Spania (Latin: Provincia Spaniae) was a province of the Byzantine

Empire from 552 until 624[1] in the south of the Iberian Peninsula
and the Balearic Islands. It was a part of the conquests of Emperor
Justinian I in an effort to restore the western provinces of the
Empire.

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Contents [hide]

1 Background
2 Conquest and foundation
3 Extent and geography
4 Administration
4.1 Secular government
4.2 Ecclesiastical government
5 Culture
6 Decline and Visigothic conquest
7 Sources
8 Notes

Background[edit]
In 409 the Vandals, Suebi and Alans, who had broken through the
Roman border defences on the Rhine two years before, crossed
the Pyrenees into the Iberian peninsula. Nevertheless, effective
Roman rule was maintained over most areas through the death of
Emperor Majorian in 461.[2] The Visigoths, vassals of the Roman
Empire who had settled in Aquitaine by imperial invitation (420),
increasingly filled the vacuum left as the Vandals moved into
Africa. A large scale migration of the Visigoths into Iberia began in
494 under Alaric II, and their overlordship of most of the eastern
and central peninsula was established by 476.

Conquest and foundation[edit]

In 534, Roman general Belisarius re-established the Byzantine

province of Mauretania with the conquest of the Vandal kingdom in
northern Africa. Despite his efforts, the Vandal king Gelimer had
been unable to effect an alliance with the Gothic king Theudis, who
probably took the opportunity of the collapse of Vandal authority to

conquer Ceuta (Septem) across the Straits of Gibraltar in 533,

possibly to keep it out of Byzantine hands. This citadel was
nevertheless seized the following year by an expedition dispatched
by Belisarius. Ceuta (which was briefly recaptured by the Visigoths
in 540[3]) became a part of Mauretania. It was an important base for
reconnaissance of Spain in the years leading up to the peninsula's
invasion by Justinian's forces in 552.
In 550, in the reign of Agila I, Spain was troubled by a series of
revolts, two of which were serious. The citizens of Crdoba
rebelled against Gothic or Arian rule and Agila was roundly
defeated, his son killed, and the royal treasure lost. He himself
retreated to Mrida.[4] The date of the other major revolt cannot be
arrived at precisely. Either at the commencement of his reign (549)
or as late as 551, a nobleman named Athanagild took Seville,
capital of Baetica, and presumed to rule as king in opposition to
Agila. Exactly who approached the Byzantines for assistance and
when is also disputed; the primary sources are divided. [5] Even the
name of the general of the Byzantine army is disputed. Although
Jordanes wrote that the Patrician Liberius was its commander:
He [Theudis] was succeeded by Agila, who holds the kingdom to
the present day. Athanagild has rebelled against him and is even
now provoking the might of the Roman Empire. So Liberius the
Patrician is on the way with an army to oppose him.[6]
James J. O'Donnell, in his biography of Liberius, casts doubt on
this statement, since the patrician was an octogenarian at the time,
and Procopius reports he had returned to Constantinople when the
Byzantines invaded Hispania and could not have led the invasion.
O'Donnell states that "Jordanes may have heard that Liberius'
name was being mentioned for commander of the Spanish
expedition, but, in the end, the fact of his relief from command of
the forces in Sicily makes the story of his voyage to Spain
incredible."[7]
However, according to Isidore of Seville in his History of the Goths,
it was Athanagild, in autumn of 551 or winter of 552, who begged

