The imperial invasion fleet had left the…

The imperial invasion fleet had left the Dardanelles on July 1, and crossed the Aegean Sea to the port of Methone, where it had been joined by the last contingents of troops.

Belisarius had taken advantage of an enforced stay there due to a lull in the wind to train his troops and acquaint the disparate contingents with each other.

It was at Methone, however, that five hundred men died of dysentery caused by moldy bread.

According to Procopius, the responsibility fell on John the Cappadocian, who had cut costs by baking it only once, with the result that the bread had gone bad.

Justinian was informed, but John does not appear to have been punished.

Belisarius took steps to remedy the situation, and the army had soon recovered.

From Methone, the fleet sailed up the Ionian Sea to Zacynthus, whence they crossed over to Italy.

The crossing took longer than expected due to lack of wind, and the army had suffered of lack of fresh water when the supplies they had brought aboard went bad.

Eventually, the imperial fleet had reached Catania in Sicily, from where Belisarius had sent Procopius ahead to Syracuse to gather intelligence on the Vandals' activities.

By chance, Procopius had met a merchant friend of his there, whose servant had just arrived from Carthage.

The latter had informed Procopius that not only are the Vandals unaware of Belisarius' sailing, but that Gelimer, who had just dispatched Tzazon's expedition to Sardinia, is away from Carthage at the small inland town of Hermione.

Procopius quickly informs Belisarius, who immediately orders the army to re-embark and set sail for the African coast.

In early September, after sailing by Malta, the invasion force reaches Cape Caputvada on the western shore of modern Tunisia some 162 Roman miles (240 km) south from Carthage.

When the Roman fleet reaches Africa, a council is held aboard Belisarius' flagship (The Vandalic War, I.15), where many of his officers advocate an immediate attack on Carthage itself, especially since it is the only fortified city in the Vandal realm, the walls of the other cities having been torn down to prevent a rebellion.

Belisarius, however, mindful of the fate of the 468 expedition and wary of an encounter with the Vandal fleet, speaks against it.

Thus the army disembarks and builds a fortified camp to spend the night.

Belisarius knows that success for his expedition relies on gaining the support of the local population, which has largely retained its Roman identity and to which he presents himself as a liberator.

Thus on the next day of the landing, when some of his men steal some fruit from a local orchard, he severely punishes them, and assembles the army and exhorts them to maintain discipline and restraint towards the native population, lest they abandon their Roman sympathies and go over to the Vandals.

Belisarius' pleas bear results, for, as Procopius reports (The Vandalic War, I.17), "the soldiers behaved with moderation, and they neither began any unjust brawls nor did anything out of the way, and [Belisarius], by displaying great gentleness and kindness, won the Libyans to his side so completely that thereafter he made the journey as if in his own land".

Now the Roman army begins its march north, following the coastal road.