VALENTIA
(Valencia) Valencia, Spain.
A
city on the banks of the Turia, ca. 3 km from the sea
(Mela 2.92; Plin.
HN 3.20, referring to it as a colony;
Ptol. 2.6.61). It was founded by Junius Brutus in 138
B.C. (Livy, Per. 55: Junius Brutus consul in Hispania iis
qui sub Viriato militaverant agros et oppidum dedit quod
vocatum est Valentia). Based on lines 479-82 of the
Ora Maritima of Avienus, it has been claimed that the
Roman city was built over the indigenous city of Tyris,
but there is no archaeological confirmation. Identification
with any of the Valencias on the border of Portugal
may be rejected since they received the name, with the
meaning of fortress, only in the 13th c., and the only
Valencia whose stone tablets mention the valentini is
that on the Mediterranean.
There are two schools of thought about the first inhabitants: one relates the text of Livy to those of Appian
(
Iber. 72) and Diodorus Siculus (33.1.3) and claims
that they were the defeated troops of Viriatus; the other,
taking into account that no indigenous names appear
on the tablets, that no Iberian money was coined, that
indigenous remains are scarce compared to Roman, and
that “militare” is inappropriate for Viriatus' men, supports the thesis that they were discharged from the Roman army, and translates “at the time” and not “under
the orders” of Viriatus. Some tablets bear the inscriptions “valentini veterani et veteres” and “uterque ordo
decurionum,” proving that there were two stages of
settlement, one with the veteres, the first inhabitants, and
the other with the veterani who came later, perhaps with
Afranius, which would justify the tablet that the Valencians dedicated to him (
CIL IX, 5275).
The location of the Roman city and its area is unknown, but the greatest density of finds indicate the vicinity of the Cathedral. Fragments of Roman buildings and tablets are incorporated in the facade of the 17th c.
basilica. In general, the Imperial levels are 3 m down,
and the Republican on virgin soil, at 4.5 m, with Campanian pottery A and B mixed, as in Ventimiglia and
Pollentia. Above 3 m are the Visigoth levels (tablet of
Bishop Justinianus, A.D. 546). A necropolis, La Boatella,
has been excavated (over 200 tombs with poor furnishings, 3d to 5th c. A.D.), as have other tombs within the city.
There is abundant pottery from Arezzo, S Gaul,
Spain, and Campania A and B (more of B). The most
interesting mosaic is one of Medusa (2d c.) similar to
that of Tarragona. Little is known about sculpture, since
a collection formed in the 18th c. disappeared when
Napoleon's troops were transporting it to France by
ship. About 70 tablets are known (
CIL II, 3710, 3725-75, 3903, 4948, 5127, 6004-5). Valentia coined money,
ca. 123 to 75 B.C., with asses of various weights (19.25-13 gm). On the face was the head of Roma on the right
with a winged helmet and the names of the quinquennales, and on the reverse a cornucopia tied with a sheaf of six rays and the name VALENTIA. There are also semisses and quadrantes. Most of the finds are in the Museum
of Fine Arts and the Museum of Prehistory in Valencia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Sanchis Sivera,
Epigrafía romano-valenciana (1920); D. Fletcher,
La Tyris ibérica y la
Valentia romana (1953); id.,
Consideraciones sobre la
fundacion de Valencia (1963); S. Roda,
Aportacion al
estudio de la arqueología valenciana (1955); various authors, in
Dos miel cien años de Valencia (1962) and
La ciudad romana de Valencia (1962).
D. FLETCHER
