 Basiliscus fled in the heat of the battle . One half of the Roman fleet was burned , sunk , or captured , and the other half followed the fugitive Basiliscus . The whole expedition had failed . Heraclius effected his retreat through the desert into Tripolitania , holding the position for two years until recalled ; Marcellinus retired to Sicily , where he was reached by Basiliscus ; the general was , however , assassinated , perhaps at the instigation of Ricimer , by one of his own captains ; and the king of the Vandals expressed his surprise and satisfaction , that the Romans themselves would remove from the world his most formidable antagonists . 
