King Genseric extends his pirate raids in…

Zeno had married Ariadne, elder daughter of Leo I and Verina, in mid-late 466; as there is no reference to a divorce with Arcadia, she should have died in those years.

The next year their son was born, and Zeno became father of the heir apparent to the throne, as the only son of Leo I's had died in his infancy; to stress his claim to the throne, the boy was called Leo.

Zeno, however, is not present at the birth of his son, as in 467, he participates in a military campaign against the Goths.

Ricimer has maintained his power during the past several years despite serious threats to his position from Aegidius in Soissons and from Marcellinus, who rules a virtually independent state in Dalmatia.

Leo, emperor in the East, who had recognized Majorian as emperor in the West, had withheld recognition of Severus, who reigned as titular Western emperor for a little more than two years before dying on August 15, 465.

Nearly two years pass before the installation of Anthemius, the son-in-law of the Eastern emperor Marcian, on April 12, 467.

Appointed to his office by Marcian's successor, Leo, who wants help in attacking the Vandals in North Africa, Anthemius is accepted by Ricimer with the stipulation that his daughter, Alypia, marry him.

To the Eastern Empire, Anthemius is the first legitimate emperor since the death of Valentinian III in 455.

Basiliscus, likely of Balkan origin, is the brother of Aelia Verina, wife of Leo I.

It has been argued that Basiliscus was uncle to the chieftain of the Heruli, Odoacer.

This link is based on the interpretation of a fragment by John of Antioch (209.1), which states that Odoacer and Armatus, Basiliscus' nephew, were brothers.

However, not all scholars accept this interpretation, since sources do not say anything about the foreign origin of Basiliscus.

It is known that Basiliscus had a wife, Zenonis, and at least one son, Marcus.

Basiliscus' military career had started under Leo I, when the Emperor conferred upon his brother-in-law the dignities of dux, or commander-in-chief, in Thrace.

In this country, Basiliscus had led a successful military campaign against the Bulgars in 463.

Succeeding Rusticius as magister militum per Thracias in 464, he had had several successes against the Goths and Huns (466 or 467).

Basiliscus's value had risen in Leo's consideration.

Verina's intercession in favor of her brother has helped Basiliscus' military and political career, with the conferral of the consulship in 465 and possibly of the rank of patricius.

However, his rise is soon to meet a serious reversal.

In 468, Leo chooses Basiliscus as leader of the later famous military expedition against Carthage.

The invasion of the kingdom of the Vandals is one of the greatest military undertakings recorded in the annals of history, a combined amphibious operation with over ten thousand ships and one hundred thousand soldiers.

The purpose of the operation is to punish the Vandal king Genseric for the sacking of Rome in 455, in which the former capital of the Western Roman Empire had been overwhelmed, and the Empress Licinia Eudoxia (widow of Emperor Valentinian III) and her daughters had been taken as hostages.

Ancient and modern historians provide different estimations for the number of ships and troops under the command of Basiliscus, as well as for the expenses of the expedition.

Both are enormous; Nicephorus Gregoras speaks of one hundred thousand ships, the more reliable Cedrenus says that the fleet that attacked Carthage consisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, having each one hundred men on board.

The most conservative estimation for expedition expenses is of sixty-four thousand pounds of gold, a sum that exceeds a whole year's revenue.

It is the greatest fleet ever sent against the Vandals; the expense brings Leo near to bankruptcy.

The Utigurs (Onogurs), the western wing of the Huns, had first crossed the river Volga (according to Zacharias Rhetor) at some time during the reign of Dengizich, son of Attila the Hun.

Priscus is clearer, saying that in 463 a mixed Saragur, Urog and Unogur embassy asked Constantinople for an alliance, having been dislodged by the Avars' drive towards the west.

In 468, Dengizich sends an embassy to Constantinople to demand money.

Emperor Leo offers the Huns settlement in Thrace in exchange for recognition of his authority.

Dengizich refuses and, having recovering from the defeat at Nedao in 454, launches an invasion across the Danube with a large force.

Anagast or Anagastes (fl.

466–470), who is probably a Goth, as his name (as well as that of his father, Arnegisc(clus)) seems to be of Gothic origin, is a magister militum in the army of the Eastern Roman Empire and a politician.

