The Vandal people, despite causing Rome some grief in the 5th Century, have been given a bad rap. A quick glance at their history will shed some light on the subject.
History is chalk full of unfairness and double standards.
As soon as one comes to both know and accept this simple fact, it may be possible to gain a new and greater understanding of history and of life in general. The study of the past, like all of life, simply isn't always fair, and there's nothing any of us can do about it. We can try to learn from it; to stop the bad things from happening again and to bring the good things back; but it’s difficult to change how things are perceived once they are part of our culture. Certain inequalities of the past are best to be looked at today with bemusement.
Take, for instance, the plight of the Vandals.
No this is not referring to the same vandals who blew up your mailbox last Fourth of July. Rather, this is referring to the East Germanic Tribe, whose impact on the Roman world in the fifth century is still remembered today with our use of the word “vandalism.”
The history of the Vandals is a long, complicated, and very unsure one. History doesn't give many answers regarding their beginnings, other than the fact that they settled somewhere in the land of Germania (part of which is now called, you guessed it, Germany) at some point in the first century B.C. From where they came, there is little but uncertainty. Some say Norway, others Sweden, still others Denmark. With this much confusion, often it is best to simply decide that the true origins of the Vandal people may never be known.
What DO we know?
Students of the history have been presented with a fairly detailed record from here on, however; of the various Vandal kings and of the many tribal conflicts which took place in East Germany – with the Goths to the East and the Huns to the further east – during the late fourth century A.D. Well known are the various conquests made by the Vandal armies, beginning in 406 with the Frankish (nowadays: French) people.
It is known that more than 20,000 Vandals died in the battle with the Franks, including the very first Vandal king, Godigisel, but they were victorious nonetheless and moved on toward the Iberian Peninsula (nowadays: Spain and Portugal, but at that point ruled by the Roman Empire). From here, under the command of the third (and greatest) Vandal king, Geiseric, the Vandals swept their way through North Africa.
The Roman Empire, under Emperor Valentinian III, most likely in fear of an attack of Rome itself, sought to appease the Vandals by formally granting them the title to the lands they had taken in 429. Of course, this did little good, as it seemed to only egg the Vandals on further. Geiseric had built an entire fleet of ships and began attacking the Mediterranean throughout the Roman Empire, which continued over the course of the next 35 years.
The Vandals Attack Rome
By the time Rome began paying any serious attention to the threat of the Vandals it was already too late. In 455, the Vandals sacked Rome for a period of two weeks, taking from the city as many valuables as they could carry (including priceless artifacts which had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem before it was destroyed in A.D. 70).
(In case you were wondering, this was Rome’s third sacking. It had happened previously by the Gauls and the Visigoths in 387 B.C. and A.D. 410, respectively, and it would certainly not be the last. Later sackings include those by the Ostrogoths, the Saracens, the Normans and their own military, under Emperor Charles V). Rome is perhaps the most-sacked city in the history of the world (perhaps with the exception of Jerusalem)
This particular sacking marked the height of the Vandal Empire, which only began to decline from here, under a series of less than adequate Kings and inter-tribal revolts. The empire 'officially' ended in 534, when they were finally defeated by the Romans, after war was declared by Byzantinian (Byzantine was the Eastern half of the Roman Empire) Emperor Justinian I.
An Unfortunate Legacy
Now, what does all of this have to do with the intrinsic unfairness of history? Simple. The fact is that when the Vandals sacked Rome, they did so in a most traditional way; raiding the city, burning some things, plundering. It was no different than other sackings of the day, and probably even less severe than other sackings of Rome itself. So, why is it that if one was to destroy someone else's property today, they would be considered a “vandal?” Why did this East Germanic tribe get such a bad rap? Why can't destructive people be labeled “visigoths,” or “Gauls?”
It's a simple question with a complicated answer, going somewhere back around the time of the French Revolution, when The Roman Empire was remembered in a positive light and, therefore, its sackers seen in villainy, and for one reason or another, the Vandals were singled out.
It may not be fair, but there’s nothing that can be done about it at this point.
References:
Gibbon, Edward. "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." 1789.