Justinian for help. The army was probably sent in 552 and made
landfall in June or July. Roman forces landed probably at the
mouth of the Guadalete or perhaps Mlaga and joined with
Athanagild to defeat Agila as he marched south from Mrida
towards Seville in August or September 552.[8] The war dragged on
for two more years. Liberius returned to Constantinople by May
553 and it is likely that a Byzantine force from Italy, which had only
recently been pacified after the Gothic War, landed at Cartagena in
early March 555 and marched inland to Baza (Basti) in order to join
up with their compatriots near Seville. Their landing at Cartagena
was violent. The native population, which included the family of
Leander of Seville, was well disposed to the Visigoths and the
Byzantine government of the city was forced to suppress their
freedoms, an oppression which lasted decades into their
occupation. Leander and most of his family fled and his writings
preserve the strong anti-Byzantine sentiment.
In late March 555, the supporters of Agila, in fear of the recent
Byzantine successes, turned and assassinated him, making
Athanagild the king of the Goths. Quickly the new king tried to rid
Spain of the Byzantines, but failed. The Byzantines occupied many
coastal cities in Baetica and this region was to remain a Byzantine
province until its reconquest by the Visigoths barely seventy years
later.

The Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent under Justinian I. Justinian's

inherited empire in pink with his conquests, including Spania, in orange. It is
the westernmost province.

Extent and geography[edit]

The Byzantine province of Spania never extended very far inland

and received relatively little attention from East Roman authorities,

probably because it was designed as a defensive bulwark against
a Gothic invasion of Africa, which would have been an
unnecessary distraction at a time when the Persian Empire was a
larger threat in the East.[9] The most important cities of Byzantine
Spania were Mlaga and Cartagena, the probable landing sites of
the Byzantine army, which was renamed from Carthago Nova to
Carthago Spartaria. It is unknown which of those two cities was the
provincial capital, but it was almost certainly one of them. The
cities were the centres of Byzantine power and while a few were
retaken by Agila, the ones which were retained were a bulwark
against Visigothic attempts at reconquest. The Goths easily
ravaged the countryside of Spania but were inept at sieges and the
fortified towns were safe centres of Roman administration.

Spania at its greatest extent, with cities indicated and lost territory.

There are few cities which can be confidently considered to have

been under Byzantine government in the period. The city of
Medina Sidonia (Asidona) was held until 572, when it was
reconquered by Leovigild. Gisgonza (also Gigonza, ancient
Sagontia)[10] was also held until the reign of Witteric (603610) and
it indicates that the south of the province of Baetica was completely
Byzantine from Mlaga to the mouth of the Guadalete. In the
province of Carthaginiensis, wherein lay Cartagena and of which it
was capital, the city of Baza was also Byzantine and it probably
resisted the inroads of Leovigild into that territory in 570, though it
was Visigothic by 589.

Among the cities which have been disputed as being Byzantine,

Crdoba is the greatest. Some historians have suspected it of
being the first capital of the province of Spania and ascribed the
cities of Ecija (Astigi), Cabra (Egabra), Guadix (Acci), and Granada
(Illiberris) to the Byzantines on this basis, but there is no positive
evidence in the sources of Roman rule in any of these cities.
Crdoba was in a state of rebellion, briefly joined by Seville from
566567, until Leovigild put it down in 572. It may have had a local
government during this period, or may have recognised Byzantine
suzerainty.[11]
Aside from the southern parts of the provinces of Baetica and
Carthaginiensis (the southern Levante), the Byzantines also held
Ceuta across from the Gibraltar and the Balearic Islands, which
had fallen to them along with the rest of the Vandal kingdom.
Ceuta, though it had been Visigothic and was destined to be
associated with the Iberian peninsula for its subsequent history,
was attached to the province of Mauretania Secunda. The
Balearics with Baetica and Carthaginiensis formed the new
province of Spania. By the year 600 Spania had dwindled to little
more than Mlaga and Cartagena and the Balearics; it extended
no further north than the Sierra Nevada. George of Cyprus
recorded only one civitas (city, people) in the province: the
"Mesopotamians", though the meaning of this is uncertain.

