177- The Burning Ships

April 22, 2012·25 min·2 clips

Genseric's burning ships smash into the Roman fleet, turning a sure victory into fiery chaos.

1. The History of Rome, episode 177, covers the catastrophic Roman naval campaign against the Vandals in 468 CE and its political aftermath in the crumbling Western Empire. 2. The episode is narrated by host Mike Duncan in his characteristic dry, witty solo format, with no guests; Duncan draws on primary sources including a biography of Bishop Epiphanius of Pavia written in the early 500s. 3. The episode's core question is why the largest Roman military expedition in a generation failed so completely, and whether the cause was incompetence, treachery, or a combination of both. 4. After the death of the puppet emperor Libius Severus in 465, the Germanic strongman Ricamer ruled Italy alone for nearly two years without appointing a new emperor, forcing Eastern Emperor Leo to act. 5. Vandal king Genseric had been extending piracy into Greek waters to pressure Leo into elevating his preferred candidate Olibrius, but this strategy backfired by making Leo determined to retake North Africa entirely. 6. Leo appointed Procopius Anthemius as Western Emperor in 467 — a choice that simultaneously placed a capable military commander in Italy and removed a dangerous rival from Constantinople. 7. To smooth Ricamer's acceptance of the new emperor, Anthemius married his only daughter to Ricamer, creating what the host calls 'one big happy family' ahead of the Vandal campaign. 8. Leo reportedly spent tens of thousands of pounds of gold and hundreds of thousands of pounds of silver assembling a fleet of 1,100 ships carrying 100,000 men — a figure the host acknowledges is likely exaggerated but indicative of the campaign's enormous scale. 9. The invasion opened on three fronts: the eastern general Heraclius advancing overland near Tripoli toward Carthage, Basiliscus blockading the city by sea, and the western general Marcellinus clearing the Vandals from Sardinia and Sicily. 10. The land advance under Heraclius went smoothly — he captured every city he passed as he approached Carthage — and Marcellinus successfully retook Sardinia before moving on Sicily. 11. Ricamer had Marcellinus murdered on Sicily, almost certainly to eliminate a rival, and then refused to let any western ships sail south to reinforce or supply the main eastern force. 12. Genseric bought five days from Basiliscus by sending envoys with gifts and claiming he needed time to arrange a surrender, then used that window to prepare fire ships loaded with flammable material. 13. When the winds turned favorable on the fifth day, Genseric sent the burning ships into the tightly anchored Roman fleet, causing panic and spreading fire rapidly; the Romans lost approximately 600 ships — roughly half the armada. 14. Two competing theories explain Basiliscus' failure: outright incompetence, or deliberate sabotage arranged with the eastern general Aspar to humiliate Leo and trigger his overthrow. 15. The host finds both theories compatible with the same conclusion — Basiliscus was 'a dingbat' — since even a deliberate saboteur would have known the disgrace would fall on himself as much as on Leo. 16. The failed invasion nearly bankrupted both imperial treasuries and produced no territorial gains; Constantinople would not attempt another North African campaign for 65 years. 17. The episode is told at a brisk, conversational pace with dry comic asides, moving quickly between political intrigue and military action without ever losing narrative momentum. 18. The tone is analytical and gently sarcastic — the host openly editorializes on characters' intelligence and motives, which gives the history a personality without distorting the facts. 19. Listeners who enjoy political and military history of late antiquity told with wit and frank commentary on human folly will find this episode highly satisfying. 20. Those wanting scholarly citations, primary source quotations, or deep dives into historiographical debates should look elsewhere — the show favors narrative drive over academic apparatus.

As heard by us

A brittle late-Roman power story where empty titles, murdered rivals, and a botched African campaign expose how little the western throne still means.

The western throne has become so hollow that Libius Severus can die and, for a while, no replacement appears. Ricimer simply carries on ruling Italy without the old pretense, while Leo in Constantinople is too busy with Huns and Goths to force the issue.

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Why you'd press play

When the West runs out of emperors, Ricimer decides he does not need one.

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