He is sent to negotiate with Dengizich when the Onogurs invade the empire with the intention to finally conquer its capital Constantinople.

However, Dengizich refuses to negotiate with him and demands to speak directly with the emperor.

The Onogurs have already reached the Danube, but are defeated by the Romans.

Dengizich is killed and his head is paraded through the streets of Constantinople.

Stuck on the end of a wooden pole, it is displayed above the Xylokerkos Gate.

Jordanes writes that in turn the Huns "for ever after" left the Goths in peace.

Marcellinus was supposed to have a command of some ten thousand to twenty thousand troops.

Marcellinus had never sailed for Africa, perhaps due to Ricimer's veto; either he would not spare so many troops to become bogged in a campaign in Africa, hoping the East would do the job for him, or he resented the military capabilities of Marcellinus who was obviously the favorite of Anthemius.

Regardless of the reason, Marcellinus’s inabiity to participate in the campaign, coupled with Basiliscus’s blundering in the Battle of Cape Bon, assured that the operation would result in failure.

The West has lost its only chance to regain Africa from the Vandals and possibly stave off its demise.

Marcellinus is reached in Sicily by Basiliscus; the general is, however, assassinated, perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer, by one of his own captains; and the king of the Vandals expresses his surprise and satisfaction that the Romans themselves would remove from the world his most formidable antagonists.

The Vandals reconquer Sicily, administering a decisive defeat to the Western forces.

Pope Leo’s twenty-one-year reign is followed by that of Hilarius, who reigns for seven years, followed in 468 by the election of Simplicius.

The Roman plan of attack is concerted between Eastern Emperor Leo, Western Emperor Anthemius, and General Marcellinus, who enjoys independence in Illyricum.

Basiliscus is ordered to sail directly to Carthage, while Marcellinus attacks and takes Sardinia, and a third army, commanded by Heraclius of Edessa, lands on the Libyan coast east of Carthage, making rapid progress.

It appears that the combined forces met in Sicily, whence the three fleets moved at different periods.

Sardinia and Libya have already been conquered by Marcellinus and Heraclius, when Basiliscus casts anchor off the Promontorium Mercurii, now Cap Bon, opposite Sicily, about forty miles from Carthage.

Genseric requests Basiliscus to allow him five days to draw up the conditions of a peace.

During the negotiations, Geiseric gathers his ships and suddenly attacks the Roman fleet.

The Vandals had filled many vessels with combustible materials.

During the night, these fire ships are propelled against the unguarded and unsuspecting Roman fleet.

The Eastern Roman commanders try to rescue some ships from destruction, but these maneuvers are blocked by the attack of other Vandal vessels.

Basiliscus flees in the heat of the battle.

One half of the Roman fleet is burned, sunk, or captured, and the other half follow the fugitive Basiliscus.

The entire expedition has failed.

Heraclius effects his retreat through the desert into Tripolitania, where he will hold the position for two years until recalled.

Suebi Raids and the Sack of Conimbriga (465–468 CE)

Under the leadership of Remismund, the Suebi resume their raids, plundering Lusitania and the Conventus Asturicense, while also continuing their struggles against unsubdued Galician tribes, such as the Aunonenses, who inhabit an island in the Atlantic Ocean, identified as modern Ons.

In 465 CE, the Suebi breach part of the walls of Conimbriga in Lusitania, looting the wealth of the noble Cantabri family. Three years later, in 468 CE, the Suebi sack Conimbriga, forcing most of its inhabitants to flee to Aeminium (modern Coimbra), while others are captured and taken north as slaves. After this devastation, Conimbriga is largely abandoned, marking a significant shift in the region’s urban landscape.

The Roman Emperor Leo I supports an anti-Goth coalition of German tribes, despite the advice of his General Aspar.

The two sides meet in 469 near the river Ipeľ in present day Slovakia and Hungary in an engagement called in the Battle of Bolia.

Theodomir leads his Goths in a decisive victory over the combined forces of Heruli, Rugii, Scirii, and Suebi.

A group of Suebi had settled in parts of Pannonia after the Huns were defeated in 454 in the Battle of Nedao.

The Suebian king Hunimund fights against the Ostrogoths at Bolia.

After the Suebian coalition loses the battle, parts of the Suebi therefore migrate to southern Germany.