Group

Vandals (East Germanic tribe)

Nation Defunct 100 BCE – 435 CE

The Vandals are an East Germanic tribe who in 429 under king Genseric enter Africa and by 439 establishe a kingdom that includes the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearics.

In 455, they sack the city of Rome.

Their kingdom collapses in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Justinian I manages to reconquer the Africa province for the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.Renaissance and Early Modern writers characterize the Vandals as barbarians, "sacking and looting" Rome.

This leads to the use of the term "vandalism", to describe any senseless destruction, particularly the "barbarian" defacing of artworks.

Modern historians tend to consider the Vandals (and Goths), not as violators, but as a people who continue Roman culture during the transitional period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages.

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Cite this entry

Moran, J. (n.d.). Vandals (East Germanic tribe). History Atlas. Retrieved 14 September 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/vandals-east-germanic-tribe/

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