Europe 455: Gaiseric’s Sack of Rome

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Notes

Akatziri and the “Scythian Kingdom” (Kuban Huns)

Little is known about the region north and east of the Black Sea in the first half of the fifth century, except that in c. 400 a “Scythian King” (almost always assumed to be a Hun) lived in the Kuban region and by the 440s a Hunnic people known as the Akatziri lived east of the Dniester. Although fragmented, the Akatziri were powerful enough that, when the Eastern Romans aligned with all but one of their kingdoms in 447, it took over a year for Attila’s armies to crush them and install his son as their king. After this, Attila contemplated invading Persia, implying that suppressing the Akatziri had bought the periphery of his empire close to the Caucasus. All this suggests that the Akatziri may have extended into the North Caucasus and that the “Scythian King” may have been part of the Akatziri, although this is of course conjecture.

Main Events

455 Petronius Maximus, Eudoxia, and Eudocia ▲

Following the assassination of the Western Roman emperor Valentinian III in March 455, the new emperor Petronius Maximus forbade Valentinian’s widow Licinia Eudoxia from mourning the loss of her husband and soon after forced her to marry him. This helped prevent rioting over Maximus’ succession—which was unpopular in the West and not recognized at all by the Eastern Roman court—and, to further legitimize his reign, he had his son Palladius betrothed to Valentinian and Eudoxia’s daughter Eudocia. Outraged, Eudoxia allegedly sent a letter to the Vandal king Gaiseric—whose son Huneric had already been promised Eudocia—asking for his support. in wikipedia

31 May 455 Death of Petronius Maximus ▲

In late May 455 the Western Roman emperor Petronius Maximus learned that the Vandal king Gaiseric—allegedly acting on behalf of the murdered Valentinian III’s widow Licinia Eudoxia and daughter Eudocia—had unexpectedly landed near Rome, at Azestus, with a huge force. Panicking, Maximus attempted to flee the city, but was deserted by his bodyguards and fatally struck in the head by a thrown roof tile. He was then torn to pieces by the rioting Roman mob and his remains thrown into the Tiber, while his son, the caesar Palladius, was hunted down and killed. in wikipedia

2–16 Jun 455 Gaiseric’s sack of Rome ▲

On 2 June 455 the Vandal king Gaiseric and his army entered Rome, having promised Pope Leo I that they would not burn any buildings, or kill or torture any of the Roman people. Setting up in the imperial palace, Gaiseric proceeded to systemically plunder the city over the next fourteen days, stripping palaces, temples, and churches of their wealth—including removing half of the gold-clad roof of the Temple of Jupiter—and taking ‘many thousands’ of captives. Having filled their ships with loot, the Vandals then returned to Carthage, bringing with them the empress Licinia Eudoxia and her daughters Eudocia and Placidia. in wikipedia