Chapter 3 Corduba and the Byzantine Expansion in the Western Mediterranean
In: A Companion to Late Antique and Medieval Islamic CordobaSearch for other papers by Jaime Vizcaíno-Sánchez in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
The scarcity of written sources makes it difficult to determine the real extension of Spania that was reconquered by Emperor Justinian. However, an attentive reading of these sources, as well as an analysis of the archaeological remains, show that the Byzantine territories were limited to a series of cities, especially coastal ones, located on the coastal strip between the Fretum Gaditanum and Dianium. Much of the research sustains that Corduba was never under the control of the milites Romani. In this paper we reexamine these ideas and collate them with the material evidence available for the 6th and 7th centuries. The study of the archaeological record leads us to conclude that this city of Baetica not only escaped imperial sovereignty but did not maintain close contact with the East during this period, unlike other Hispanic civitates.