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being now of advanced age, made a will, in which he enjoined many other things upon the Vandals and especially that the kingdom of the Vandals should always go to him who, being related by birth to Gizeric himself through the male line, should happen to be the first of all his kinsmen in age. 3.7.30 Gizeric, then, after he took possession of Carthage, ruled the Vandals for thirty-nine years, and died, as has been said. 3.8.1 And Honoric, the eldest of his sons, succeeded to the rule, Genzon having already departed from the world. While this Honoric was ruling the Vandals they had war with no men, except 3.8.2 the Moors. For the Moors, who had previously been quiet through fear of Gizeric, as soon as he was out of their way, both did many 3.8.3 evil things to the Vandals and suffered the same themselves. And Honoric became toward the Christians in Libya the most cruel 3.8.4 and unjust of all men. For forcing them to change to the Arian faith, as many as he found not readily yielding to him, he both burned and destroyed by other forms of death, and from many he cut out the tongues from the very throat, who, surviving even to my time in Byzantium, used an unimpaired voice, not in any way feeling the effects of this punishment; two of whom, indeed, after they chose to consort with harlots, were no longer able to speak thereafter. 3.8.5 And having ruled the Vandals for eight years he died of a disease, the Moors who lived on Mount Aurasium having already revolted from the Vandals and become independent (Aurasium is in Numidia, about a thirteen days’ journey from Carthage, and turned toward the south), who were no longer subject to the Vandals, as the Vandals were not able to carry on a war against the Moors in a mountain that was precipitous and exceedingly hard to access. 3.8.6 And when Honoric died, the rule of the Vandals came to Gundamund, the son of Genzon, the son of Gizeric. For age brought the seniority 3.8.7 of Gizeric’s family to him. This Gundamund fought in several engagements against the Moors, and having subjected the Christians to greater sufferings, he died of a disease, somewhere around the middle of the twelfth year of his reign. 3.8.8 And his brother Thrasamund received the kingdom, being especially well-favored in appearance and intelligence and 3.8.9 magnanimity. He, however, tried to force the Christians to change their ancestral faith, not torturing their bodies as the former kings had done, but pursuing them with honors and offices and bestowing great sums of money, and pretending to know nothing at all about those who were disobedient, whoever they might be. 3.8.10 And if he found any liable for great offenses which had happened either by chance or by design, to these, if they changed their faith, he offered as a reward that they should not pay the penalty for what they had done amiss. 3.8.11 And when his wife died, not having become a mother of either male or female offspring, wishing to establish his kingdom as well as possible, sending to Theoderic, the king of the Goths, he asked him to give him his sister Amalafrida as a wife, whose 3.8.12 husband had recently died. And he sent him both his sister and a thousand notable Goths in the capacity of a bodyguard, who were followed by a crowd of attendants numbering about five thousand 3.8.13 fighting men. And Theoderic gave his sister as a dowry one of the three promontories of Sicily, which they call Lilybaeum, and from this it seemed that Thrasamund was stronger and more powerful than all who had ruled among the Vandals. 3.8.14 He also became a very great friend to the emperor Anastasius. While he was reigning, it happened that the Vandals suffered a disaster at the hands of the Moors such as had never before occurred. 3.8.15 Cabaon was a certain ruler of the Moors around Tripolis, experienced in many wars and exceedingly shrewd. This Cabaon, when he learned that the Vandals were marching against him, 3.8.16 did as follows. First, he proclaimed to his subjects to abstain from all injustice and food leading to luxury and most of all from intercourse with women, and having constructed two ramparts, in the one he himself with all

