ABSTRACT
Some time between year 694 and 702 a Byzantine naval expedition made an unsuccessful attempt to land on some spot along the southeastern coast of the Iberian peninsula. The episode is only mentioned by the Anonymous Chronicle of 754 (also known as Mozarab Chronicle) which says that the 'Greeks' came in ships, landed on the territory of a certain Theodomir, probably the visigothic dux in charge of the region, but then were defeated by him. 1 Although the concise statement of the chronicle makes it difficult to draw any solid conclusion, it would be tempting to link this attack with the fall of Carthage to the Arabs around 696 and to explain it as the Byzantine navy's desperate attempt to retreat to the Iberian peninsula after the empire had been deprived of that important North African base.2
