Battles & Campaigns · 533
Battle of Tricamarum
About 50 km west of Carthage, near Tunis, Tunisia
What happened
A Byzantine army under the general Belisarius fought the Vandal army of King Gelimer and his brother Tzazon. The Byzantine emperor Justinian sent Belisarius to win back North Africa from the Vandals. After losing Carthage, Gelimer gathered his army and marched to retake it.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It effectively ended the Vandal Kingdom. North Africa, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands came back under Roman (Byzantine) rule.
What came next
Gelimer fled to the mountains and, after a hard winter, surrendered to Belisarius the next year.
Did you know?
Before the battle, the Vandals cut the great aqueduct that brought water to Carthage.
Timeline
- 533Belisarius lands in Africa and takes Carthage.
- 15 December 533Belisarius wins at Tricamarum.
- 534Gelimer surrenders.