Famous Men of the Middle Ages · Ch. III · Unit 2: The barbarian kingdoms

6. Genseric the Vandal

Goal: Your child can tell how the Vandals won North Africa, why Genseric sacked Rome, and where our word "vandal" comes from.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗ 🖨 Copywork sheet

You'll need

  • The book, open to this chapter
  • A map of Europe and the Mediterranean (a free online map or a globe)
  • Paper and colored pencils
  • Your timeline strip (see the tips at the top)

What's in the book

Chapter III (427-477 A.D.): lame young Genseric becomes king of the Vandals in southern Spain. A plot by Aetius makes Count Boniface invite the Vandals into Africa. Genseric conquers the coast, takes Hippo and Carthage, and rules the sea as a pirate king. Invited by the Empress Eudoxia, he plunders Rome for fourteen days. He burns Emperor Majorian's fleet and destroys Emperor Leo's great fleet with fire ships, and dies in 477 still master of his kingdom.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Find southern Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the coast of North Africa. Point to Carthage (near Tunis today). Say: Carthage was once Rome's great enemy, in the days of Hannibal.

  2. Read the chapter

    Read Chapter III aloud. It begins:

    The Vandals were another wild and fierce tribe that came from the shores of the Baltic and invaded central and southern Europe in the later times of the Roman Empire.

  3. Tell it back

    Prompts:

    - How did the plot of Aetius bring the Vandals to Africa?

    - Why did Genseric go to Rome, and what did the Vandals do there?

    - How did Emperor Majorian spy on the Vandals?

    - How did Genseric destroy the great Roman fleet?

  4. A word from history

    Read this:

    This was what the Vandals did whenever they took a town, and so the word vandal came to mean a person who needlessly or wantonly destroys valuable property.

    SayToday we still say "vandalism" when someone smashes or spray-paints things that belong to others.

  5. Talk it over

    Ask:

    - Boniface was loyal to Rome until he was tricked. Who do you think was most to blame for the Vandals coming to Africa?

    - Genseric asked for a five-day truce and used it to attack. Was that fair? Why did it work?

  6. Remember it

    Add to the timeline: "455 A.D. The Vandals plunder Rome." (The book says it was forty-five years after Alaric.) Then "477 Genseric dies."

  7. Extra (optional)

    Draw the fire ships drifting into the Roman fleet at night.

Afterwards

Ask your child to use the word "vandal" in a sentence of their own.

Tip

Ask your child to count up with you: 410 plus 45 is 455. Small sums like this make the timeline feel real.

Answers to the book's problems

Aetius told the empress that Boniface was a traitor and secretly told Boniface the empress would kill him; Boniface refused to come home and invited Genseric to Africa. Empress Eudoxia asked him to protect her from Maximus; the Vandals plundered Rome for fourteen days and carried off gold, works of art and prisoners. Majorian dyed his hair and came to Carthage pretending to be an ambassador. During a truce he sent burning boats in among the Roman ships at night. The Vandals did not keep their word; it worked because the Romans trusted the truce.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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