Administration[edit]

The Lpida de Comenciolo, an inscription from Cartagena recording the

patriciate of Comenciolus

Secular government[edit]

The chief administrative official in Spania was the magister militum

Spaniae, meaning "master of the military of Spain." The magister
militum governed civil and military affairs in the province and was
subordinate only to the Emperor. Typically the magister was a
member of the highest aristocratic class and bore the rank of

patrician. The office, though it only appears in records for the first
time in 589, was probably a creation of Justinian, as was the mint,
which issued provincial currency until the end of the province (c.
625).
There were five known magistri in the history of the province,
though this certainly does not represent the whole. Two are
passingly mentioned by Isidore as successive governors in the
time of Suinthila, but he omits their names. The first known
governor, Comenciolus (possibly Comentiolus), repaired the gates
of Cartagena in lieu of the "barbarians" (i.e. the Visigoths) and left
an inscription (dated 1 September 589) in the city which survives to
this day.[12] It is in Latin and may reflect the continued use of Latin
as the administrative language of the province. (It does not,
however, imply that Cartagena was the capital of Spania.) Around
600 there was a governor named Comitiolus who bore the rank of
gloriosus, the highest rank after that of emperor. The patrician and
magister Caesarius made a peace treaty with Sisebut in 614 and
conferred with the emperor Heraclius, who was more concerned
with matters in Mesopotamia.
The border between Spania and Visigothic kingdom was not
closed. Travel between the border for personal and mercantile
reasons was allowed and the two regions experienced prolonged
periods of peace. The ease of traversing the frontier was noted by
the exiled Leander, whose brother more than once crossed it
without hindrance. The border had been determined by a treaty
(pacta) between Athanagild and Justinian I, but the date of the
treaty is still debated. It may have been part of the initial conditions
of Byzantine assistance in 551 or 552 or it may have been a
product of the war between Goth and Roman in 555 or later. It was
certainly signed before Justinian's death in 565. The legitimacy of
the pacta was recognised as late as the 7th century, which
accounts for the ease of travel and trade.

Ecclesiastical government[edit]
The province of Spania was predominantly Latin Christian, while

the Byzantine governors were the same, though many were

Eastern Christians. Despite this, the relationship between subject
and ruler and between church and state seems to have been no
better than in Arian Visigothic Spain. The church of Spania was
also less independent of the Papacy than the Gothic church, which
was composed largely of Hispano-Romans. The two churches
were separate. No clerics of one ever attended councils of the
other. Indeed, no provincial council ever met in Spania. The
theological controversies of each, however, were shared: the one
stirred up by Vincent of Zaragoza's conversion to Arianism sparked
a response from the bishop of Mlaga.

Byzantine oil lamp from Cartagena

Gregory the Great interfered successfully in the various bishoprics

of the province more than any pope ever did in the Visigothic
kingdom. He came to the defence of the property of two deposed
bishops and lorded it over the magister militum Comitiolus, whom
he accused of interfering in ecclesiastical affairs. He implicitly
accused Licinianus of Cartagena of ordaining ignoramuses to the
priesthood, but Licinianus simply replied that to not do so would
leave the diocese of the province empty: a sad commentary on the
state of clerical education in Spania.[13]

Culture[edit]

The architectural and artistic style prevalent in Spania was not that
of Byzantium proper but rather the Byzantinist styles of northern
Africa. Two churches, one at Algezares south of Murcia and that of
San Pedro de Alcntara near Mlaga, have been excavated and
studied archaeologically. Only in the Balearic Islands did the style
of Greece and Thrace take a foothold. And though Byzantine

stylistic markers are present throughout Spain, in the Gothic

regions they do not share connections with the African styles
prevalent in Spania.
In the vicinity of Cartagena, pottery has been discovered bearing
distinctively African amphorae that further testify to the close ties
between the provinces of Spania and Mauretania Secunda.
Cartagena has in recent years been excavated quite thoroughly
and a housing complex probably created for Byzantine soldiers
occupying the city discovered.[14] Many artefacts of the Byzantine
presence can be seen in the Museo Arqueolgico de Cartagena.
Nevertheless, the city, like most in Spain at that time was much
diminished in population and area under the Byzantine
government.

Decline and Visigothic conquest[edit]

Spania in 586 after the conquests of Leovigild (with dates of conquest on

map).

