the side of the Romans, in exchange for territory in or near Dacia. It was also under Hasdingi leadership that large numbers of Vandals later migrated and formed a powerful Vandal Kingdom that ruled Roman North Africa for several generations until it was conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire in 534. Tribes categorized in the early period as Vandals included the Warini, Gutones, and Burgundians who all then lived near what is now Poland and Eastern Germany, but these tribes were not referred to as Vandals in later records. Archaeologists associate the early Vandals with the Przeworsk culture, which has led to some scholars equating them to the Lugii, who were another group of Germanic peoples associated with that same archaeological culture and region. In the third and fourth centuries the Dacian Vandals, who were the focus of Roman interest, came under pressure not only from Romans, but also from the increasingly powerful Goths who now dominated the region to their east.

Career & Major Achievements

In the late 4th century the region was overwhelmed by incoming Goths, Alans and Huns, and in the early 5th century, Hasdingi and Silingi Vandals, together with several neighbouring peoples also led by kings, began a major armed migration of their own, first to Roman Gaul, then further west into the Iberian Peninsula where they created several short-lived kingdoms. The new Iberian kingdoms came under pressure from Romans and Visigoths, who invaded Iberia in 418, and almost wiped them out. The Alans and Silingi Vandals voluntarily subjected themselves to the rule of Hasdingian leader Gunderic. In 429, under a new Hasdingian king Genseric (reigned 428–477), the Vandals entered North Africa. By 439 they had established the Vandal kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province, and they sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–534, in which the forces of Emperor Justinian I reconquered the province for the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Renaissance and early-modern writers characterized the Vandals as prototypical barbarians, due to their 14-day Sack of Rome, leading to the use of the term "vandalism" to describe any form of wanton destruction, particularly the "barbarian" defacing of artwork. However, some modern historians have emphasised the role of Vandals as continuators of aspects of Roman culture, during the transitional period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. The ethnonym is attested as Wandali and Wendilenses by Saxo, as Vendill in Old Norse, and as Wend(e)las in Old English, all going back to a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *Wanđilaz.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Vandals

True or False: “The Vandals were always considered a distinct group from the Lugii by all classical Roman writers.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): Some scholars suggest that the Lugians and the Vandals might have been one cultic community living in the same region of Silesia.

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