Valentia (Roman Britain)

Valentia (Latin for "Land of Valens") was probably one of the Roman provinces of the Diocese of "the Britains" in late Antiquity. Its position, capital, and even existence remain a matter of scholarly debate. It was not mentioned in the Verona List compiled around AD 312 and so was probably formed out of one or more of the other provinces established during the Diocletian Reforms. Some scholars propose Valentia was a new name for the entire diocese, but the List of Offices names it as a consular-rank province along with Maxima Caesariensis and the other equestrian-ranked provinces. Present hypotheses for the placement of Valentia include Wales, with its capital at Deva (Chester); Cumbria south of Hadrian's Wall, with its capital at Luguvalium (Carlisle); and the lands between the Antonine Wall and Hadrian's Wall, possibly with a capital at Habitancum (Risingham).

Its name properly refers the Eastern emperor Valens but some also hold it to have honored Valentinian. Some researchers such as S. H. Rosenbaum, who place Valentia in far northern Britain also believe the name included wordplay with the Latin vallum ("wall"), cf. the island Munitia (wordplay on munitio) of Aethicus Ister's Cosmography.

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