Editing Battle of Guadalete (section)

==Background==
Though the reign of Roderic is traditionally dated to 710&ndash;711, a literal reading of the ''Mozarabic Chronicle'' of 754 indicates 711&ndash;712. Roderic did not rule unopposed, however. The nature of his accession on the death of [[Wittiza]] from natural causes or through his assassination is not clear from the sources. It is possible that Roderic was probably the ''[[dux]]'' (duke) of [[Baetica]] before coming to the throne.<ref>Bernard F. Reilly (1993), ''The Medieval Spains'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 49&ndash;50.</ref> Archaeological evidence and two surviving lists of kings show that one [[Achila II]] ruled in the northeast of the kingdom at this time, but his relationship to Roderic is unknown. Probably they were rivals who never actually came into open conflict, due to the shortness of Roderic's reign and his preoccupation with Muslim raids. Even with Roderic's sphere of influence (the southwest) and his capital [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], he was not unopposed after his "usurpation" (the ''Mozarabic Chronicle'' calls it an "invasion").<ref>Collins (1989), 28</ref><ref name=Collins2004139>{{Cite book|last=Collins|first=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain 409–711|publisher=John Wiley and Sons Ltd |year=2004|isbn=978-1405149662|location=New Jersey|pages=130–132}}</ref>

The battle of Guadalete was not an isolated Berber attack but followed a series of raids across the [[Straits of Gibraltar]] from  [[North Africa]] which had resulted in the sack of several south Iberian towns. Berber forces had probably been harassing the peninsula by sea since the conquest of [[Tangiers]] in 705–706. Some later Arabic and Christian sources present an earlier raid by a certain [[Ṭārif]] in 710 and one, the ''Ad Sebastianum'' recension of the ''Chronicle of Alfonso III'', refers to an Arab attack incited by [[Erwig]] during the reign of [[Wamba, Visigothic king|Wamba]] (672&ndash;680). Two reasonably large armies may have been in the south for a year before the decisive battle was fought.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=139}} These were led by Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad and others under the overall command of [[Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr]].<ref>"Taric Abuzara" and "others" come from the ''Mozarabic Chronicle'', see Collins (1989), 30. Ṭāriq, which means "chief", is considered an etymological invention by Joaquín Vallvé (1989), "Nuevas ideas sobre la conquista árabe de España: Toponimia y onomástica", ''Al-Qantara'', '''10''':1, 51&ndash;150. For the others that accompanied Ṭāriq&mdash;Abdelmelic, Alcama, and Mugheith&mdash; see Dykes Shaw (1906), "The Fall of the Visigothic Power in Spain", ''The English Historical Review'', '''21''':82 (April), 222.</ref> Most of the Arabic and Berber accounts agree that Ṭāriq was a Berber military leader from northern Africa. [[Ignacio Olagüe]], in ''The Islamic Revolution in the West'', argues that Ṭāriq was a Goth and the nominal governor of [[Tingitania]].<ref>[[Ignacio Olagüe]] (2004 [1974]), [https://web.archive.org/web/20070317165057/http://www.webislam.com/BEI/Olague/Index.htm ''La Revolución islámica en occidente''] (Editorial Plurabelle), 274&ndash;75. On this view, Ṭāriq was a Christian (initially). A response to Olagüe can be found in Dolores Bramon (2001), [http://www.webislam.com/numeros/2001/01_01/Articulos+01_01/Disparates_islam.htm "Dispatares sobre el Islam en España"]{{dead link|date=March 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''WebIslam'', Opinión, No. 117.</ref> Others have argued that Ṭāriq was [[Jewish]],<ref>Norman Roth (1976), "The Jews and the Muslim Conquest of Spain," ''Jewish Social Studies'', '''38''' (2), 146&ndash;148.</ref> [[Persians|Persian]],<ref>[[Georges Bohas]], [http://www.universalis.fr/corpus2-encyclopedie/117/0/T303572/encyclopedie/TARIQ_IBN_ZIYAD.htm "Tariq ibn Ziyad,"] ''Encyclopædia Universalis'', accessed 18 October 2009.</ref> or [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]].<ref>Étienne Copeaux, ''[http://www.persee.fr/doc/cemot_0764-9878_1991_num_12_1_991 L'image des Arabes et de l'islam dans les manuels d'histoire turcs depuis 1931]'', « Cahiers d'études sur la Méditerranée orientale et le monde turco-iranien » (CEMOTI), 1991, Vol. 12, N° 1, p. 198.</ref>

