348
VANDALS IN AFRICA.
that is a native of lower Moesia, from the district of Silistria,
and descended from a Latin family, notwithstanding his
Greek name. His father was a man of rank, and had lost his
life by treachery or a tyrannical act of Alaric. The age of
Aetius cannot be accurately determined; at the time of his
death he must have been between fifty and sixty, or even
upwards of sixty; for when a young man he had been a
hostage with Alaric and the Huns, to whom he was afterwards
frequently employed as an ambassador. He made an imposing
impression on them, by being equal to them in valour and
yet having the advantages of a higher education. He was an
extraordinary man whom the rulers ought to have let alone, as
the Athenians should have done in the case of Alcibiades;
but he was by no means of an unblemished character: he was
unjust and hostile towards Bonifacius, a circumstance which
brought great misery upon the empire. His influence with
Placidia and Valentinian was unlimited, and thus he caused
Bonifacius who was governor (comes) of Africa to be recalled
and summoned to Ravenna, where the court was then resid-
ing. Bonifacius could not expect anything but that he would
there be put to death, and accordingly formed the unfortunate
resolution of inviting the Vandals, who were then in the west
of Spain, to come to Africa. They came under Gonderic;
and the devastation of Africa, from the straits of Gibraltar to
Carthage was the consequence. No German tribe ever carried
on war with such faithlessness and obstinacy. Before this
time Africa had suffered little. They were supported by the
Donatists who by terrible persecutions had been reduced to
despair: they were in reality only rigorists who had separ-
ated in consequence of the election of a bishop under Diocle-
tian: they were a rude sect, but noble fanatics, who were
terribly ill-used. There is no doubt that their persecution was
continued afterwards, and that the Arabs met with support
among them: the oppressed found their deliverers in the
barbarians. These events should be a lesson to those who
are determined not to see the misfortune which is the result
of intolerance, or, as it deserves to be called, injustice. This
fearful persecution of the Donatists had even then lasted
upwards of a hundred years. Genseric, who succeeded his
brother Gonderic, took possession of the whole country, with
the exception of a few places, in A.D. 429; the Moorish tribes
Genseric.
349
were left in peace and perfectly free, the dominion of the
Vandals extending only over the territory of Tunis and the
maritime towns. Bonifacius' eyes were now opened to the
terrible misfortune which he had occasioned ; and he in vain
endeavoured to check the tide of events. He received the
confidence of Placidia, who in this respect showed a noble
mind ; she sent him troops, which were however defeated in
two decisive battles. After some years, a truce and peace were
concluded, in which Rome gave up the greater part of Africa,
except Carthage and some other places. This peace, however,
was not kept by the faithless Genseric, who availing himself
of the facilities it afforded him, made himself master of Car-
thage. Carthage was, next to Rome, the greatest city in the
western empire, and stood to Rome in the same relation as
Adrianople to Constantinople. Its circumference was immense ;
it was situated outside the ancient city, of the gardens of which
it occupied the site. Salvianus of Marseilles describes what the
place was, but he says that one ought rather to rejoice at than
to lament its capture by the barbarians, for immorality had
reached its highest point, and it is inconceivable how the city
could call itself Christian. In earlier times, Christianity had
indeed exercised a salutary influence upon many individuals,
but since it had been adopted by the masses, the select commu-
nity ceased to exist, and it no longer exercised any influence
upon the morals of the bulk of the population. It is remark-
able to see how, at that time, entire cities became Christian
with the same frivolity with which they proclaimed a new
ruler, the population remaining as thoroughly bad as it had
been before. It was the greatest misfortune for the world and
for Christianity, that Constantine made the latter become so
quickly the universal religion ; the hierarchy grew worse and
worse : there still existed indeed popes like Leo the Great, but
at the same time many bishops were worthless.
The Vandals sailed from Africa on plundering expeditions
with their fleets to Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the coasts of
Italy ; and this piracy inflicted new miseries on Italy, which
had already somewhat recovered : many districts, it is true,
had remained waste, and most of the inhabitants had surren-
dered themselves to the grandees as serfs. Another misfortune
was, that most of the Roman nobles had their estates in Africa
and these families, the accounts of whose wealth sound quite
fabulous, were ruined, for Genseric confiscated everything.