When is the Vandal Kingdom shown on the map?

The border data draws the Vandal Kingdom AD 439–533. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Vandal Kingdom?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Vandal Kingdom covered about 272,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · Antiquity and Christian Nubia

Vandal Kingdom

drawn on the map AD 439–533

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: AD 439–533
Peak area: 272k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

The Vandal Kingdom (officially the Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans, Regnum Vandalorum et Alanorum) was a Germanic successor state that ruled North Africa and the western Mediterranean islands from 435 to 534 AD, with its capital at Carthage. The Vandals, an East Germanic people allied with the Iranian-speaking Alans, had crossed the Rhine in 406, ravaged Gaul, and settled in Iberia before their king Gaiseric led some 80,000 people across the Strait of Gibraltar in 429. Advancing eastward along the coast, they took Hippo Regius after a fourteen-month siege in 431 — during which the aged St. Augustine died inside the walls — and in 439 captured Carthage itself, the greatest prize of Roman Africa, making it their capital.

History

Gaiseric (r. 428–477) built the kingdom into a naval power, conquering Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, and the Balearics, and raiding the coasts of both Roman empires. His most notorious exploit was the sack of Rome in June 455, carried out after the broken betrothal of his son Huneric to the emperor's daughter — an event that attached the word "vandalism" to senseless destruction. Rome tried twice to destroy the Vandal state: Majorian's expedition of 460 was pre-empted at Cartagena, and the great joint armada of 468 was annihilated by Vandal fire ships at Cape Bon. In 476 Gaiseric concluded a "perpetual peace" with Constantinople. The kingdom's economy rested on the confiscated estates of the Roman senatorial aristocracy and on the grain and oil exports that had once fed Rome; contrary to its reputation, archaeology shows continued prosperity, with African red-slip pottery traded across the Mediterranean and a vibrant Latin literary culture.

Decline and legacy

Religiously, the Vandal elite were Arian Christians ruling over a Nicene (Catholic) majority, and persecution — sharpest under Huneric (477–484), who exiled nearly 5,000 clergy — poisoned relations with the Romano-African population. Meanwhile Berber kingdoms (Altava, the Aurès, the Dorsale) eroded Vandal control of the interior. When the Catholic-friendly Hilderic was deposed and jailed by Gelimer in 530, Emperor Justinian found his pretext: Belisarius landed in 533, defeated Gelimer at Ad Decimum and Tricamarum, and in 534 accepted his surrender. The Vandals vanished as a people, absorbed into the Byzantine army or the African population — leaving little but their ominous name and the ruined grandeur of Vandal Carthage.

Common questions

What was the Vandal Kingdom?: The Vandal Kingdom (officially the Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans, Regnum Vandalorum et Alanorum) was a Germanic successor state that ruled North Africa and the western Mediterranean islands from 435 to 534 AD, with its capital at Carthage. The Vandals, an East Germanic people allied with the Iranian-speaking Alans, had crossed the Rhine in 406, ravaged Gaul, and settled in Iberia before their king Gaiseric led some 80,000 people across the Strait of Gibraltar in 429.
When is the Vandal Kingdom shown on the map?: The border data draws the Vandal Kingdom AD 439–533. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Vandal Kingdom?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Vandal Kingdom covered about 272,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Vandal Kingdom?: Gaiseric (r. 428–477) built the kingdom into a naval power, conquering Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, and the Balearics, and raiding the coasts of both Roman empires. His most notorious exploit was the sack of Rome in June 455, carried out after the broken betrothal of his son Huneric to the emperor's daughter — an event that attached the word "vandalism" to senseless destruction.
How did the Vandal Kingdom end?: Religiously, the Vandal elite were Arian Christians ruling over a Nicene (Catholic) majority, and persecution — sharpest under Huneric (477–484), who exiled nearly 5,000 clergy — poisoned relations with the Romano-African population. Meanwhile Berber kingdoms (Altava, the Aurès, the Dorsale) eroded Vandal control of the interior.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia – Vandal Kingdom en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandal_Kingdom

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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