Spain conquered Peru in 1533 through the exploits of Francisco Pizarro with an army of only 180 men. Pizarro’s military strategy was assisted by simple deceitfulness. Before the Spanish arrived, a devastating war of succession gripped the empire. In 1532, Atahuallpa’s army defeated the forces of his half-brother Huascar in a battle near Cuzco. Pizarro invited Atahuallpa to attend a feast in his honor, and the emperor accepted. Atahuallpa thought he had nothing to fear from the white stranger and his 180 men. Atahuallpa arrived at the meeting place with an escort of several thousand men and all were unarmed. Pizarro sent out a priest to exhort the emperor to accept the sovereignty of Christianity and Emperor Charles V., but Atahuallpa refused,