Anthemius
Campaigns against the Vandals
#### Campaigns against the Vandals

[alt\=AV semissis – RIC X, 2837 (Rome)\|thumb\|A solidus of Anthemius.](/wiki/File:Anthemius.jpg "Anthemius.jpg")

The Vandals were the major problem of the Western Empire. In late 467, Anthemius organised a campaign of the western Roman army, probably under the command of [Marcellinus](/wiki/Marcellinus_%28magister_militum%29 "Marcellinus (magister militum)"). The campaign to overthrow the Vandals was on a large scale, with more than 100,000 men. However, the war would end in failure: the bad weather obliged the [Roman fleet](/wiki/Roman_Navy "Roman Navy") to return to its base before completing the operation.

In 468, [Leo the Thracian](/wiki/Leo_I_the_Thracian "Leo I the Thracian"), Anthemius and Marcellinus organized a major operation against the [Vandal Kingdom](/wiki/Vandal_Kingdom "Vandal Kingdom") in Africa. The commander\-in\-chief of the operation was Leo's brother\-in\-law [Basiliscus](/wiki/Basiliscus "Basiliscus") (who would become Eastern emperor seven years later). A fleet consisting of upwards of one thousand vessels was collected to transport the combined Eastern\-Western\-Illyric army, and while most of the expenses were paid for by the Eastern Empire, Anthemius and the Western treasury contributed to the costs. The Roman fleet took a massive defeat at the [Battle of Cape Bon](/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Bon_%28468%29 "Battle of Cape Bon (468)") due to Basiliscus allowing Gaiseric five days to draw up conditions for a peace, which he used to gather his ships and surprise attack the Roman fleet, destroying at least half of the Roman ships. Basiliscus escaped the battle to Sicily to meet with Marcellinus, although Marcellinus was later killed by an assassin.

Leo decided to sign a separate peace with Gaiseric. Anthemius lost his allies and, with the imperial treasury almost emptied by the failed operation, renounced taking Africa back. Peter Heather considers this expedition to have been the final opportunity to restore the Empire, which from this point would now only control the Italian peninsula and Sicily.


Who organized a major operation against the Vandal Kingdom in Africa in 468?