The Battle of the River Bagradas or Battle of Membresa was an engagement in 536 AD between

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

forces under

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...

and rebel forces under

Stotzas Stotzas (Greek: Στότζας), also Stutias, Theophanes writes him Tzotzas (Τζότζας), was an East Roman (Byzantine) soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa in the 530s. Stotzas attempted to establ ...

.{{Cite book, title=Rome resurgent: war and empire in the age of Justinian, last=Heather, first=P. J., year=2018, isbn=978-0-19-936274-5, location=New York, NY, oclc=1007044617 Stotzas had besieged

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

(capital of the prefecture Africa) shortly before with a force of 8,000 rebels, 1,000

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

soldiers (400 had escaped after being captured and sailed back to Africa while the rest were still resisting the Byzantines in Africa), and many slaves. Belisarius had only 2,000 men under his command. Upon Belisarius’ arrival the rebels had lifted the siege. Before battle commenced Stotzas wanted to reposition his troops so the high wind would not aid the Byzantines in the fighting. Stotzas neglected to move any troops to cover this movement. Belisarius, seeing that much of the rebel force was disorganised and exposed, decided to charge the rebels, who almost immediately fled in disorder. Rebel casualties remained relatively light as the Byzantine force was too small to safely chase the fleeing rebels. Instead Belisarius allowed his men to plunder the abandoned rebel camp.

References

Bagradas River The Medjerda River ( ar, وادي مجردة), the classical Bagrada, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river ...

Mutinies

6th century in Africa 536