The Battle of Ad Decimum near Carthage, North Africa took place in September 533 CE and was the first major battle of the Vandalic War (533 - 534 CE) between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Vandal Kingdom. Leading the Vandals was the newly crowned king Gelimer (480-550 CE) who had usurped Hilderic (r. 530-534 CE). Then on the side of the Romans was the rising star of the Byzantine military, Belisarius (c. 500-565 CE). This battle would be the definitive start of Justinian I's (r. 527-565 CE) wars of reconquest. These wars were fought with the ultimate goal of reuniting the former provinces of the Western Roman Empire with the Byzantine Empire.
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