Editing Toledo, Spain (section)

===Roman era and late antiquity===

Toledo ({{langx|la|Toletum}}) is described by the Roman historian [[Livy]] (ca. 59 BCE – 17 CE) as ''urbs parva, sed loco munita'' ("a small city, but fortified by location"). Roman general [[Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 189 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Nobilior]] fought a battle near the city in 193 BCE against a confederation of [[Celts|Celtic]] tribes, defeating them and capturing a king called Hilermus.<ref>{{cite book|author=John S. Richardson|title=The Romans in Spain|publisher=Blackwell|date=1996|page=54}}</ref><ref>Livy, ''History of Rome'', 35, 22</ref> At that time, Toletum was a city of the [[Carpetani]] tribe in the region of [[Carpetania]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=Continuidad y cambio en el proceso de romanización del ámbito celtibérico meridional y carpetano|url=https://www.academia.edu/2085388|website=academia.edu|date=January 2008|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> It was incorporated into the [[Roman Empire]] as a ''[[civitas stipendiaria]]'', (a tributary city of non-citizens) and later a [[municipium]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tsiolis|first1=Vassilis|title=El primer recinto amurallado de Toledo|url=https://www.academia.edu/11311342|website=academia.edu|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> With this status, city officials obtained [[Roman citizenship]] for public service, and the forms of [[Roman law]] and politics were increasingly adopted.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kulikowski|first1=Michael|title=Late Roman Spain and Its Cities|date=2004|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore}}</ref> At approximately this time, a [[Circus (building)|Roman circus]], city walls, [[Thermae|public baths]], and a municipal water supply and storage system were constructed in Toletum.<ref name="scribd.com">{{cite web|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El circo romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en época romana|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|website=scribd.com|access-date=24 November 2015}}</ref>

The Roman circus in Toledo was one of the largest in [[Hispania]]. The circus could hold up to 15,000 spectators. A fragmentary stone inscription records circus games paid for by a citizen of unknown name to celebrate his achieving the sevirate, a kind of priesthood conferring high status.<ref name="scribd.com" /> Games were held in the circus late into the 4th and early 5th centuries, an indication of active city life and ongoing patronage by wealthy elites.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El Circo Romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en Época Romana|date=2001|pages=38–39|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> 

Toledo started to gain importance in late antiquity. There are indications that large private houses (''domus'') within the city walls were enlarged, while several large villas were built north of the city through the 3rd and 4th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rubio Rivera|first1=Rebeca|title=El Circo Romano de Toledo y la Vega Baja en Época Romana|date=2001|page=51|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/265093313/Art-Circo-Romano-Rebeca-Rubio-1|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> Church councils were held in Toledo in the years [[First Council of Toledo|400]] and [[Second Council of Toledo|527]] to discuss the conflict with [[Priscillianism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=John|title=The Romans in Spain|date=1996|publisher=Blackwell}}</ref> In 546 (or possibly earlier), [[Visigoth]] rulers installed the capital of their kingdom in Toledo.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona|year=2000|volume=25|pages=447–448|title=Barcino, de sede imperial a ''vrbs regia'' en época visigoda|first1=Josep M.|url=https://www.raco.cat/index.php/MemoriasRABL/article/view/23775/23613|last1=Gurt Esparraguera|first2=Cristina|last2=Godoy Fernández}}</ref> King [[Theudis]] was in Toledo in 546, where he promulgated the only law of which records remain from the period, known from a single manuscript.<ref name="Late Roman Spain and Its Cities">{{cite book |last1=Kulikowski |first1=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/lateromanspainit00kuli |title=Late Roman Spain and Its Cities |date=2004 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801879784 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lateromanspainit00kuli/page/n289 265] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Throughout the 7th century, a series of further church councils—the so-called [[Councils of Toledo]]—attempted to reconcile differing theological views and enacted anti-Jewish laws.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n66 57]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref> By the end of the 7th century, the bishop of Toledo was the leader of all other bishops in Hispania, a situation unusual in Europe. The city was also unmatched as a symbolic center of monarchy.<ref name="Arab Conquest of Spain">{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Roger |title=Arab Conquest of Spain |date=1989 |publisher=Blackwell |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|page=43}}</ref>

When internal divisions developed under the Visigothic nobles, [[Tariq bin Ziyad]] captured Toledo in 711 or 712<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n143 134]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref> on behalf of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus]] as part of the [[Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula]]. Tariq's superior, Governor Musa, disembarked in [[Cádiz]] and proceeded to Toledo, where he executed the Visigothic nobles, destroying much of the existing power structure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Visigothic Spain, 409–711|url=https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Blackwell|page=[https://archive.org/details/visigothicspaina00coll/page/n142 133]|isbn=9780631181859}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Roger|title=Arab Conquest of Spain|date=1989|publisher=Blackwell|page=30}}</ref>