The Battle of Emerita was a major battle fought in the summer of 533 AD between the Germano-Iberian armies of the Kingdom of the Suebi of present-day Portugal and the Visigothic Kingdom of present-day Spain. The Suebian king Gundioc and his vassal Audoin each led sizable armies deep into the Extremadura region, aiming to capture the regional capital of Emerita (Merida) and deliver a severe blow to the Visigoths. However, the Visigothic nobleman Eberulf led a larger force out of Emerita to attack the Suebic armies as they rested in fortified camps to the northwest of the city, besieging the main camp at La Roca de la Sierra. The ensuing battle between the Visigoths and the two Suebic armies saw the Visigoths overwhelm King Gundioc's encamped army before separately battling and routing Audoin's reinforcements. The Visigothic victory crippled the Suebic Kingdom, driving the remnants of the Suebic armies back into present-day Portugal and enabling the Visigoths to launch a counter-invasion of Suebic lands.
Background[]
By 533 AD, the Suebi of present-day Portugal had waged a bitter and persistent war which prevented the Visigoths of present-day Spain from deploying their troops against the Frankish threat to the north or the Berber threat to the south until the Suebi were swept away. In the summer of 533, King Gundioc of the Suebi and Audoin each commanded sizable Suebian armies in an invasion of the present-day Extremadura region of Spain, advancing in tandem before establishing fortified camps just a few miles to the northwest of the major city of Emerita (Merida), near La Roca de la Sierra and Puebla de Obando. Visigothic scouts reported on the Suebi armies' movements, enabling the Visigothic nobleman Eberulf to bolster the ranks of his Merida garrison as the Suebic armies advanced.
After the Suebic armies established camps outside Merida, Eberulf - his army now totalling some 2,280 troops - decided to advance out of Merida and bring the battle to the Suebians rather than risk being surrounded, trapped, and besieged in Merida. Eberulf attacked Gundioc's main force at La Roca de la Sierra, hoping to annihilate the King's own army while also defeating the army of his vassal Audoin.
Battle[]
The Visigoths assaulting the Suebian camp
The Visigothic army attacked the Suebic camp at La Roca de la Sierra, which had four points of entry; Suebic guards held the south, east, and west, while the northern gate was undefended. Eberulf planned to have his army divide into three main bodies and a fourth auxiliary wing; the three main bodies would attack each of the main gates, while the smaller body would slip around the camp and infiltrate the base through the undefended northern entrance. The force attacking the southern gate naturally arrived at its target first, as the Visigoths attacked from the south, and the Visigoths braved flaming arrows and other projectiles as they charged into battle. The other wings also closed in, while the auxiliary force, including cavalry, marched around the eastern side of the base.
The Visigoths storming the La Roca de la Sierra marketplace
It was then that Audoin's Suebic army began to arrive, with his cavalry vanguard making contact with the Suebic spearmen assigned to the roving unit. The Visigothic cavalry joined the battle, abandoning its plans to enter the Suebic camp through the northern gate. By then, however, the tide had turned against the Suebic defenders of the camp, who were overwhelmed by superior numbers and chased into the marketplaces, where the panicked Suebians were cut down in their masses. While the Visigothic spearmen wavered in the face of spirited Suebic cavalry charges, the Visigoths rushed reinforcements from the base to relieve their beleaguered spearmen outside of the base, turning back the Suebic cavalry and bracing for the arrival of the Suebic infantry.
The dead in the La Roca de la Sierra camp
The ensuing battle was a repeat of the earlier fight, as the Suebians once again faced superior numbers, and collapsed under the combined weight of the Visigothic forces. The Visigothic cavalry chased the fleeing Suebic cavalry from the field and turned back around to charge the Suebic slingers who were supporting the Suebic infantry. The Visigothic cavalry charged the Suebic rear as the Suebians struggled against the Visigothic infantry, and Eberulf himself joined the battle with his bodyguards and helped to chase down the fleeing Suebians. The Suebian armies were routed from the field with heavy losses, abandoning their camps to the Visigoths.
Aftermath[]
Visigothic warriors celebrating their victory at Emerita
The Battle of Emerita was a decisive, yet close victory for the Visigoths, who - despite losing 40% of their army - were able to gut the Suebic armies and slay the Suebic king. Eberulf decided to return to Emerita with his army to recuperate and replenish his army's ranks, preparing for a retaliatory invasion of the Suebic Kingdom. The Suebic armies retreated in different directions, with the remnants of Gundioc's army, led by Wigberht, harassing the countryside north of the Visigothic town of Olissipo (Lisbon) until, in the fall, Eberulf's army marched into southern Portugal and annihilated Wigberht's force, clearing the last Suebians from Visigothic lands and paving the way for an advance north against the town of Aeminium (Coimbra) and into the Suebic Kingdom.