placeholder
The Vandals were an East Germanic people whom Tacitus counts, under the name Vandilii, among the old Germanic tribal groups. Originally between the Oder and the Vistula, they moved west in the Migration Period.
Their path led through Gaul and Spain all the way to North Africa. Under King Geiseric they took Carthage in 439 and founded a powerful sea kingdom that dominated large parts of the western Mediterranean.
In AD 455 the Vandals took Rome and plundered it for two weeks – methodically, not indiscriminately. The kingdom lasted until 534, when it was conquered by the Eastern Roman general Belisarius.
"To the Germani belong the Vandilii … an old and genuine name."after Tacitus, Germania 2 (public domain, own translation)
The Vandals belong to the great East Germanic wandering peoples – like the Goths and Heruli. Continue with them.

The Goths · The Heruli · The Rugii · The Lombards · The Marcomanni.
All History & Finds articles →
In December 2020 a metal detector beeped in a field near Vindelev, only a few kilometres from Jelling. What came to …
Read more →A rare genetic trace in Iceland tells a story that sounds almost unbelievable: some Icelanders carry a maternal DNA …
Read more →About five centuries before Columbus, Norsemen set foot on American soil. For a long time this was thought a legend …
Read more →