The Tripolitania expedition or the Oea expedition was a battle in 523 between various nomadic

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. Ethnic and religious groups * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...

") confederations of

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

led by

Cabaon Cabaon was a Berber chief of Tripolitania in the beginning of the sixth century, known essentially by a rather long passage in the Vandal War of Procopius, for his tactics during the Tripolitania expedition in 523. During the reign of Thrasamund, ...

which previously seized lots of territory from, and raided several settlements of the Vandal Kingdom, and king

Thrasamund Thrasamund (450–523), King of the Vandals and Alans (496–523), was the fourth king of the North African Kingdom of the Vandals. He reigned longer than any other Vandal king in Africa other than his grandfather Genseric. Thrasamund was the t ...

of the

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

who was attempting to restore Vandalic control over the territories lost to the advancing Berber tribes. The battle ended in a decisive Berber victory, and a complete collapse of Vandalic control over much of

Background

Starting at the Vandal conquest of Roman Africa, the Vandals seized much of Northwesf Africa still under

Western Roman The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

rule, and established the Vandal Kingdom in 435. They soon enough came into conflict with the native

population of the region, although initially under

Gaiseric Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( la, Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the diff ...

's rule Berber rebellions from inside, and nomadic Berber attacks from the deserts were mostly defeated and the Vandals held a solid grip over the region. However, this changed after Gaiseric's death in 477, and soon enough various Christian and Pagan Berber states and tribes began expanding at the expense of the Vandalic Kingdom. The Vandals first lost control over the west of their kingdom to the

Kingdom of Altava The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman ...

, and then lost control over the Aurés to the locals in 484. Meanwhile in modern day

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

powerful nomadic Berber confederations such as the

Laguatan The Laguatan (Lawata, Lawati) was a Zenata Berber clan that inhabited the Cyrenaica area during the Roman period. They have been described as primarily raiders and nomadic, but others consider them a settled group who also raided. The Laguatan eme ...

began migrating mainly oasis to oasis from

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

to the region of

and came into increased conflict with the local Vandalic garrisons. In the 510s the Laguatans and other Berber tribes allied to them seized much of the area of Tripolitania ranging from the

Nafusa Mountains The Nafusa Mountains ( Berber: ''Adrar n Infusen'' (Nafusa Mountain), ar, جبل نفوسة (Western mountain)) are a mountain range in the western Tripolitania region of northwestern Libya. It also includes their regions around the escarpment f ...

to the coast, and established a kingdom there. After this, the Tripolitanian Berbers began raiding the area of

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) ( grc, Βυζάκιον, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, the ...

, or the heartland of the Vandal Kingdom, which was already unstable after losing the regions of Dorsale and

Capsa Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...

to other Berbers. In 523 then Vandalic king

wanted to restore control over the territories lost in Byzacena, and to pacify Tripolitania, and decided to start his military campaigns by attacking the Laguatan then led by

Procopius's description of the battle

Aftermath

The Vandals were severely weakened after the battle, and their control over Tripolitania was permanently weakened beyond relief until their collapse in 533 during the

Vandalic War The Vandalic War was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Vandal Kingdom, Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage in 533–534. It was the first of Justinian I's wars of reconquest of the Western Roman Empi ...

References

{{reflist 520s conflicts Battles involving the Vandals Vandalic War Vandal Kingdom Vandal warriors History of Libya Military history of Libya 6th century in Africa