The Vandals, who are best remembered for their sack of Rome in 455 CE, have become synonymous with wanton and barbaric destruction. But who were these people and do they deserve their reputation? MacDowell follows the Vandals’ great migration across Germany, Gaul, Spain and North Africa as they sought a new homeland; he also analyses the evolution of their armies’ tactics and equipment and emphasizes the centrality of Arian Christian beliefs in the tribe’s identity.