Hispania

On 27th April 711, a Berber commander called Tariq ibn Ziyad landed at the rock that now bears his name. What followed was the destruction of the Visigothic Kingdom within months — and the beginning of 781 years of Muslim rule in Iberia.

Rome had soldiers in Spain a century before Julius Caesar bothered with France, even though France was right next door. The reason has nothing to do with strategy and everything to do with Hannibal.