Godas (died 533) was a Gothic nobleman of the Vandal kingdom in

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 ...

. King Gelimer of the Vandals made him governor of the Vandalic province 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 ...

, but Godas stopped forwarding the taxes he collected and declared himself ruler of Sardinia. In 533, he began communicating with

Justinian I 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 ''renova ...

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 ...

, as an independent sovereign, clearly with the intent of creating his own principality out of the island of Sardinia. In reaction, Gelimer sent a large army composed of most of the available army in Africa to Sardinia under his brother

Tzazo Tzazo (also known as Tzazon or Zano) was the brother to King Gelimer (530–534), the last Vandal ruler of the North Africa. Tzazo died on 15 December 533 during the Battle of Tricamarum, which finally brought to an end the Vandal Kingdom in Nort ...

to put down the rebellion. According to

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

, Tzazo landed at Cagliari and immediately captured the city, killing Godas and the soldiers with him. A military expedition sent to support him by Justinian failed to reach Godas in time. Godas' revolt proved fatal to the Vandal kingdom; for while Tzazo was away with the bulk of the Vandal forces, a Byzantine army commanded by

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 terr ...

landed unopposed near Caputvada with the intention of restoring North Africa to the Byzantine Empire. Belisarius then

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

the remaining Vandal troops and captured

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 ...

before Gelimer summoned Tzazo back home.Procopius, ''De Bellus'' III.25; translated by Dewing, vol. 2 pp. 201ff

Notes

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 533 deaths 6th-century Gothic people Gothic warriors Ancient Sardinia Medieval rebels Kings of Sardinia Monarchs killed in action Year of birth unknown Vandalic War