According to all sources, the earliest being [[Paul the Deacon]], Ṭāriq left from [[Ceuta]] (Septem) and landed at the Rock of Calpe, the later [[Gibraltar]], which Arabic sources derive from ''Jebel Tariq'', "Rock of Ṭāriq".<ref name=thompson>E. A. Thompson (1969), ''The Goths in Spain'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press), 250&ndash;51.</ref> A legend first recorded by [[al-Idrīsī]] has it that Ṭāriq burned his boats after landing to prevent his army from deserting.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Sambaluk|editor-first=Nicholas Michael|title=Paths of Innovation in Warfare: From the Twelfth Century to the Present|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2018|isbn=978-1498551779|location=London|pages=7}}</ref> From Gibraltar he moved to conquer the region of [[Algeciras]] and then followed the [[Roman road]] that led to [[Seville]].<ref>[[Thomas F. Glick]] (1979), [https://archive.today/20120710141038/http://libro.uca.edu/ics/emspain.htm ''Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages: Comparative Perspectives on Social and Cultural Formation''] (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 32. Ṭāriq landed on 28 April 711.</ref> According to Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, writing around 860, Ṭāriq, commander of the Berber garrison of Tangiers, crossed the straits with ships supplied by a certain [[Julian, Count of Ceuta|Count Julian]] (Arabic ''Ilyan''), lord of Ceuta and "Alchadra" ([[Algeciras]]), and landed near [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]], which he captured and made his headquarters.{{sfn|Collins|2004|p=134}}

According to the ''Mozarabic Chronicle'', Mūsā crossed the ''Gaditanum fretum'' (Strait of [[Cádiz]]) with a large force in 711<ref>In ''The Buildings of Justinian'' of [[Procopius]], the term ''Gaditanum fretum'' is synonymous with Straits of Gibraltar and need not imply that Mūsā landed at Cádiz (ancient ''Gades'') itself.</ref> and remained in Hispania for fifteen months, but it is unclear from the sources if he came before or after the battle of Guadalete, which was fought by the forces of his subordinates. During his time in the peninsula it was racked by civil war (''intestino furore confligeratur'', "internal frenzy", to the Mozarabic chronicler), cities were razed, and many people were slaughtered in the general destruction.<ref>Later Arabic sources state that Mūsā only went to Hispania after news of Ṭāriq's success reached him. He [[flogged]] his subordinate in front of his soldiers and then the two together completed the conquest of the peninsula before Mūsā was recalled by the [[Caliph]] to [[Damascus]], a fact confirmed by the ''Mozarabic Chronicle''. Mūsā took with him Ṭāriq and many Visigothic prisoners from the taking of Toledo (Collins [1989], 29&ndash;31).</ref>

According to al-Maqqarī, Roderic was fighting the [[Basques]] when he was recalled to the south to deal with an invasion.<ref>Roger Collins (1986), ''The Basques'' (Londong: Blackwell Publishing), 97. The most specific accounts place Roderic in the vicinity of [[Pamplona]] (Shaw, 223).</ref> There is also the record of a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] attack on southern Iberia that was repulsed by [[Theodemir (Visigoth)|Theudimer]] some years before the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. This has led to theories that the Berber attacks may have been related to the Byzantine operation, and that perhaps the Arabs were originally useful allies in a Byzantine attempt to reconquer the lost province of [[Spania]].<ref>Bernard S. Bachrach (1973), "A Reassessment of Visigothic Jewish Policy, 589&ndash;711", ''[[The American Historical Review]]'', '''78''':1 (February), 32. This theory is predicated on a certain understanding of the identity of the mysterious Count Julian (see "Legend" below). Thompson, 250, is explicit that nothing is known of the context of these Byzantine raids.</ref>

The author of the late Asturian ''[[Chronica Prophetica]]'' (883) dates the first invasion of Spain to "the [[Ides (calendar)|Ides]] of November in the year 752 [[Spanish Era|era]]", that is, 11 November 714.<ref name=prophetica>Kenneth Baxter Wolf, ed. (2008). [http://canilup.googlepages.com/chronica_prophetica ''Chronica Prophetica''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629211254/http://canilup.googlepages.com/chronica_prophetica |date=29 June 2009 }} [http://canilup.googlepages.com/home Medieval Texts in Translation.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629210926/http://canilup.googlepages.com/home |date=29 June 2009 }}</ref> He also identified two invasions, the first by an Abu Zubra and the second, a year later, by Ṭāriq; probably he has divided the historical figure Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad into two persons.