Vandalic War participant Belisarius
Opposing forces
Justinian selected one of his most trusted and talented generals, Belisarius, who had recently distinguished himself against the Persians and in the suppression of the Nika riots, to lead the expedition. As Ian Hughes points out, Belisarius was also eminently suited for this appointment for two other reasons: he was a native Latin-speaker, and was solicitous of the welfare of the local population, keeping a tight leash on his troops. Both these qualities would be crucial in winning support from the Latin-speaking African population. Belisarius was accompanied by his wife, Antonina, and by Procopius, his secretary, who wrote the history of the war.According to Procopius (The Vandalic War, I.11), the army consisted of 10,000 infantry, partly drawn from the field army (comitatenses) and partly from among the foederati, as well as 5,000 cavalry. There were also some 1,500–2,000 of Belisarius' own retainers (bucellarii), an elite corps (it is unclear if their number is included in the 5,000 cavalry mentioned as a total figure by Procopius). In addition, there were two additional bodies of allied troops, both mounted archers, 600 Huns and 400 Heruls. The army was led by an array of experienced officers. The eunuch Solomon was chosen as Belisarius' chief of staff (domesticus) and the former praetorian prefect Archelaus was placed in charge of the army's provisioning, while Rufinus the Thracian and Aïgan the Hun led the cavalry. The whole force was transported on 500 vessels manned by 30,000 sailors under admiral Calonymus of Alexandria, guarded by ninety-two dromon warships. The traditional view, as expressed by J.B. Bury, is that the expeditionary force was remarkably small for the task, especially given the military reputation of the Vandals, and that perhaps it reflects the limit of the fleet's carrying capacity, or perhaps it was an intentional move to limit the impact of any defeat. Ian Hughes however comments that even in comparison with the armies of the early Roman Empire, Belisarius' army was a "large, well-balanced force capable of overcoming the Vandals and may have contained a higher proportion of high quality, reliable troops than the armies stationed in the east".On the Vandal side, the picture is less clear. The Vandal army was not a professional and mostly volunteer force like the East Roman army, but comprised every able-bodied male of the Vandal people. Hence modern estimates on the available forces vary along with estimates on the total Vandal population, from a high of between 30,000–40,000 men out of a total Vandal population of at most 200,000 people (Diehl and Bury), to as few as 25,000 men—or even 20,000, if their losses against the Mauri are taken into account—for a population base of 100,000 (Hughes). Despite their martial reputation, the Vandals had grown less warlike over time, having come to lead a luxurious life amidst the riches of Africa. In addition, their mode of fighting was ill-suited to confronting Belisarius' veterans: the Vandal army was composed exclusively of cavalry, lightly armoured and armed only for hand-to-hand combat, to the point of neglecting entirely the use of bows or javelins, in stark contrast to Belisarius' heavily armoured cataphracts and horse archers. (The account of Procopius completely refutes this poorly chosen source.) The Vandals were also weakened by the hostility of their Roman subjects, the continued existence among the Vandals of a faction loyal to Hilderic, and by the ambivalent position of the Mauri tribes, who watched the oncoming conflict from the sidelines, ready to join the victor and seize the spoils.Aftermath
Belisarius' triumph
Belisarius would not remain long in Africa to consolidate his success, as a number of officers in his army, in hopes of their own advancement, sent messengers to Justinian claiming that Belisarius intended to establish his own kingdom in Africa. Justinian then gave his general two choices as a test of his intentions: he could return to Constantinople or remain in Africa. Belisarius, who had captured one of the messengers and was aware of the slanders against him, chose to return. He left Africa in the summer, accompanied by Gelimer, large numbers of captured Vandals—who were enrolled in five regiments of the Vandali Iustiniani ("Vandals of Justinian") by the emperor—and the Vandal treasure, which included many objects looted from Rome 80 years earlier, including the imperial regalia and the menorah of the Second Temple. In Constantinople, Belisarius was given the honour of celebrating a triumph—the first to be celebrated in Constantinople since its foundation and the first granted to a private citizen in over five and a half centuries—and described by Procopius: