Asterius

Asterius ( 419–422) was a Roman general who obtained the title of comes Hispaniarum in which capacity he participated in an important military expedition against the Vandals who had established themselves in the north of Gallaecia. He was also able to defeat the usurper, Maximus of Hispania who had taken refuge with the barbarian tribes there. Due to his military prowess and his considerable amount of battlefield victories, he was given the title of Patrician in 422. Campaign in Hispania After the victories of Wallia in the campaigns of 416 and 418, the defeated Alans and Silingi Vandals took refuge with the Hasdingi Vandals who were established in the coastal areas of Gallaecia, north of the Minho River. The Vandals, needing new territories to place their newly acquired populations, expanded to the south and blocked their neighbors, the Suebi at the Battle of the Nervasos Mountains of 419. In 419, Asterius was sent as comes Hispaniarum with a powerful Roman army to finish retaking the territories occupied by the barbarian invaders in Hispania and to put down the second uprising of Maximus of Hispania.