AD 429

Vandal conquest of Roman Africa

Gaiseric’s Vandals and Alans cross into Roman Africa

The supposed 80,000-strong army included children, older people, slaves and masters — a count designed to make Gaiseric’s following look terrifyingly large.

May 429, across the strait

In May 429, King Gaiseric — who had succeeded Gunderic the year before — left the Roman province of Baetica in southern Hispania and transported the Vandals, the surviving Alans and their households across the strait into Roman Mauretania.

Hydatius, a near-contemporary chronicler in Hispania, says Gaiseric crossed with all the Vandals and their families. He does not describe an army of 80,000 fighting men.

That figure comes from Victor of Vita, writing roughly six decades later, and it counts a whole migrating population — down to children and dependants.

A crossing interrupted mid-operation

During the operation Gaiseric learned that the Suevic leader Hermigarius was raiding nearby Spanish provinces. He returned with part of his force, defeated him near Mérida, and then resumed the crossing.

A modern scholarly reconstruction places the likely passage between Tarifa and the vicinity of Tangier, probably using repeated trips by large boats and requisitioned merchant vessels.

That route is a reconstruction rather than one Hydatius names; Procopius says only that the Vandals crossed at the strait of Gadira.

Why Africa — and who invited them

Gaiseric’s position in Baetica was insecure, while Roman Africa was prosperous and had been disorganised by Boniface’s conflict with the imperial government.

Procopius’s later story that Boniface invited the Vandals is possible but unsupported by contemporary sources, and modern scholarship judges it doubtful.

Once across, the migrants began an eastward march through Roman North Africa that combined mass migration with conquest and plunder; Carthage was not captured until 439.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date corrected

How this was checked

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Date corrected. The research places this at 0429-05.

What the sources leave uncertain

Hydatius securely supplies May 429, but no exact day survives.
Tarifa-to-Tangier is a probable modern reconstruction, not a route named by Hydatius. Procopius instead broadly says the Vandals crossed at the strait of Gadira.
The figure of 80,000 comes from Victor of Vita, writing roughly six decades later. Victor presents it as a total population count designed to magnify Gaiseric’s strength, not as a count of soldiers.
Whether Boniface invited the Vandals remains disputed: Procopius reports it more than a century later, while contemporary sources are silent.