Odoacer's Italian kingdom had gained control of Sicily from the Vandals by treaty in 476, agreeing to pay the Vandals an annual tribute. By 489 the Vandals knew they had made a bad deal.

In that year Ostrogoths under their king, Theodoric, swept into Italy, decisively defeating the forces of Odoacer. Two years later the Vandals could only watch helplessly as Theodoric installed a Goth count to rule in Sicily--the agreement to pay an annual tribute to the Vandals being relegated to the forgotten past.