Europe 456: Battle of Corsica

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455 End of Roman Mauretania ▲

Following his sack of Rome and seizure of Licinia Eudoxia and her daughters in June 455, the Vandal king Gaiseric rejected Eastern and Western Roman embassies ordering him to return the imperial women and to refrain from further expansion. Instead he quickly consolidated his hold over the rest of Roman Africa—western Numidia, the three Mauretanian provinces, and Tripolitania—as well as confiscating the estates of many notable Romans, ordering the destruction of city walls except for those of Carthage, and expanding his army to as many as 80,000 troops. At about the same time, he made a treaty with the Mauri, securing his new African empire from attacks from the interior. in wikipedia

455 Recovery of the Pannonias ▲

In the fall of 455 Avitus was claimed to have “recovered the Pannonias, lost for so many generations, by a mere march”. What happened here is uncertain, as there is no evidence of the restoration of Roman rule in Pannonia in this period. Possibly Avitus received some recognition and recruits from the Ostrogoths, who lived in Pannonia and had recently defeated the Huns there. in wikipedia

Mar–?? 456 Vandal attacks in the Mediterranean ▲

In both late 455 and early 456, both the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian and the Western emperor Avitus sent embassies to Gaiseric, warning the Vandal king against further acts of aggression in the Mediterranean. Ignoring their entreaties, Gaiseric launched a full scale naval offensive in the spring, seizing Sardinia and the Balearic islands, and raiding Sicily and southern Italy. At the same time, the Vandals denied African grain to Italy, which, together with the disruption of Roman maritime supply networks, brought Rome to the brink of starvation. in wikipedia

456 Battle of Agrigentum ▲

In early 456 the Western Roman emperor Avitus appointed Ricimer, a Romanized general of Visigothic and Suevic parentage, as comes and sent him to defend Sicily from the expected Vandal attacks. Anticipating that the Vandals—who had departed Carthage with a fleet of sixty ships—would bypass the heavily-fortified city of Lilybaeum, Ricimer set up his base to the east, at Agrigentum (Agrigento), and, when a great force of Vandals did indeed land there, ambushed them with his army. Defeated, the surviving Vandals fled back to their ships and set sail, while Ricimer sent word of his victory to Rome. in wikipedia

456 Suebian invasion of Tarraconensis ▲

In early 456 the Western Roman emperor Avitus and the Visigothic king Theodoric II both sent envoys to the Suebian king Rechiar, asking him to keep to his peace treaty with them. Rejecting their demands, Rechiar promptly invaded the province of Tarraconensis—the only part of Spain still controlled by the Western Empire—with a great force. The Suebi pillaged the region, then returned to Gallaecia with multitudes of captives. in wikipedia

456–457 Lazic succession war ▲

In 456, possibly in secret collaboration with Sasanian Persia, the Eastern Roman client king Gubazes I of Lazica made his son co-ruler, a move that Constantinople considered an act of rebellion. Emperor Marcian promptly dispatched an army along the coast and defeated the Lazi, but, as they were unable to conclude the campaign that season, the Romans then returned to their winter stations. Early the following year, after it became clear that the Persians were unwilling to intervene on his behalf as they were busy fighting the Kidarite Huns, Gubazes agreed to capitulate to Roman demands by stepping down in favor of his son. in wikipedia

456 Heruli raid on Lucus ▲

In the spring or summer of 456 some four hundred Heruli warriors landed with seven ships on the shore of Lucus, probably in Gallaecia north of Lugo, but were driven off by the local inhabitants. The Heruli then returned east to their homelands, ravaging the coasts of the Cantabri and the Vardulli as they went. The timing and location of these attacks suggests that these Heruli were operating from Visigothic lands in Gaul against the Suebi and Vascones in northern Spain just prior to the outbreak of war between the Visigoths and the Suebi. in wikipedia

456 Battle of Corsica ▲

After their defeat at Agrigentum, Sicily, in the spring of 456, the Vandals moved to invade Corsica. Here they were met by a Roman force, probably led by the general Majorian, which ‘slaughtered a multitude’ of them. Modern historians are divided as to whether this encounter was a land or sea battle, but it seems to have brought an end to the Vandal offensive of that year. in wikipedia

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Europe 456: Battle of Corsica

mid 456

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Europe

Battle of Corsica