The Vandals and the Mediterranean / I Vandali e il Mediterraneo

What role did the Vandals play in shaping the Mediterranean world? Leading international scholars offer a fresh perspective on one of Late Antiquity’s most intriguing peoples.

Emerging from two conferences held in Hamburg and Naples, the contributions explore the political, cultural, and religious dynamics of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa during the 5th and 6th centuries. Far from the stereotypical image of destruction and decline, the Vandal Kingdom appears here as central player in a distinctive chapter of Mediterranean history. From the Vandals’ relationship to the sea to administrative issues, economic dynamics, and the forms of continuity and discontinuity with the Roman world, the volume sheds new light on the interactions between “barbarian” rulers and Roman provincial society. Through a multidisciplinary approach that draws on archaeology, history, and philology, this book challenges long-standing assumptions and opens new avenues for understanding continuity and change in the post-Roman world.