I: Life of Gaiseric, Death of Augustine Hipponensis
Richard Drummond
Banned
Hi and welcome to My first ever timeline, thé Cry of the Augustinians. This is a TL with a POD in Late Antiquity but I intend to continue for as long as possible. This will be a very long ride - there’s lots of history to cover - so get comfortable and enjoy. I encourage criticism and speculation . The former will help improve this TL while the latter will have influence on the course of history. Though I’ve got a rough outline for future events, ‘public demand’ and good ideas will influence events down the line.
Now, before we start, I’d like to give my thanks to Planet of Hat’s Moonlight in a Jar and Practical Lobster’s Rise of the White Huns which have both been instrumental influences of CotA.
“How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity.”
- Augustine Hipponensis (13 November 354 - 24 September 431 AD)
Now, before we start, I’d like to give my thanks to Planet of Hat’s Moonlight in a Jar and Practical Lobster’s Rise of the White Huns which have both been instrumental influences of CotA.
“How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity.”
- Augustine Hipponensis (13 November 354 - 24 September 431 AD)
Excerpt: The Genesis of Vandalrike - Ghaka Aitdemonades, Misadkam & Volux’ Press (AD 1849)
Gaiseric, the illegitimate son of Godigisel was in many ways one of the most important characters of the 5th century. Born near Lake Pelso [1], Gaiseric would join his father in the formation of a Hasdingi led coalition of tribes including the Silingi, Suevi and other Pannonian tribes. Godigisel would be killed battling Frankish foederati at Mainz as the Vandal army crossed the Rhine. With their king dead, defeat was all but certain for the Hasdingi led coalition, however, intervention by the Alans under Respendial would pave the way for a successful crossing of the frozen Rhine. Aged just 17, Gaiseric had become the most powerful man amongst the Hasdingi second only to his half-brother, Gunderic. However, the Battle of Mainz left the Hasdingi weakened and Respendial would go on to be the prominent barbarian figure leading not only the Alans, but also the Hasdingi, Silingi and Suevi.
Under Gunderic’s control, the Hasdingi followed the Alans as they journeyed through Gaul to Hispania where they settled as foederati in Gallaecia (today Swabia [2]) along with the Suevi in 409 AD following Gerontius’ uprising and the subsequent civil war against Constantine III in Hispania. Contemporary Hispanian bishop, Hydatius documented the crossing into Hispania as occurring on either 28 September or 12 October 409. Modern historians agree on taking the two dates as the start and end to the crossing of the Pyrenees by thousands of migrating barbarians coming primarily from the Alans, Suevi, Hasdingi and Silingi. After mass campaigns of plundering in 409 and 410 by both the barbarians and Romans, a peace was formed between the various barbarian groups in 411 dividing Hispania’s provinces among themselves sorte “by lot”: the Silingi settled in Hispania Baetica, the Alans in Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis and the Hasdingi and Suevi shared Gallaecia.
In 418, Wallia had led his Visigoths on the orders of Honorius in devastating both the Silingi and Alans leaving only the Hasdingi and Suevi in Gallaecia where they remained undisturbed by King Wallia’s campaigns. The following year, the Visigoths departed to their newly granted lands in Gallia Aquitania (today Gotaland) and a conflict arose between Gunderic and Hermeric, respectively kings of the Hasdingi and Suevi. The two armies would meet at the Nervasos Mountains, however, comes Hispaniarum Asterius attacked the Hasdingi forcing their retreat to Baetica leaving Gaellecia under the sole control of the Suevi. Fighting alongside the Hasdingi at Nervasos were the Alans, having offered the crown of the Alans to Gunderic after the death of their king Attaces in battle against Wallia, the Silingi would join after themselves almost being entirely annihilated by the Visigoths.
Expelled from Gallaecia, Gunderic led his tribe to Hispania Baetica where the surviving Silingi joined the Hasdingi completing the formation of the Vandals. In 422, the army of magister militum Castinus was routed outside Cordoba by the forces of Gunderic. Under Gunderic’s command, a fleet was constructed with which naval dominance was gained in the region allowing for the seizure of large portions of southeastern Spain including the sacking of Carthago Nova and Hispalis in 425 though the Vandals wouldn’t maintain a hold over them. The Vandals would even find themselves attacking Mauretania Tingitana and the Balearics - the start of a naval tradition that would define the Vandals for the centuries to come.
According to Hydatius, Gunderic laid “hands on the church of that very city, by the will of God he was seized by a demon and died.” The death of Gunderic in 428 is unclear but Hydatius’ writings are interpreted as being in reference to Gunderic’s attempt to convert a Catholic church into an Arian one after his recapture of Hispalis in that same year. Not long after his attempt to seize the church, he unexpectedly died. His death is shrouded in even more mystery. Peter of Ephesus’ Historia Wandalorum a century later claims Gaiseric to have had Gunderic assassinated; a claim strengthened by the apparent drowning of Gunderic’s children in Africa. No matter how Gunderic came to pass, Gaiseric was elected by the Vandals to be their new king. He was aged 38.
Gaiseric took the reins of power of a relatively insignificant Germanic tribe at a time when their survival in Hispania was not ensured. It is perhaps for this reason that Gaiseric set his sights upon Roman Libya [3] which was being ravaged by internal disputes. Even before his rise to power, it appears that Gaiseric had begun preparations on raising a fleet to cross the Strait of Cadiz [4] but upon being elected, the speed of preparation only intensified. However, the crossing of the 80,000 or so Vandals would be delayed by an attack from the rear by a large Suevi force under the command of Heremigarius who had successfully seized Lusitania from local Roman forces and was now attacking Hispalis and Merida. Gaiseric defeated the Suevi near Merida, slaying their leader who drowned in the Anas [5] in an unsuccessful attempt to flee.
The following year saw the Vandals cross the strait to disembark near either Tingis or Ceuta seeking safety though Peter of Ephesus asserted that the invasion was initially an invitation by Bonifatius in his war against Sigisvultus. The conflict in Roman Libya had started when in 427, Placidia recalled Bonifatius to Ravenna but he refused. The accusations by Flavius Constantius Felix, the magister utriusque militiae, that Bonifatius was preparing to proclaim himself emperor saw Placidia respond by commanding Felix to send an army to halt Bonifatius’ suspected imperial ambitions. Initially, this force was under the command of generals Mavortius and Gallio who were assisted by Hun foederati under Sanoeces. Carthage was besieged, however, internal disputes saw the besieging army turn in on itself with the Huns killing the Romans before Sanoeces was himself killed, finally bringing the siege to a close. In response, Felix sent comes africae Sigisvultus with a Gothic army once news reached Ravenna. For two years he campaigned in Africa seizing both Carthage and Hippo Regius though Bonifatius continued to campaign in Numidia with his Gothic bucellarii who would pave the way forward for later pro-Vandal support through their plundering of the province. The conflict would come to an end before the landing of the Vandals when a man named Darius was sent by Placidia to negotiate a truce between Bonifatius and Sigisvultus after Placidia had learned that a letter had been forged ordering Bonifatius not to return to Ravenna if summoned. Thus, by the time the first Vandal feet touched Libyan soil, Bonifatius had already been restored to Placidia’s favour.
Despite their relatively small-sized army, the Vandals experienced many victorious battles against the weak Roman defenders quickly overrunning vast swathes of land before their campaign was halted briefly by the same Darius who had negotiated a truce between Bonifatius and Sigisvultus. This time it was between Bonifatius and Gaiseric but warfare quickly resumed soon after, the treaty being ineffective. A year into the invasion, the Roman army, along with a contingent of supporting Gothic foederati, were defeated by Gaiseric near the city of Calama forcing Bonifatius to retreat to Hippo Regius. In June 430, Gaiseric laid siege to the city. Hunger and disease ravaged both the city’s inhabitants and the Vandals outside the city walls, however, it was the Vandals who fared worse. The Vandal force was poorly equipped at waging siege warfare and after 14 months, Gaiseric was forced to lift the siege due to a shortage of supplies in August 431.
Bonifatius used this opportunity to retreat out of the city by sea to meet with Oriental [6] reinforcements under the command of Aspar. In early 432, Gaiseric would engage Bonifatius and Aspar in battle defeating the combined Roman army. This would come after the sacking of Hippo by Gaiseric once the city was abandoned by Bonifatius. Gaiseric made it his capital and the new Vandal rule may not have been unwelcome to the population were it not for the death of Augustine Hipponensis. According to Possidius, Augustine entered a severe illness during the siege of Hippo Regius and through prayer and repentance, he recovered. The Vandals did indeed sack the city but they left Augustine’s cathedral and library untouched with the aged bishop placed under ‘house imprisonment’ by Gaiseric. Possidius would state that Augustine entered his final illness during his imprisonment resulting in his death on 24 September 431 [7].
