Barbarzyńcy na Sycylii. O wandalskich i ostrogockich wyprawach na wyspę
Barbarians on Sicily: On Vandalic and Ostrogothic expeditions to the island

Author(s): Roksana Chowaniec
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Jerzy Kolendo; archaeology; Poland; Europe; University of Warsaw; Polish Academy of Sciences
Summary/Abstract: Sicily, as the biggest and the most centrally located island on the Mediterranean Sea, has always been thepoint of contact of various cultures and the intersection of trade routes. Many historical events took place on thisisland, including the struggles of the Western Roman Empire, and then the Eastern one, with barbarian Vandalsand Ostrogoths. From the end of the 30s of the 5th century, under the leadership of King Genseric, Vandals, whohad chosen the area of Northern Africa as their base, started to raid the island. The vicinity of Sicily and its strategiclocation, as well as its infrastructure, prompted the raids. After some violent expeditions and after peacehas been made with Emperor Valentinian III, it seemed like peace was secured for Sicily. However, the death ofthe ruler and its consequences, including Odoacer coming to power, and later Theodoric the Great and the Goths,once again “entangled” the Sicilian territories in confl ict with the barbarians. Emperor Justinian I undertook torestore stability and infl uence on the island. Thanks to Belisarius he fi rst pushed the Vandals out of the southwestpart of the island and then the Goths from the rest of the island. This complicated fragment of history wasrecorded not only by ancient historians but also in archaeological sources found on Sicily. Unfortunately, themany gaps in the source material, as well as the insuffi cient state of research, give rise to many questions on thecharacter of the relations, the status of the Vandals and Ostrogoths on the island and also on the role played inthese confl icts by the local population.

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