Europe 468: Battle of Cape Bon

By the spring of 468 the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I and his Western ally Anthemius were ready to mount a three-pronged offensive against the Vandals, attacking Sardinia, Tripolitana, and Africa. However, as the combined Roman fleet approached Carthage, it was all but destroyed by Vandal fire ships off Cape Bon, dashing Roman hopes of regaining Africa.

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Main Events

467–468 Remismund’s Lusitanian campaign ▲

In late 467, after it had become clear that the Roman military buildup in Italy was directed against the Vandals in Africa, the Suebian king Remismund marched into Lusitania with his army. Ignoring a peace agreement, the Suebi seized Conimbrica (Coimbra), destroying the city and taking its inhabitants as slaves. Remismund then turned his attention on Ulixippona (Lisbon), which he captured in collusion with its governor Lusidius. in wikipedia

468? Riothamus ▲

Planning to restore Roman power in Gaul, the Western Roman emperor Anthemius called on the Britons for aid. In response, in around 468, Riothamus, ‘King of the Britons’, landed in Armorica and soon amassed an army of some 12,000 men—probably including Britons from both sides of the Channel, Armoricans, Gallo-Romans, and Saxons. It was agreed that both the Britons and Romans would join forces against the Visigoths the following year. in wikipedia

468 Euric’s intervention in Spain ▲

In response to continued Suebian plundering in Lusitania in 467, a force of Visigoths crossed into Hispaniae and made for Augusta Emerita (Mérida) in early 468. Learning that the Suebi had seized Ulixippona (Lisbon), the Visigoths turned on them, attacking both the Suebi and their Roman subjects in Lusitania and the conventus of Asturica. The Suebi retaliated with further raids but also dispatched Lusidius, former governor of Ulixippona, to Rome in the hope of gaining the emperor’s support. in wikipedia

468 Heraclius’ Tripolitanian expedition ▲

In spring 468, as part of the Roman campaign against the Vandals in Africa, the Eastern Roman general Heraclius, accompanied by the Isaurian Marsus, sailed from Constantinople to Alexandria, where he collected an army recruited from Egypt, the Thebaid, and the desert tribes. Heraclius and his forces then landed in Vandal-ruled Tripolitana, captured the cities there, and, leaving his ships in port, set off by foot for Carthage. At this point he received news of the disastrous Roman naval defeat at Cape Bon and, realizing the war had been lost, he evacuated Africa and returned home. in wikipedia

468? Devastation of Orléans ▲

In the late 460s the Salian Frankish king Childeric I marched west with a very large army until he reached Aurelianorum (Orléans). He then devastated the region around that city before returning to his own lands. As Orléans was the center of Alannic power in this period, this campaign was probably to suppress the Alans. in wikipedia

468 Marcellinus’ Sardinian expedition ▲

In spring 468, as part of the Roman campaign against the Vandals, the Roman general Marcellinus sailed against Vandal-occupied Sardinia with a combined Eastern and Western Roman force. Landing on the island, he and his troops swiftly expelled the Vandal garrison without facing an significant resistance. He then returned to Sicily where he reported his success back to the Roman commander-in-chief Basiliscus. in wikipedia

Jun 468 Battle of Cape Bon ▲

By 468 the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I had raised 103,000 pounds of gold (130,000 including Western contributions) to assemble an expeditionary force of 1,100 ships—and perhaps 30,000 troops—to expel the Vandals from Africa. Commanding this force, the general Basiliscus, brother of Leo’s wife Verina, sailed from Constantinople to Sicily and then to Africa, where he anchored off the west coast of Cape Bon, half a day’s sail from Carthage. Feigning submission, the Vandal king Gaiseric requested—and was granted—a 5-day armistice to negotiate peace terms, but was actually buying time while he waited for the wind to change in his favor. When this happened, the Vandals unleashed fire ships on the closely packed Roman fleet, destroying much of it. Defeated, Basiliscus fled back to Constantinople, where he took refuge in the Church of Hagia Sophia until his sister could secure his pardon from the enraged Leo. in wikipedia