attack against Carthage and withdraw back to Sicily. At this stage, Marcellinus was suddenly murdered while in Sicily, perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer. Consequences of failure The failed joint expedition against the Vandals was a "shock to Roman prestige." This combined military venture—known otherwise as the Battle of Cape Bon (468)—was an unequivocal disaster that reduced Roman military might and also nearly bankrupted the Western and Eastern Empires alike, certainly dooming the Western half "to extinction" according to historian Peter Heather. Upon hearing of the disastrous defeat, the Visigoths resumed their wars of expansion against the West and the Burgundians expanded their kingdom towards Arles. With Marcellinus dead, Geiseric recommenced his attacks upon Italy in 470, which forced Ricimer—as the sole commander in the West—to assume command of Italy's defense against the Vandals. Marcellinus had been Anthemius' favorite of the two generals, and his death served to widen the divide between the emperor and Ricimer. The tipping point of their relationship was the trial of Romanus, the imperial chancellor (magister officiorum) and supporter of Ricimer, whom Anthemius accused of treason and condemned to death in 470. Following the execution of Romanus by Anthemius, Ricimer moved north to Milan with a force of six-thousand soldiers. Relations between the two deteriorated to the point that Epiphanius of Pavia, bishop of Milan, was asked to negotiate peace between them. Despite the bishop's efforts, the two were irreconcilable and began insulting one another; Anthemius called Ricimer a "skin-clad Goth", while Ricimer referred to the emperor as "an excitable Galatian". By 472, open warfare broke out between them, during which Ricimer marched on Rome itself, a siege that lasted many months. Four months into the assault on Rome, Ricimer named Olybrius—the brother-in-law of Geiseric—to the throne in a move of conciliation, since the Vandal king had been pressing for his elevation. After months of siege and suffering from starvation, Rome surrendered and Ricimer finally entered the city. Anthemius tried to escape by disguising himself as a beggar, but the emperor was caught attempting to flee the city at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, where he was beheaded on July 11, 472. Death and legacy Ricimer's rule lasted until his death of natural causes—apparently a hemorrhage on August 19, 472—six weeks after deposing Anthemius. His title of patrician and position as supreme commander were assumed by his nephew Gundobad. Nonetheless, Ricimer had been