In the reigns of Athanagild and Leovigild, the Byzantines were

unable to push their offensive forward and the Visigoths made
some successful pushes back. Around 570, Leovigild ravaged
Bastetania (Bastitania or Bastania, the region of Baza) and took
Medina Sidonia through the treachery of an insider named
Framidaneus (possibly a Goth). He may have taken Baza and he
certainly raided into the environs of Mlaga, defeating a relief army

sent from there. He took many cities and fortresses in the

Guadalquivir valley and defeated a large army of rustici (rustics),
according to John of Biclarum, who may have been referring to an
army of bandits called Bagaudae who had established themselves
in the disputed buffer zone between Gothic and Roman control. [15]
In 577 in Orospeda, a region under Byzantine control, Leovigild
defeated more rustici rebellantes, probably Bagaudae. After two
seasons of campaigning against the Romans, however, Leovigild
concentrated his military efforts elsewhere.
During the rule of Reccared, the Byzantines again took the
offensive and probably even regained or gained ground. Reccared
recognised the legitimacy of the Byzantine frontier and wrote to
Pope Gregory requesting a copy be sent from the Emperor
Maurice. Gregory simply replied that the text of the treaty had been
lost in a fire during Justinian's reign and warned Reccared that he
would not want it found because it would have probably granted
the Byzantines more territory than they actually then possessed
(August 599). Leovigild's gains against the Roman government
were greater than the Roman reconquests of Reccared's reign; the
Byzantine province of Spania was in decline.
Among later kings, Witteric campaigned frequently against Spania,
though his generals were more successful than he. The latter
captured the small town of Gisgonza. Gundemar moved the
primatial see of Carthaginiensis from Byzantine Cartagena to
Visigothic Toledo in 610 and campaigned against Spania in 611,
but to no effect. Sisebut more than any king before him became
the scourge of the Byzantines in Spain. In 614 and 615, he carried
out two massive expeditions against them and conquered Mlaga
before 619, when its bishop appears at the Second Council of
Seville. He conquered as far as the Mediterranean coast and razed
many cities to the ground, enough even to catch the attention of
the Frankish chronicler Fredegar:
. . . et plures civitates ab imperio Romano Sisebodus litore maris
abstulit et usque fundamentum destruxit.

. . . king Sisbodus took many cities from the Roman empire along
the coast, destroying them and reducing them to rubble. [16]
Sisebut probably also razed Cartagena, which was so completely
desolated that it never reappeared in Visigothic Spain. Because
the Goths were unable to undertake decent sieges, they were
forced to reduce the defences of all fortified places they took in
order to prevent later armies from using them against them.
Because Cartagena was destroyed but Mlaga was spared, it has
been inferred that the former fell first while the Byzantine presence
was still large enough to constitute a threat. Mlaga fell some time
after when the Byzantines were so reduced as to no longer form a
danger to Visigothic hegemony over the whole peninsula.
In 621, the Byzantines still held a few towns, but Suinthila
recovered them shortly and by 624 the entire province of Spania
was in Visigothic hands save the Balearic Islands, which were an
economic backwater in the 7th century. Like the Sardinian giudicati
and Corsica in that period, the Balearics were only nominally
Byzantine. They were finally separated from the Empire by the
Saracen incursions of the 8th through 10th centuries.
Sometime during the joint reign of Egica and Wittiza, a Byzantine
fleet raided the coasts of southern Spain and was driven off by a
local count named Theudimer. The dating of this event is disputed:
it may have occurred as part of Leontios' expedition to relieve
Carthage, under assault by the Arabs, in 697; perhaps later,
around 702; or perhaps late in Wittiza's reign. What is almost
universally accepted is that it was an isolated incident connected
with other military activities (probably against the Arabs or Berbers)
and not an attempt to reestablish the lost province of Spania. As
Professor Thompson states, "We know nothing whatever of the
context of this strange event."[17]