ery ones who had
conquered Libya, or their descendants, should in some way or other be
driven out of Libya and return to their ancestral homes (for they never
supposed that the Romans would let Libya be held for ever), they sent
ambassadors to them. And these men, upon coming before Gizeric, said
that they rejoiced with their compatriots who had met with such success,
but that they were no longer able to guard the land of which he and his
men had thought so little that they had settled in Libya. They prayed
therefore that, if they laid no claim to their fatherland, they would
bestow it as an unprofitable possession upon themselves, so that their
title to the land might be made as secure as possible, and if anyone
should come to do it harm, they might by no means disdain to die in
behalf of it. Gizeric, accordingly, and all the other Vandals thought
that they spoke fairly and justly, and they were in the act of granting
everything which the envoys desired of them. But a certain old man who
was esteemed among them and had a great reputation for discretion said
that he would by no means permit such a thing. "For in human affairs,"
he said, "not one thing stands secure; nay, nothing which now exists is
stable for all time for men, while as regards that which does not yet
exist, there is nothing which may not come to pass." When Gizeric heard
this, he expressed approval and decided to send the envoys away with
nothing accomplished. Now at that time both he himself and the man who
had given the advice were judged worthy of ridicule by all the Vandals,
as foreseeing the impossible. But when these things which have been told
took place, the Vandals learned to take a different view of the nature
of human affairs and realized that the saying was that of a wise man.

Now as for those Vandals who remained in their native land, neither
remembrance nor any name of them has been preserved to my time.[59] For
since, I suppose, they were a small number, they were either overpowered
by the neighbouring barbarians or they were mingled with them not at all
unwillingly and their name gave way to that of their conquerors. Indeed,
when the Vandals were conquered at that time by Belisarius, no thought
occurred to them to go from there to their ancestral homes. For they
were not able to convey themselves suddenly from Libya to Europe,
especially as they had no ships at hand, but paid the penalty[60] there
for all the wrongs they had done the Rom