This was not, however, what the people believed. Rumours that the great bishop had been poisoned by the Vandals spread at first in the markets before these tales were embellished with greater evils committed against Augustine by the Vandals ranging from a secret crucifixion within his own cathedral to being boiled alive. Possidius himself admits that he was somewhat convinced by the accusations of poison though his time spent with Augustine meant that he was certain the bishop died due to natural causes. Nonetheless, the proliferation of rumours sparked riots in Hippo Regius which were forcibly crushed by Gaiseric after an initial failed attempt at a diplomatic solution. The riots of Hippo Regius would entrench the image of Augustine Hipponensis as a martyr and he would act as the inspiration for numerous movements both Christian and non-Christian.
With Bonifatius recalled to Italia and waging a civil war against Flavius Aetius and the rioters pacified, Gaiseric could turn his attention to combatting Aspar who remained in Roman Libya following his defeat in 432. He too, however, would be forced to leave the region to later attain the consulship in 434. Gaiseric would be left relatively unopposed and on 23 February 435, peace was made between Valentinian III and Gaiseric giving the Vandals control of coastal Numidia as well as parts of Mauretania. In return for the Occident’s recognition of Gaiseric as king, he would desist from attacks on Carthage, send his son Huneric as a hostage to Rome and pay tribute to the Empire.
The peace wouldn’t last the decade with Gaiseric breaking the treaty in 439 by invading Africa Proconsularis and laying siege to Carthage. The siege threatened to be a long and costly one as experienced at Hippo Regius, however, a masterful handling of intrigue by Gaiseric and traitors within the city shortened the duration of the siege drastically though its total length is debated. Gaiseric moved his capital from Hippo Regius to Carthage and styled himself the King of the Vandals and Alans. After centuries of subjugation by Rome, Carthage had once again risen to challenge the authority of that eternal city. It is no wonder that Punic imagery would experience a revival under Vandal rule.
The Vandals would find acceptance by the city’s population through a simple promise of toleration on Gaiseric’s part. The ease with which Gaiseric was able to subdue the city is in part due to the deep disaffection of Christians in the region following decades of religious conflicts between Catholics, Donatists, pagans and Manicheans. The fact that the new conquerors were Arian Christians who were up until a few decades ago, pagans was not forgotten by the people and inter-religious disputes and controversy would plague the Vandal state for the decades to come. Bishop Quodvultdeus and Gaudiosus of Naples amongst many others were exiled to Naples by Gaiseric who demanded that all his close advisors be Arians. Though he insisted the elites convert to Arianism, he granted freedom of religion to the commonfolk for whom taxes were lowered as most of the tax pressure was placed on rich Roman families and the Catholic clergy.
With the fall of Carthage, Gaiseric now had access to a much larger fleet captured during the fall of the city. The Vandals now threatened the Romans for the mastery of the western Maremagnean Sea [8]. Just a year after Carthage fell, the Vandals found the Occident [9] preoccupied with war in Gaul and exploited this opportunity to raid Sicily. Vandals, Alans, Goths and Moors all joined in the plundering of coastal towns and unsuccessful besieging of Palermo returning to Libya with heavily laden ships. The failure of the Occident to respond saw an Orient response on the orders of Theodosius II. The expedition, however, would only progress as far as Sicily. Theodosius sent the Oriental fleet under the command of Areobindus into Sicilian waters taking the Vandals by surprise, however, to launch this expedition, Theodosius was forced to strip the Balkans of soldiers allowing the Huns to mount an invasion of the region.
The year later, Gaiseric unsuccessfully attempted to seize Agrigento prompting Valentinian III to secure a second peace treaty with Gaiseric granting Byzacena, Tripolitania and parts of Numidia to the Vandals while confirming their control of Proconsular Africa. The Vandal kingdom was acknowledged to be an independent country rather than a subsidiary to Roman rule. The rest of Roman Libya found itself totally separated from the Empire’s control and it would be around this time that local leaders started acting as independent in all but name. To solidify the treaty, Huneric was betrothed to Valentinian III’s daughter Eudocia. A more overlooked aspect of the treaty was its ensuring that grain shipments from Roman Libya continued to Italia. Nonetheless, the treaty did not halt Vandal raids as Gaiseric and his fleets plundered the coasts of the Oriental and Occidental Empires.
Either before or after the signing of the peace treaty with Valentinian III, an uprising broke out against Gaiseric by many amongst the nobility. This was followed by a reform of the Vandal military structure which replaced the initial traditional tribal warrior-aristocracy. The new system implemented distributed military ranks and land ownership among Gaiseric’s personal followers who were henceforth known as chilliarchs.
