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The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533
533

Events...
 between the armies of the Vandals
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
, commanded by King Gelimer
Gelimer

Gelimer , King of the Vandals and Alans from 530 to 534, was the last ruler of the North Africa during the Classical Period Kingdom of the Vandals....
, and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), under the command of general Belisarius
Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius is often described as one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previously....
. This event and events in the following year are sometimes jointly referred to as the Battle of Carthage, one of several battles
Battle of Carthage

There are at least 6 major conflicts known as The Battle of Carthage. They are,* Battle of Carthage : The only major engagement of the Third Punic War, which was a protracted siege starting somewhere between 149 BC and 147 BC, and ending in the spring of 146 BC with the complete destruction of the city of Carthage....
 to bear that name. The victory marked the beginning of the end for the Vandals and began the "Reconquest" of the west under the Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
.

Ad Decimum (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "Ten Mile Post", literally "at the tenth"), was simply a marker along the Mediterranean coast south of Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
.






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The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533
533

Events...
 between the armies of the Vandals
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
, commanded by King Gelimer
Gelimer

Gelimer , King of the Vandals and Alans from 530 to 534, was the last ruler of the North Africa during the Classical Period Kingdom of the Vandals....
, and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), under the command of general Belisarius
Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius is often described as one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previously....
. This event and events in the following year are sometimes jointly referred to as the Battle of Carthage, one of several battles
Battle of Carthage

There are at least 6 major conflicts known as The Battle of Carthage. They are,* Battle of Carthage : The only major engagement of the Third Punic War, which was a protracted siege starting somewhere between 149 BC and 147 BC, and ending in the spring of 146 BC with the complete destruction of the city of Carthage....
 to bear that name. The victory marked the beginning of the end for the Vandals and began the "Reconquest" of the west under the Emperor Justinian I
Justinian I

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
.

Ad Decimum (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for "Ten Mile Post", literally "at the tenth"), was simply a marker along the Mediterranean coast south of Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
. Gelimer, with 11,000 men under his command, had advance warning of the approach of Belisarius' 15,000-man army and chose to take a strong position along the road to Carthage near the post marker. He divided his forces, sending 2,000 men under his nephew Gibamund across a salt pan in an effort to flank Belisarius' army, which was advancing in narrow columns along the road. Another Vandal force, under Gelimer's brother Ammatas, was assigned to initiate a holding action at a defile
Defile (geography)

Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front....
 near Ad Decimum. If everything worked well, Gelimer's 7,000-man main body would follow Gibamund around the Roman left flank and cut off their retreat.

Gibamund failed to accomplish his mission, as a force of Romans and Hun
Huns

The Huns were a confederation of Central Asian Eurasian nomads or semi-nomads, who had established an empire in Eurasia. The Huns may have stimulated the Migration Period, a contributing factor in the collapse of the Roman Empire....
 mercenaries drove his 2,000-man force off and killed him. Ammatas also failed; he arrived at the defile with his men still strung out along the road back to Carthage, and he too was killed. The Romans pursued his men all the way to the gates of Carthage itself.

Gelimer's main force, however, inflicted serious casualties on Belisarius's troops along the main road. Belisarius's mercenary cavalry was routed by the Vandals, and even though Gelimer was outnumbered, his men were performing well in the fighting. It appeared as though the Vandals would win the battle.

But when Gelimer reached Ammatas's position and discovered that his brother had been killed, he became disconsolate and failed to give an order for one more assault — which likely would have destroyed the reeling Roman army and cut off the Huns and Romans who had earlier advanced toward Carthage after beating Ammatas and Gibamund. Instead, the Vandal attack was weakened while Gelimer buried his brother on the battlefield.

Given a respite, Belisarius was able to regroup his forces south of Ad Decimum and launch a counterattack, which drove the Vandals back and soon routed them. Gelimer was forced to abandon Carthage
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
.

Belisarius camped near the site of the battle, not wanting to be too close to the city at night. The next day he marched on the city, ordering his men not to kill or enslave the population (as was normal practice at the time) because he stated the people were actually Roman citizens under Vandal rule. They found the gates to the city open, and the army was generally welcomed. Belisarius went straight to the palace and sat on the throne of the Vandal King. He then set about rebuilding the fortifications of the city, and his fleet sought shelter in the lake of Tunis
Lake of Tunis

The Lake of Tunis is a natural lagoon located between the Tunisian capital city of Tunis and the Gulf of Tunis . The lake covers a total of 37 square kilometres, about , in contrast to its size its depth is very shallow....
, five miles (8 km) south of Carthage.

After a second defeat at the Battle of Tricamarum later in the year, the Vandal kingdom was all but ended.

Further reading

  • Lord Mahon Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, The Life of Belisarius, 1848. Reprinted 2006 (unabridged with editorial comments) Evolution Publishing, ISBN 1-889758-67-1.


External Links

  • by Jonathan Webb