The Visigothic kingdom in Gaul. The status of the Goths in Gaul was that of foederati, bound to render military aid to Rome, but governed by their own kings. The latter, however, had no authority over the Roman population among whom the Goths were settled. This condition was unsatisfactory to the Gothic rulers who sought to establish an independent Gothic kingdom. Theodoric I, the successor of Wallia, forced the Romans to acknowledge his complete sovereignty over Aquitania, but failed in his attempt to conquer Narbonese Gaul. However, he joined forces with the Romans against Attila the Hun and was largely responsible for checking the latter at the battle of the Mauriac plain (451 A. D.) in which he lost his life. For a time the Goths remained on friendly terms with the imperial authority but under Euric, who became king in 466 A. D., the anti-Roman faction was in the ascendant and they embarked upon a policy of expansion. In 475 Euric, after a protracted struggle, gained possession of the district of Auvergne, and the Roman emperor acknowledged his sovereignty over the country between the Atlantic and the Rhone, the Loire and the Pyrenees, besides some territory in Spain. Two years later the district between the Rhone and the Alps, south of the Durance, was added to the Visigothic kingdom.
III. The Vandals
The invasions of 406 A. D. In 405 A. D. an invading horde of [pg 355]Vandals and Alans, who had descended upon Italy, was utterly defeated by Stilicho. But in the following year fresh swarms of the same peoples, united with the Suevi, crossed the Rhine near Mainz and plundered Gaul as far as the Pyrenees. For a short time they were held in check by the usurper Constantine, who held sway in Gaul and Spain. However, when he was involved in a struggle with a rival, Gerontius, they found an opportunity to make their way into Spain (409 A. D.).
The occupation of Spain. The united peoples speedily made themselves masters of the whole Iberian peninsula. But in spite of their successes over the Roman troops, the lack of supplies forced them to come to terms with the empire. In 411 they became Roman foederati and were granted lands for settlement. Under this agreement the Asdingian Vandals and the Suevi occupied the northwest of Spain, the Alans the center, and the Silingian Vandals the south. However, the Roman government had only made peace with the Vandals and their allies under pressure, and seized the first opportunity to rid themselves of these unwelcome guests. In 416 Constantius authorized the Visigoths under Wallia to attack them in the name of the emperor. Wallia was so successful that he utterly annihilated the Silingian Vandals, and so weakened the Alans that they united themselves with the Asdingian Vandals, who escaped destruction only through the recall of the Visigoths to Gaul. However, the Vandals quickly recovered from their defeats, waged successful war upon the Suevi, who had reached an agreement with the Romans, and occupied the whole of southern Spain.
The Vandal kingdom in Africa. In 429 A. D. the Vandals under the leadership of their king Gaiseric crossed into Africa, attracted by the richness of its soil and its strategic importance as one of the granaries of the Roman world. Their invasion was facilitated by the existence of a state of war between Count Bonifacius, the military governor of Africa, and the western emperor. The number of the invaders was estimated at 80,000, of whom probably 15,000 or 20,000 were fighting men.
In spite of the reconciliation between Bonifacius and the imperial government and their united opposition, Gaiseric was able to overrun the open country although he failed to capture the chief cities. In 435 A. D. peace was concluded and the Vandals were allowed to settle in Numidia, once more as foederati of the empire. However, in 439 [pg 356]A. D. Gaiseric broke the peace and treacherously seized Carthage. This step was followed by the organization of a fleet which harried the coasts of Sicily. In 442 the western emperor acknowledged the independence of the Vandal kingdom. Peace continued until 455, when the assassination of the emperor Valentinian III gave Gaiseric the pretext for a descent upon Italy and the seizure of Rome which was systematically plundered of its remaining treasures, although its buildings and monuments were not wantonly destroyed. Among the captives was Eudoxia, widow of the late emperor, and her daughters, who were valuable hostages in the hands of Gaiseric.
The lack of coöperation between the eastern and western empires against the Vandals enabled them to extend their power still further. Their fleets controlled the whole of the Mediterranean and ravaged both its western and its eastern coasts. A powerful expedition fitted out by the eastern emperor Leo I in 468 for the invasion of Africa ended in utter failure, and in 476 his successor Zeno was compelled to come to terms and acknowledge the authority of the Vandals over the territory under their control. At the death of Gaiseric in 477 A. D. the Vandal kingdom included all Roman Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the fortress of Lilybaeum in Sicily.