Battle of Tricamarum

Overview

The Battle of Tricamarum took place on 15 December 533 between the armies of the Byzantine Empire, under Belisarius, and the Vandal Kingdom, commanded by King Gelimer and his brother Tzazo.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Tricamarum was the decisive engagement of the Vandalic War, fought between Byzantine forces under Belisarius and a Vandal army commanded by King Gelimer and his brother Tzazo. The battle resolved what the earlier engagement at Ad Decimum had left unfinished: the destruction of organized Vandal military resistance in North Africa. With Gelimer and Tzazo commanding a force estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 men against a Byzantine strength of roughly 8,000 to 11,000, the Vandals held a significant numerical advantage. The outcome ended the Vandal Kingdom's capacity to contest Byzantine control of the region, completing the reconquest of North Africa that Justinian I had launched in 533. Tricamarum thus stands as the battle that extinguished one of the major successor kingdoms to emerge from the western Roman collapse, restoring North African territories to imperial administration after roughly a century of Vandal rule.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (4)