[gothic-l] What happened with the Vandalic Kingdom?

[Bertil Häggman]

Dirk,

Carthage no doubt was the main center of the Vandal fleet.
The arsenals and the shipbuilding material in Carthage was
taken over in 439 AD. No doubt the Vandalic controlled
the western Mediterranean. The estimate would be a force,
initially, of 200 ships at the time of King Geiseric. The number
of ships after his death declined to around 120.

The Vandalic naval ships differed from those of the Romans.
No rowing but light and fast sailing ships generally for a
crew of 40. Wood for shipbuilding came from the island of
Corsica, then under Vandal control. In 460 AD the Vandal
fleet defeated for instance a Byzantian fleet much due to the use
of Greek fire.

During the Vandal rule in North Africa much was kept
up. I have already mentioned a number of cases and don't want to
repeat them here.

Maybe you would like to quote the "Michigan reports".
If it is like you claim, they differ from a number of other
reports. The transition from Roman to Vandal and the
Byzantine rule had little effect on the downward slide.

When the Arabs took Carthage it had declined to the extent
that it seemed to have sunk in the sea. The real downward
spiral started in the 530s AD.

Germanically

Bertil

> The fact that under Vandal rulership one of the main Cartagenian
> harbours fell into disrepair might lead one to conclude that it was no
>  longer needed as it represented over capacity. However, it is
> certainly possible that the Vandals kept their fleet somewhere else.
> Both harbours of Carthage are actually suprisingly small and could
> harbour only a few ships at a time. (at least from my own
> observation).

> When did the Vandal administration decide to keep up the qualtity of
> building? These things were mainly left to the struggling municipal
> adiminstrations and churches who however could no longer afford the
> up-keep of Roman-standard buildings under Vandal rulership. Thus, many
> buildings were either demolished, plundered for stones or simply
> scaled down.

> If you read the Michigan reports carefully, you will discover that
> exactly the opposite is true. The Byzantines established a new
> administration and resumed construction work at a more substantial
> scale.  The Byzantines for example built a network of massive
> fortifications and adiministrative centres across the entire country
> that later formed the basis for many Muslim 'ribats', like for example
> the Tunis ribat.
>
> I know you don't like it, but the Vandal period was in general a time
> of decline for the former Roman province in modern Tunesia. Theaters,
> baths, sewage systems, harbours, store houses etc. fell into
> disrepair, were demolished or reduced in scale during that time. Only
> under Byzantine rulership was an effective administration
> reestablished that was once again able to lead to some kind of revival
> in the area, although it would not reach the splendour of the Roman
> era.



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