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ἤδη ἡλικίας ἥκων, διαθήκας διαθέμενος, ἐν αἷς ἄλλα τε πολλὰ Βανδίλοις ἐπέσκηψε καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀεὶ Βανδίλων ἐς τοῦτον ἰέναι ὃς ἂν ἐκ γόνου ἄρρενος αὐτῷ Γιζερίχῳ κατὰ γένος προσήκων πρῶτος ὢν ἁπάντων τῶν αὐτοῦ 3.7.30 ξυγγενῶν τὴν ἡλικίαν τύχοι. Γιζέριχος μὲν οὖν ἄρξας Βανδίλων ἐπειδὴ Καρχηδόνος ἐκράτησεν ἔτη ἐννέα καὶ τριάκοντα, ἐτελεύτησεν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται. 3.8.1 Ὁνώριχος δὲ, ὁ τῶν ἐκείνου παίδων πρεσβύτατος, διεδέξατο τὴν ἀρχὴν, Γένζωνος ἤδη ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀφανισθέντος. ἐπὶ τούτου Ὁνωρίχου Βανδίλων ἄρχοντος πόλεμος αὐτοῖς πρὸς οὐδένα ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι 3.8.2 μὴ ἐς Μαυρουσίους, ἐγένετο. δέει γὰρ τῷ ἐκ Γιζερίχου ἡσυχάζοντες πρὸ τοῦ οἱ Μαυρούσιοι, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα ἐκποδὼν αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνος ἐγεγόνει, ἔδρασάν τε πολλὰ 3.8.3 τοὺς Βανδίλους κακὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔπαθον. γέγονε δὲ Ὁνώριχος ἐς τοὺς ἐν Λιβύῃ Χριστιανοὺς ὠμότατός τε 3.8.4 καὶ ἀδικώτατος ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων. βιαζόμενος γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐς τὴν Ἀρειανῶν μετατίθεσθαι δόξαν, ὅσους ἂν λάβοι οὐχ ἑτοίμως αὐτῷ εἴκοντας, ἔκαιέ τε καὶ ἄλλαις θανάτου ἰδέαις διέφθειρε, πολλῶν δὲ καὶ τὰς γλώσσας ἀπέτεμεν ἀπ' αὐτῆς φάρυγγος, οἳ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ περιόντες ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐχρῶντο ἀκραιφνεῖ τῇ φωνῇ, οὐδ' ὁπωστιοῦν ταύτης δὴ τῆς τιμωρίας ἐπαισθανόμενοι· ὧν δὴ δύο, ἐπειδὴ γυναιξὶν ἑταίραις πλησιάζειν ἔγνωσαν, οὐκέτι φθέγγεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν 3.8.5 ἴσχυσαν. ἔτη τε ὀκτὼ Βανδίλων ἄρξας ἐτελεύτησε νόσῳ, Μαυρουσίων ἤδη τῶν ἐν τῷ Αὐρασίῳ ὄρει ᾠκημένων ἀποστάντων τε ἀπὸ Βανδίλων καὶ αὐτονόμων ὄντων (ἔστι δὲ τὸ Αὐράσιον ἐν Νουμιδίᾳ τριῶν καὶ δέκα ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν μάλιστα Καρχηδόνος διέχον, τετραμμένον τε πρὸς μεσημβρίαν), οἳ οὐκέτι ὑπὸ Βανδίλοις ἐγένοντο, οὐ δυναμένων Βανδίλων ἐν ὄρει δυσόδῳ τε καὶ ἀνάντει λίαν πόλεμον πρὸς Μαυρουσίους διενεγκεῖν. 3.8.6 Τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ὁνωρίχου τὸ τῶν Βανδίλων κράτος ἐς Γουνδαμοῦνδον ἦλθε τὸν Γένζωνος τοῦ Γιζερίχου. ἐς αὐτὸν γὰρ ὁ χρόνος ἔφερε τὰ πρωτεῖα 3.8.7 τοῦ Γιζερίχου γένους. οὗτος ὁ Γουνδαμοῦνδος πλείοσι μὲν πρὸς Μαυρουσίους ἐμαχέσατο ξυμβολαῖς, μείζοσι δὲ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ὑπαγαγὼν πάθεσιν ἐτελεύτησε νοσήσας, ἤδη που μεσοῦντος τοῦ δωδεκάτου τῆς ἀρχῆς 3.8.8 ἔτους. ἀδελφός τε αὐτοῦ Τρασαμοῦνδος παρέλαβε τὴν βασιλείαν, εἴδους τε καὶ ξυνέσεως ἐς τὰ μάλιστα καὶ 3.8.9 μεγαλοψυχίας εὖ ἥκων. τοὺς μέντοι Χριστιανοὺς ἐβιάζετο μεταβαλέσθαι τὴν πάτριον δόξαν, οὐκ αἰκιζόμενος τὰ σώματα ὥσπερ οἱ πρότεροι, ἀλλὰ τιμαῖς τε καὶ ἀρχαῖς μετιὼν καὶ χρήμασι μεγάλοις δωρούμενος, καὶ τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας, ὁποῖοί ποτε εἶεν, ἥκιστά γε 3.8.10 εἰδέναι ποιούμενος. εἰ δέ τινας λάβοι μεγάλοις ἁμαρτήμασιν ἐνόχους ἢ τύχῃ ἢ γνώμῃ γεγενημένους, τούτοις δὴ μεταβαλλομένοις τὴν δόξαν μισθὸν προὐτίθει 3.8.11 μὴ δοῦναι τὴν δίκην ὧν ἥμαρτον. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡ γυνὴ ἐτελεύτα, οὐ γενομένη μήτηρ οὔτε ἄρσενος οὔτε θήλεος γόνου, κρατῦναι ὡς ἄριστα τὴν βασιλείαν βουλόμενος, ἐς Θευδέριχον τὸν Γότθων βασιλέα πέμψας ᾔτει οἱ γυναῖκα τὴν ἀδελφὴν Ἀμαλαφρίδαν διδόναι, ἧς δὴ 3.8.12 ἄρτι ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐτεθνήκει. ὁ δέ οἱ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἔπεμψε καὶ Γότθων δοκίμων χιλίους ἐν δορυφόρων λόγῳ, οἷς δὴ ὅμιλος θεραπείας εἵπετο ἐς πέντε μάλιστα 3.8.13 χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν μαχίμων. ἐδωρήσατο δὲ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Θευδέριχος καὶ τῶν Σικελίας ἀκρωτηρίων τριῶν ὄντων ἑνὶ, ὃ δὴ καλοῦσι Λιλύβαιον, καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔδοξεν ὁ Τρασαμοῦνδος πάντων δὴ τῶν ἐν Βανδίλοις 3.8.14 ἡγησαμένων κρείσσων τε εἶναι καὶ δυνατώτατος. ἐγένετο δὲ φίλος καὶ Ἀναστασίῳ βασιλεῖ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος ξυνέπεσε Βανδίλοις πάθος τι παθεῖν πρὸς Μαυρουσίων οἷον οὔπω πρὸ τοῦ ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθαι. 3.8.15 Καβάων ἦν τις ἄρχων τῶν ἀμφὶ Τρίπολιν Μαυρουσίων, πολέμων τε πολλῶν ἔμπειρος καὶ λίαν ἀγχίνους. οὗτος ὁ Καβάων ἐπειδὴ ἐπ' αὐτὸν στρατεύεσθαι 3.8.16 Βανδίλους ἐπύθετο, ἐποίει τοιάδε. πρῶτα μὲν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐπήγγελλεν ἀδικίας τε πάσης καὶ βρώσεως ἐς τρυφὴν ἀγούσης καὶ πάντων μάλιστα γυναικῶν ξυνουσίας ἀπέχεσθαι, χαρακώματά τε δύο πηξάμενος ἐν θατέρῳ μὲν αὐτὸς ξὺν πᾶσιν