Page 88 - Envoys and Political Communication in the Late Antique West 411 - 533

Envoys and Political Communication,411–533

in Spain in 409–11 in apocalyptic terms, but relates no specific incidents.
In 429, Geiseric led the Vandals from southern Spain into North Africa,
and the Sueves unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Lusitania. 99 In the
following year, the first conflict between the Sueves and the Gallaecian
provincials recorded in the Chronicle broke out; it was not finally resolved
until 438. 100 Hydatius notes no further conflicts for almost twenty years.
During that time, Suevic power expanded rapidly under kings Rechila
and Rechiarius. The Sueves gained control of Lusitania, Baetica, and
Carthaginiensis – most of the Iberian peninsula – despite imperial mili-
tary opposition. In Hydatius’ account, the Suevic expansion immediately
follows the 438 pax between the Sueves and the Gallaecians. 101 Renewed
Suevic expansion in 455/6 brought a sharp reaction by the emperor Avitus
and the Goths under Theoderic II, who in 456 defeated the Suevic army
and executed Rechiarius. 102
As the Sueves’ expansionist ambitions collapsed, conflict and nego-
tiation with the Gallaecians reappeared. In the confusion following the
Gothic assault, several shadowy figures sought to gain control of the
Sueves. Their first recorded actions were to establish a pax with the Gallae-
cians, before attempting to reimpose their authority on the southern parts
of Gallaecia and Lusitania. 103 Butin 459, conflict erupted between the
Sueves and the provincials in the northern region of Lugo, spreading to
other parts of Gallaecia and continuing until the end of Hydatius’ record.
Throughoutthe 460s, the security of the Suevic kingdom was again
challenged by Gothic opposition, as the Goths occupied the provinces
of Baetica in the south of the peninsula, at Theoderic II’s orders in 458,
and Lusitania, under Euric in 468. The Goths also sought to intervene
in the disputes between the Sueves and the Gallaecians. 104

99 Hyd., c. 90 [80].
100 Hyd., cc. 91, 96–101, 111 and 113 [81, 86–92, 103, 105](Table 1 nos. 1–5).
101 Under Rechila, the Sueves gained control of Lusitania, Baetica, and Carthaginiensis after occu-
pying the capital cities of each province (Hyd., cc. 114, 119, 121, 123: Rex Rechila Hispali obtenta
Baeticam et Carthaginiensem provincias in suam redigit potestatem [106, 111, 113, 115]). Rechiar-
ius campaigned in Terraconensis in 448–9, butdoes notseem to have gained control (cc. 137,
140, 142;cf. 158: the Goths operate freely in Terraconensis against Bagaudae in 454 [129, 132,
134; 150]). The return of Carthaginiensis to imperial control may have been negotiated in 453
(so Tranoy ii, 95 at §155.3;cf. Hyd.,cc. 155, 168 [147, 161]). After the political upheavals of
454–5, Rechiarius again sought to occupy Carthaginiensis and Terraconensis (cc. 168, 170, 172
[161, 163, 165]).
102
Hyd., cc. 173–8 [166–71].
103
Pax: Hyd., c. 181, 188: Suevi in partes divisi pacem ambiunt Gallaecorum; cf. the Gothic nominee
Remismund in 464,c. 223 [174, 181; 219]. Expansion: c. 188;cf. 190, 193, 195 [181; 183, 188,
190].
104
Conflicts in Lugo and other regions: Hyd., cc. 196–208 (460), 219–20 (463), 233, 237, 239,
249 (465–8)[191–203, 215–16, 229, 233, 235, 243]. Gothic occupation of Baetica as threat to
Sueves, particularly in Lusitania: cc. 192, 193 (Theudoricus . . . ad Baeticam dirigit manum . . . Suevi
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