Bonifacius

Count Boniface (in Latin, Comes Bonifacius) (d. 432) was a Roman general and governor of the Diocese of Africa. Along with his rival, Flavius Aetius, he is sometimes termed "the last of the Romans."

After the death of Emperor Honorius in 423, the Emperor Joannes (John) assumed the throne. Boniface refused to acknowledge him, and prevented the plentiful shipments of African grain form reaching Italy. After a revolt in Gaul, and an uprising by the general Aetius, Joannes was overthrown, Valentinian III (nephew of Honorius) was made Western emperor by the Eastern Roman emperor, Theodosius II. Boniface supported him, and resumed grain shipments.

Under the influence of Aetius, the Imperial mother Galla Placidia convicted Boniface of treason against the Emperor. Rather than surrender to probable execution, however, Boniface called in the support of Vandal mercenaries from their grazing grounds in Hispania. The entire tribe migrated en masse into Africa. However, by the time they arrived, Boniface had returned to Placidia's favor, and she had granted him the title of Patrician. He informed the Vandals that their services were no longer needed, but instead of returning to Hispania, they revolted and drove the Roman Empire out of Africa. The Vandals would rule the diocese until the Eastern Romans under Flavius Belisarius recaptured it in 534.

Boniface had been recalled to Italy before the Vandals had seized the province; however, Aetius and his army of Germanic mercenaries marched against him. The result was the Battle of Rimini (432), which Boniface won, despite being mortally wounded; he died several months later, and Aetius would become the de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire.