em! I should
doubt whether another example can be found of the head of a subject on
the reverse of an Imperial medal. See Science des Medailles, by the Pere
Jobert, tom. i. p. 132-150, edit. of 1739, by the haron de la Bastie. *
Note: Lord Mahon, Life of Belisarius, p. 133, mentions one of Belisarius
on the authority of Cedrenus--M.]

[Footnote 33: Procopius (de Bell. Vandal. l. i. c. 3, p. 185) continues
the history of Boniface no further than his return to Italy. His death
is mentioned by Prosper and Marcellinus; the expression of the latter,
that Aetius, the day before, had provided himself with a longer spear,
implies something like a regular duel.]

It might naturally be expected, after the retreat of Boniface, that
the Vandals would achieve, without resistance or delay, the conquest of
Africa. Eight years, however, elapsed, from the evacuation of Hippo to
the reduction of Carthage. In the midst of that interval, the ambitious
Genseric, in the full tide of apparent prosperity, negotiated a treaty
of peace, by which he gave his son Hunneric for a hostage; and consented
to leave the Western emperor in the undisturbed possession of the
three Mauritanias. [34] This moderation, which cannot be imputed to the
justice, must be ascribed to the policy, of the conqueror.

His throne was encompassed with domestic enemies, who accused the
baseness of his birth, and asserted the legitimate claims of his
nephews, the sons of Gonderic. Those nephews, indeed, he sacrificed
to his safety; and their mother, the widow of the deceased king, was
precipitated, by his order, into the river Ampsaga. But the public
discontent burst forth in dangerous and frequent conspiracies; and the
warlike tyrant is supposed to have shed more Vandal blood by the hand
of the executioner, than in the field of battle. [35] The convulsions of
Africa, which had favored his attack, opposed the firm establishment
of his power; and the various seditions of the Moors and Germans, the
Donatists and Catholics, continually disturbed, or threatened, the
unsettled reign of the conqueror. As he advanced towards Carthage,
he was forced to withdraw his troops from the Western provinces; the
sea-coast was exposed to the naval enterprises of the Romans of Spain
and Italy; and, in the heart of Numidia, the strong inland city of Corta
still persisted in obstinate independence. [36] These difficulties were
gradually subdued by the spirit, the perseverance, and the cruelty