According to the historian Procopius, Majorian, "who surpassed in every virtue all who ever were emperors of the Romans",Procopius, The Wars of Justinian, Book Three, Chapter VII, (trans: A. Kaldellis) p.159. . wanted to know personally the military readiness of the Vandals and how the local populations would react to the Roman invasion. He dyed black his fair hair, for which he was famous, and went to Genseric claiming to be an envoy of the Western Emperor. Genseric tried to impress the enemy ambassador by showing him the arms collected in the warehouses and sent him back.Procopius, VII.4–13. This story is probably only a legend of Italian folklore,MacGeorge, p. 214. but it is a clue to the care with which the expedition was prepared. Majorian collected information on the enemy and gathered a fleet of three hundred ships to support the army in the reconquest of Hispania and in the invasion of Africa.
