RODERIC, the last king of the Visigoths in Spain, whose tragic downfall, coincident with that of the Visigothic monarchy, has inspired poets and romancers (including his torians) to throw round him a halo of glory. The Spanish and Arab historians contra dict each other in almost every particular of Roderic's life—the latter, on the whole, being apparently the more trustworthy. According to them, Roderic was of humble birth. but rose, through his talent and bravery, to the command of the cavalry. A con spiracy having been formed against Witiza, the reigning monarch, by the clergy and the nobles of Roman blood, Roderic was elevated to the throne in 709, and by his energy and talent soon quelled all opposition. The sons of Witiza, however, joined with some malcontent Visigothic nobles—among whom was count Julian—and agreed to summon to their assistance the Arab chief, Muza ibn Nozeir, who had just finished the conquest of Mauritania. The Spanish. writers, on the other hand, assert that the country groaned under the tyrannical government of Roderic, that his licentious behavior had disgusted many of his nobles,and that the people were ripe for a revolution when the Moslem invasion took place. Both are agreed as to the time and mode of the invasion; but the Arab his torians brand count Julian with the most atrocious treachery, as hot voluntarily surrendering key of the country, but actually guiding the 13,000 Berbers and Arabs under Tarik into Spain. A landing was effected at Algesiras, April 28, 711; and in spite of vigorous opposition from the governor of Andalusia, Tarik marched on, rout ing Roderic's chosen cavalry, which had been sent to oppose him. Roderic, who had
been employed in another quarter, now hastened at the head of an army, which is vari •ously estimated at from 50,000 to 100,000 men, to oppose the daring invaders, who by this time had been so re-enforced from Africa and by rebels that their numbers amounted to 25,000. The two armies met on the banks of the Gaudalete, near Xeres de la Fron tera, and on July 17, the battle commenced. Roderic directed the center of his army in person, appointing the sons of Witiza to command the wings, and the battle raged furi •ously for three days; a single combat then took place between Roderic and Tarik—a kind of statement extremely frequent in eastern histories—in which the former was again, and his head cut off, to be embalmed and sent to Muza. The Christians, enraged at the loss of their chief, fought furiously during six days longer, but all in vain, for victory now declared itself decisively in favor of the Moslems, to whom the sons of WTitiza had deserted soon after the commencement of the contest, and the rout of Roder ic's army was complete. The most ancient Spanish chroniclers agree in asserting that. Roderic either died on the field or sunk in the Guadalete, whilst attempting to save him self by swimming his horse across; and the various storks of his escape and subsequent adventures are of much later date. This decisive victory laid all central and southern Spain at the feet of the Arabs. Roderic has been made the hero of an epic poem by Southey.