Here’s another bloody and insanely uneven battle from antiquity for you. The Vandals were a tribe of Germans who had, thanks to the vacuum created by the fall of the Roman Empire, managed to conquer vast swathes of territory including a major chunk of North Africa from their base in the famous city of Carthage. The Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire) meanwhile saw themselves as the true continuation of the Roman Empire and wanted to rebuild it to its full glory. This evidently meant that the Vandals would have to be taught a lesson or two and sent home. The primary goal for the Byzantines was to liberate the port city of Carthage from the Vandal clutches. Added to that was the fact that the Byzantines saw the Vandals as being Christian heretics and back then that was often reason enough for war. King Gelimer led the Vandals at the time alongside his brother Tzazon, had a force of 50,000 troops by Carthage whilst the Byzantines chose to give General Belisarius a measly 15,000 men and a slap on the back. Luckily for General Belisarius, the Vandals were not home when he came knocking at the gates of Carthage. The city opened its doors to the Byzantine forces without much bloodshed at all. The Vandals meanwhile were preoccupied with their raiding runs along the Mediterranean coast. When they finally returned to home base in Carthage, they were surprised to say the least to find the Byzantine forces waiting for them, swords sharpened. King Gelimer had to wait for his brother Tzazon to bring back his forces from their expedition in Sardinia, before engaging with General Belisarius. He took his time to sow sedition amongst the Byzantine forces; he attempted to bribe the Hun mercenaries that made up a large portion of the General’s army. Finally in early December, 553 A.C., Tzazon brought his forces together with King Gelimer and destroyed the aqueduct that supplied Carthage with clean water. General Belisarius fearing the unstable loyalty of his hired mercenaries decided that offense was the best defense and brought his forces out of Carthage. He then made directly for the Vandal forces assembled around fifty kilometers west of Carthage. Despite the being completely outnumbered General Belisarius gave to order to his cavalry to charge the Vandals with everything they had. On the third charge, the Byzantine forces landed a crippling blow by killing Tzazon. Upon seeing the carnage, King Gelimer lost heart completely and ordered an immediate retreat. The vandals began to flee the battle, whilst the Byzantine forces began to mop up, capturing or killing over 3,000 men. The Byzantine victory at Tricamarum secured North Africa for the Eastern Roman Empire and would go on to serve as a launching point for their invasion of Italy and ultimately uniting both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. AskMen: http://askmen.com/ Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/AskMencom Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AskMen Follow us on Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/askmen Let us know know your opinions by commenting below!

• published: 27 Jan 2015
• views: 51