On 13 March 453, Gaiseric dropped dead at a feast choking to death at the age of 64. There is little information on the details of his death, however, like his brother, the consensus of modern historians is that he too was assassinated; most likely by a Roman agent. Peter of Ephesus concluded that Gaiseric’s death was by natural means but this is widely regarded as being an ecclesiastical “cover story” to hide Majorian’s political manoeuvring. Succeeding Gaiseric was his son Huneric, the second rex wandalorum et alanorum.
[1] Lake Balaton
[2] Swabia corresponds to Galicia, Asturias and the north of Portugal
[3] Libya corresponds to the Maghreb
[4] Strait of Gibraltar
[5] Guadiana River
[6] The Eastern Roman Empire
[7] The POD. Augustine Hipponensis recovers from his illness temporarily passing away only after Hippo Regius fell to Gaiseric
[8] The Maremagnean Sea corresponds to the Mediterranean
[9] The Western Roman Empire
SUMMARY:
430: The Vandals under king Gaiseric extend their power in Libya along the Maremagnean Sea, and lay siege to Hippo Regius (where Augustine has recently been bishop). (POD)
431: Hippo Regius becomes the capital of the Vandal Kingdom. After 14 months of hunger and disease, the Vandals ravage the city. The death of Augustine Hipponensis sparks riots against Vandal rule in Hippo.
432: Bonifatius and Aspar are routed by the Vandals. Bonifatius is recalled to Italia and Aspar continues fighting until his own withdrawal.
435: King Gaiseric concludes a peace treaty with the Romans, under which the Vandals retain Mauretania and a part of Numidia as foederati of Rome.
439: King Gaiseric breaks his treaty with the Occidental Roman Empire and invades Africa Pronconsularis. Carthage falls to the Vandals and Gaiseric makes it his capital and establishes the Vandal Kingdom.
440: A Vandal fleet and their allies set out from Carthage for Sicily. They loot all the coastal towns and unsuccessfully besiege Palermo. Bonifatius fails to respond, however, Theodosius II sends Areobindus to Sicily in an unsuccessful expedition.
442: A Vandal fleet unsuccessfully besieges Agrigento prompting Valentinian III to sign a peace treaty with King Gaiseric recognising the Vandal Kingdom. He grants him sovereignty over most of Libya. This marks the end of the Vandal migrations; they settle in Libya with Carthage as their capital. Valentinian III forms a marriage proposal for his eldest daughter Eudocia and Gaiseric’s son Huneric.
442: A noble revolt breaks out against Gaiseric. Gaiseric pacifies the uprising and reforms the military structure.
453: Gaiseric dies at a feast. He choked to death, probably due to poison, at age 64. The Vandal Kingdom is succeeded by his son Huneric.
430: The Vandals under king Gaiseric extend their power in Libya along the Maremagnean Sea, and lay siege to Hippo Regius (where Augustine has recently been bishop). (POD)
431: Hippo Regius becomes the capital of the Vandal Kingdom. After 14 months of hunger and disease, the Vandals ravage the city. The death of Augustine Hipponensis sparks riots against Vandal rule in Hippo.
432: Bonifatius and Aspar are routed by the Vandals. Bonifatius is recalled to Italia and Aspar continues fighting until his own withdrawal.
435: King Gaiseric concludes a peace treaty with the Romans, under which the Vandals retain Mauretania and a part of Numidia as foederati of Rome.
439: King Gaiseric breaks his treaty with the Occidental Roman Empire and invades Africa Pronconsularis. Carthage falls to the Vandals and Gaiseric makes it his capital and establishes the Vandal Kingdom.
440: A Vandal fleet and their allies set out from Carthage for Sicily. They loot all the coastal towns and unsuccessfully besiege Palermo. Bonifatius fails to respond, however, Theodosius II sends Areobindus to Sicily in an unsuccessful expedition.
442: A Vandal fleet unsuccessfully besieges Agrigento prompting Valentinian III to sign a peace treaty with King Gaiseric recognising the Vandal Kingdom. He grants him sovereignty over most of Libya. This marks the end of the Vandal migrations; they settle in Libya with Carthage as their capital. Valentinian III forms a marriage proposal for his eldest daughter Eudocia and Gaiseric’s son Huneric.
442: A noble revolt breaks out against Gaiseric. Gaiseric pacifies the uprising and reforms the military structure.
453: Gaiseric dies at a feast. He choked to death, probably due to poison, at age 64. The Vandal Kingdom is succeeded by his son Huneric.
Kings of the Vandals and Alans
Hasdingian dynasty
Gaiseric: 2 November 439 - 13 March 453 (13 years, 4 months, 11 days)
Huneric: 13 March 453 - ?
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