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428-580] the Spanish part, keeping for himself the territory in Gaul. It has been observed that John of Biclar, a chronicler of the latter part of the sixth century, states that Leovigild obtained Hispania Citerior. This phrase seems to confirm what has been said before, that from the beginning of the reign of Athanagild, Hispania Ulterior, or the greater part of the districts which belonged to it, was either in the hands of the Byzantines or, at any rate, was not loyal to the Visigoths. This evidence, viewed in connexion with the results of Leovigild's campaigns, shews that several districts of north-western Spain, such as Oviedo, Leon, Palencia, Zamora, Ciudad Rodrigo, etc., were independent, under petty princes or rulers, the majority of whom belonged to the Spanish-Roman nobility: it also shews that the district of Vasconia could only nominally be considered as belonging to the Visigothic kingdom.

To remedy this, Leovigild adopted as a guiding principle the ideal of hegemony in the Peninsula. He began by surrounding himself with all the external pomp which adds so much to the prestige of a sovereign; he adopted the ceremonial of the Emperors and celebrated his proclamation in Toledo by striking gold medals, bearing an effigy of himself in regal vestments. But he did this with a view to his relations towards his subjects, and took care not to arouse the jealousy of the Empire: on the contrary, he made use of it to further his own designs. He revived the former connexion between the Visigothic kings and the Emperors, by communicating to Justin II the news of his election as king, and by acknowledging his authority he made a truce with the Byzantine army in the Peninsula, and persuaded it to join with him in opposing the advance of the Sueves.

We hear very little of the Sueves. Since the year 428, when they had been delivered from their barbarous enemies, the Vandals, they had been trying to obtain possession of the territories formerly occupied by the latter, which extended towards the south-east and south-west of the Peninsula. This attempt at territorial expansion gave rise to constant wars, usually between the Sueves and the Romans, sometimes between the Sueves and the Visigoths, though in some cases the two barbarian powers united. (Thus Theodoric I allied with Rechiarius the Sueve against the Romans, and in 460, Theodoric II with Remismund against Frumar, another petty king of the Sueves.) The consequence of this last alliance was that the Sueves, who were partly Catholics and partly Pagans, were converted to Arianism. In 465, Remismund, with the help of the Visigoths, took possession of Coimbra, and shortly afterwards of Lisbon and Anona. But in 466 Euric put an end to these friendly relations, and in a terrible war, to the horrors of which Idatius refers, he forced the Sueves to fall back on their ancient possessions in the north-west. There is a considerable gap in the history of the Sueves, from 468 — in which year the chronicle of Idatius comes to an end, until 550 when Carrarich appears as king.