Tzazo (also known as Tzazon or Zano) was the brother to King Gelimer (530–534), the last Vandal ruler of the

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. Tzazo died on 15 December 533 during the

Battle of Tricamarum The Battle of Tricamarum took place on December 15, 533 between the armies of the Byzantine Empire, under Belisarius, and the Vandal Kingdom, commanded by King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazon. It followed the Byzantine victory at the Battle of ...

, which finally brought to an end the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Tzazo had not been involved in the earlier

Battle of Ad Decimum The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, and the Byzantine Empire, under the command of General Belisarius. This event and events in the following year are sometimes ...

because Godas, likely instigated by the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

, had declared the Vandal province on the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

independent from

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 cla ...

. King Gelimer was unaware that the Byzantines were planning an invasion and sent Tzazo to repress the rebellion, which he did. After his defeat at Ad Decimum, Gelimer recalled the victorious Tzazo, Tzazo and his expeditionary force of 5,000 Vandals Gelimer went on the offensive. Their joined forces marched on

, damaging the city’s aqueduct. Belisarius had spent the weeks since the Battle of Ad Decimum strengthening the city defences; he did not want to face a siege and he was beginning to grow suspicious of the loyalty of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

and other barbarians under his command, knowing some of his army was being approached by agents of Gelimer. The Battle of Tricamarum took place on December 15, 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer and his brother Tzazo, and the Byzantines commanded by Belisarius. The two forces met some 30 miles outside Carthage and the Roman cavalry immediately charged the Vandal lines, reforming and attacking two more times. In the third charge, Tzazo was cut down in front of Gelimer, who lost heart and fled to the mountains of Numidia. Gelimer soon realised that his position was hopeless and eventually gave himself up to the Emperor.

References

Vandal warriors 533 deaths People killed in action Year of birth unknown Vandalic War {{Africa-royal-stub