Editing Roderic (section)

==Succession==

===Usurpation===
According to the ''[[Chronicle of 754]]'', Roderic "tumultuously [''tumultuose''] invaded the kingdom [''regnum''] with the encouragement of [or at the exhortation of] the senate [''senatus'']."<ref name=thompson249>Thompson, 249.</ref><ref name=collins113>Collins, ''Visigothic'', 113.</ref> Historians have long debated the exact meaning of these words. What is generally recognised is that it was not a typical palace coup as had occurred on previous occasions, but rather a violent invasion of the palace which sharply divided the kingdom.

It is probable that the "invasion" was not from outside the kingdom; because the word ''regnum'' can refer to the office of the king, it is likely that Roderic merely usurped the throne.<ref name=collins113/> Nonetheless, it is possible that Roderic was a regional commander (''[[dux]]'' of [[Baetica]] in later, legendary sources) or even an exile when he staged his coup.<ref name=collins132/><ref name=collins133/>

The "tumult" which surrounded this usurpation was probably violent, though whether or not it involved the deposition or assassination of the legitimate king, [[Wittiza]], or was a consequence of his recent natural death has divided scholars.<ref>Collins, ''Visigothic'', believes that Wittiza was the target of the coup.</ref> Some scholars believe that the king [[Agila II|Achila]], who ruled in opposition to Roderic, was in fact Wittiza's son and successor and that Roderic had tried to usurp the throne from him.<ref>[[Bernard Bachrach|Bachrach]], 32.</ref>

The [[senate]] with which Roderic accomplished his coup was probably composed of the "leading aristocrats and perhaps also some of the bishops."<ref name=collins113/> The participation of churchmen in the revolt is disputed, some arguing that the support of the bishops would not have led to the act being labelled a usurpation.<ref>Thompson, 249, who considers the senate comprise merely the palatine officials.</ref> The body of leading temporal and ecclesiastical lords had been the dominant body in determining the Visigothic succession since the reign of [[Reccared I]].<ref name=collins132>Collins, ''Visigothic'', 132.</ref> The palatine officials, however, had not been much affected by royal measures to decrease their influence in the final decades of the kingdom, as their effecting of a coup in 711 indicates.<ref name=thompson249/>

[[File:Roderic coin Egitania 1.PNG|thumb|A coin minted in Roderic's name at [[Egitania]]]]

===Division of the kingdom===
After the coup, the division of the kingdom into two factions, with the southwest (the provinces of [[Lusitania]] and western [[Carthaginiensis]] around the capital [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]) in Roderic's hands and the northeast ([[Tarraconensis]] and [[Narbonensis]]) in the hands of Achila is confirmed by [[archaeological]] and [[numismatic]] evidence. Roderic's twelve surviving coins, all bearing the name Rvdericvs, were minted at Toledo, probably his capital, and "Egitania", probably [[Idanha-a-Velha]].<ref name=collins131>Collins, ''Visigothic'', 131.</ref> The regions in which the coins have been discovered do not overlap and it seems highly probable that the two rulers ruled in opposition from different regions. It is unknown to whom the provinces of [[Gallaecia]] and Baetica fell.<ref name=collins131/> That Roderic and Achila never appear to have come into military conflict is probably best explained by the preoccupation of Roderic with Arab raids and not to a formal division of the kingdom.<ref name=collins139>Collins, ''Visigothic'', 139.</ref>

A Visigothic regnal list mentions "Ruderigus" as having reigned seven years and six months, while two other continuations of the ''Chronicon Regum Visigothorum'' record Achila's reign of three years.<ref name=collins132/> In contrast to the regnal lists, which cannot be dated, the ''Chronicle of 754'', written at Toledo, says that "Rudericus" reigned for a year.<ref name=collins132/>