Provincia Valeria media?

Abstract

One of the most problematic issues in the study of Roman Pannonia is the fifth‑century history of the province of Valeria and its abandonment, which is further aggravated by a passage in the Ravenna Cosmography (IV. 20), especially if combined with information provided by the Tabula Peutingeriana.1 One interpretation of this enigmatic passage, which has gained widespread currency, is that the Romans or, better said, Aetius, ceded Valeria to the Huns in accordance with the terms of the treaty concluded between them, and that following the province’s evacuation, a new province by the name of Valeria media was created in Italy and south‑western Pannonia.2 This interpretation is widely accepted despite the lack of the passage’s meticulous philological examination; moreover, the problems raised by the passage are manifold and several explanations seem equally feasible. Here, I shall cover the passage in question alongside a historical commentary and a separate discussion of the putative connection between the vita Corbiniani, Aethicus Ister and Pannonia/Valeria as well as the image of Valeria in the works of certain Humanist writers.