Editing Roderic (section)

===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]]]]