Genseric

Genseric, also known as Gaiseric, was a prominent 5th-century king of the Vandals and Alans who ruled the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa from about 428 until his death in 477. He is best known for organizing the Vandals’ migration from Iberia into Roman Africa and for establishing Carthage as the capital of a powerful realm that controlled much of the western Mediterranean.

Under Genseric, the Vandals crossed from Spain into North Africa around 428–429 and gradually extended their control over the region. In 439, his forces captured Carthage, creating a durable base for a maritime state. From this hub, Genseric built a substantial navy that enabled raids across the western Mediterranean, including Sicily and parts of Italy, and posed a constant threat to Roman authority in the region.

A defining event of his reign was the sack of Rome in 455, carried out by Vandal forces despite the Eastern Roman emperor’s efforts to defend the city. The raid damaged the prestige and resources of the Western Roman Empire and underscored the vulnerability of Roman authority in the western Mediterranean.

Genseric died in 477, leaving a strong Vandal kingdom that continued under his heirs, notably Huneric. The Vandal state persisted in North Africa until it was conquered by the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius in 533–534. Genseric’s reign left a lasting mark on Mediterranean geopolitics by turning the Vandals into a major naval power and a significant force within late antique Europe.