Valentinus ( century, died 369) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

criminal and rebel put down after

Count Theodosius Flavius Theodosius (died 376), also known as Count Theodosius ( la, Theodosius comes) or Theodosius the Elder ( la, Theodosius Major), was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I () and the western Roman empire during Late Antiquity. U ...

's arrival in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in AD 369.

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

records that Valentinus was a

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...

n whose brother-in-law Maximinus was close to the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

. Having committed some serious crime, he was able to have his sentence commuted to exile to Britain, where he resided at the time of the

Great Conspiracy The Great Conspiracy was a year-long state of war and disorder that occurred near the end of Roman Britain. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a ''barbarica conspiratio'', which capitalised on a depleted military force in the p ...

. Ammianus does not record that Valentinus took part in that barbarian rising, but does claim that he began planning a new revolt after the arrival of Theodosius. He organized fellow exiles and attempted to bribe local troops to his cause. Discovered, he was given over to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

Dulcitius Dulcitius may refer to either of two ancient Roman officials active in the fourth century AD. * Dulcitius (Macedonia) was governor of Macedonia during the reign of the emperor Diocletian. He is chiefly remembered for his role in a hagiographic ...

for execution, but Ammianus notes that investigation into Valentinus's plot was cursory, lest it produce more unrest in the province.

. ''Rerum gestarum Libri XXXI)'' '31 Books of Deeds'' AD 391. Translated by Charles Yonge. ''Roman History'', Vol. XXVIII, Ch. III. Bohn (London), 1862. Hosted at

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References

369 deaths 4th-century Romans Ancient Romans in Britain People executed by the Roman Empire Executed ancient Roman people 4th-century executions Ancient Roman exiles Roman rebels Year of birth unknown {{AncientRome-bio-stub