Britannia Prima

History

Following the Roman conquest of Britain, it was administered as a single province from Camulodunum (Colchester) and then Londinium (London) until the Severan Reforms following the revolt of its governor Clodius Albinus. These divided the territory into Upper and Lower Britain (Britannia Superior and Inferior), whose respective capitals were at Londinium and Eboracum (York). During the first phases of the Diocletian Reforms, Britain was under the control of Allectus' Britannic Empire as part of the Carausian Revolt. At some point after the territory was retaken by Constantius Chlorus in AD 296, the Diocese of the Britains (with its vicar at Londinium) was established and made a part of the Prefecture of Gaul. The Britains were then divided among three, four, or five provinces,

The placement and capitals of these late British provinces are uncertain, although the late-4th century List of Offices describes the governor of Prima as being equestrian rank (praeses), making the province unlikely to have been based in Londinium.

Describing the metropolitan sees of the early British church established by SS Fagan and "Duvian", Gerald of Wales placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western Britain, explaining its name by reference to the legendary Brutus's first settlements. William Camden placed Prima to the south closest to Rome his work was, however, debunked over the course of the mid-19th century.

Owing to an inscription discovered at Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) which refers to a rector of Britannia Prima named Lucius Septimius, Corinium is generally accounted as the provincial capital. The list of bishops who attended the 314 Council of Arles is patently corrupt{{efn|"Nomina Episcoporum, cum Clericis Suis, Quinam, et ex Quibus Provinciis, ad Arelatensem Synodum Convenerint" ["The Names of the Bishops with Their Clerics who Came Together at the Synod of Arles and from which Province They Came"] from the Consilia in Thackery and Thackery further proposed that scribal error had produced the bishop de colonia Londinensium ("from London colony") from original notes understood as Civ. Col. Londin. when Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon) was intended. (Others place the bishop variously in Lincoln, Chester, and Colchester.)

Legions

The Second Augustan and Twentieth Valerian legions may have still been based at Isca Augusta (Caerleon) and Deva Victrix (Chester), although this is unclear.

Valentia

Ammianus records that in the year 369 Count Theodosius established or refounded the province of Valentia (further attested in the List of Offices) from lands recaptured from "the enemy". Its location is a matter of scholarly debate, but some place it in northwestern Wales with its capital at Deva (Chester). If so, it was probably intended to counter the extensive Irish piracy and raiding occurring in late antiquity.

Notes

References

References

1. Frere, Sheppard. (1967). "Britannia: a history of Roman Britain". Harvard University Press.
2. Camden, William. (1610). "Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland".
3. Dornier, Ann. (1982). "The Province of Valentia". Britannia.
4. ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]''.
5. [[Verona List]].
6. Giraldus Cambriensis [Gerald of Wales]. [https://archive.org/stream/ycymmrodor30cymmuoft#page/130/mode/2up ''De Inuectionibus'' [On Invectives], Vol. II, Ch. I, in ''Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', Vol. XXX, pp. 130–1.] George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920. {{in lang. la
7. [[Gerald of Wales]]. Translated by [[W.S. Davies]] as [https://archive.org/stream/ycymmrodor30cymmuoft#page/16/mode/2up ''The Book of Invectives of Giraldus Cambrensis'' in ''Y Cymmrodor: The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', Vol. XXX, p. 16.] George Simpson & Co. (Devizes), 1920.
8. Creighton, John. (2006). "Britannia: the Creation of a Roman Province". Routledge.
9. [[Labbé, Philippe]] & [[Gabriel Cossart]] (eds.) [https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/pdf_download.pl?id=bsb10321964 ''Sacrosancta Concilia ad Regiam Editionem Exacta: quae Nunc Quarta Parte Prodit Actior'' [''The Sancrosanct Councils Exacted for the Royal Edition: which the Editors Now Produce in Four Parts''], Vol. I: "Ab Initiis Æræ Christianæ ad Annum CCCXXIV" ["From the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Year 324"], col. 1429.] The Typographical Society for Ecclesiastical Books (Paris), 1671.
10. {{in lang. la but generally assumed to have mimicked the Roman administration: [[William Camden
11. Thackery, Francis. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtgDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA272 ''Researches into the Ecclesiastical and Political State of Ancient Britain under the Roman Emperors: with Observations upon the Principal Events and Characters Connected with the Christian Religion, during the First Five Centuries'', pp. 272 ff.] T. Cadell (London), 1843.
12. [[Ammianus]], XXVIII, iii.