Britannia Prima or Britannia I (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "First

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 ...

") was one of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of "the

Britains Britains, earlier known by the founder's name W. Britain, is a British toy brand and former manufacturing company known for its die-cast toy, die-cast scale models of agricultural machinery, and figurines. The company was established in 1893 as a t ...

" created during the

Diocletian Reforms Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

at the end of the 3rd century. It was probably created after the defeat of the usurper

Allectus Allectus (died 296) was a Britannic Empire, Roman-Britannic Roman usurper, usurper-Roman emperors, emperor in Roman Britain, Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296. History Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapii, Menapian officer in the ...

Constantius Chlorus Flavius Valerius Constantius "Chlorus" ( – 25 July 306), also called Constantius I, was Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 t ...

in AD 296 and was mentioned in the

Verona List The ''Laterculus Veronensis'' or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces and barbarian peoples from the time of the emperors Diocletian and Constantine I, most likely from AD 314. The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript preserve ...

of the Roman provinces. Its position and capital remain uncertain, although it was probably located closer to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

than Britannia II. At present, most scholars place Britannia I in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and the lands connecting them. On the basis of a recovered inscription, its capital is now usually placed at

Corinium Corinium Dobunnorum was the Romano-British settlement at Cirencester in the present-day English county of Gloucestershire. Its 2nd-century walls enclosed the second-largest area of a city in Roman Britain. It was the tribal capital of the Dobun ...

of the

Dobunni The Dobunni were one of the Iron Age tribes living in the British Isles prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. There are seven known references to the tribe in Roman histories and inscriptions. Various historians and archaeologists have examined ...

(

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

) but some emendations of the list of bishops attending the 315

Council of Arles Arles (ancient Arelate) in the south of Roman Gaul (modern France) hosted several councils or synods referred to as ''Concilium Arelatense'' in the history of the early Christian church. Council of Arles in 314 The first council of Arles"Arles, S ...

would place a provincial capital in Isca (

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...

) or Deva Victrix, Deva (Chester), which were known Roman legions, legionary bases. __NOTOC__ Roman Britain 410

History

Following the Roman conquest of Britain, it was administered as a Britannia (Roman province), single province from Camulodunum (Colchester) and then Londinium (City of London, London) until the Severan Reforms following the revolt of its governor of Roman Britain, governor Clodius Albinus. These divided the territory into Upper Britain, Upper and Lower Britain (''Britannia Superior'' and ''Inferior''), whose respective capitals were at Londinium and Eboracum (York). During the first phases of the

, Britain was under the control of

' Britannic Empire as part of the Carausian Revolt. At some point after the territory was retaken by

in AD 296, the Diocese of the Britains (with its vicarius, vicar at Londinium) was established and made a part of the Praetorian prefecture, Prefecture of Praetorian prefecture of Gaul, Gaul. The Britains were then divided among three, four, or five provinces, which seem to have borne the names Prima, Britannia Secunda, Secunda, Maxima Caesariensis, and (possibly) Flavia Caesariensis and Valentia (Roman Britain), Valentia. The placement and capitals of these late British provinces are uncertain, although the late-4th century Notitia Dignitatum, List of Offices describes the governors of Roman Britain, governor of Prima as being equestrian (Roman), equestrian rank ('), making the province unlikely to have been based in Londinium. Describing the metropolitan bishop, metropolitan sees of the Celtic Christianity, early British church established by list of Welsh saints, SS Saint Fagan, Fagan and "Saint Duvian, Duvian", Gerald of Wales placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western Britain,Giraldus Cambriensis [Gerald of Wales]
''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. Gerald of Wales. Translated by W.S. Davies a
''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. folk etymology, explaining its name by reference to the legendary Kings of the Britons, legendary Brutus of Britain, Brutus's first settlements. Modern scholars disregard this gloss but generally agree in placing Britannia Prima in

(''Cornubia''), and the area connecting them. William Camden placed Prima to the south closest to Rome and this was generally accepted after the appearance of Charles Bertram's highly-influential 1740s literary forgery, forgery ''The Description of Britain'', which gave Prima borders south of the Thames River, Thames and the Bristol Channel; his work was, however, debunked over the course of the mid-19th century. Septimus stone retuschiert

Owing to an inscription discovered at

of the

(

) which refers to a rector (politics), rector of Britannia Prima named Lucius Septimius, Corinium is generally accounted as the provincial capital. The list of bishops who attended the Council of Arles (314), 314 Council of Arles is patently corrupt but generally assumed to have mimicked the Roman administration: William Camden, Camden proposed that Prima was based at London and Secunda at

and these were the two bishops apart from York. Edward Stillingfleet, Bishop StillingfleetStillingfleet, Edward
''Origines Britannicæ: or, the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface, concerning Some Pretended Antiquities Relating to Britain, in Vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph'', New Ed., pp. 77 ff.
Wm. Straker (London), 1840. and Francis Thackery, Thackery further proposed that scribal error had produced the bishop ''de colonia Londinensium'' ("from London colonia (Roman), colony") from original notes understood as ''Civ. Col. Londin.'' when ''Colonia Legionis II, Civ. Col. Leg. II'' (

) was intended.Thackery, Francis
''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. (Others place the bishop variously in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, Chester, and Colchester.)

Legions

The Legio II Augusta, Second Augustan and Legio XX Valeria Victrix, Twentieth Valerian Roman legion, legions may have still been based at Isca Augusta (

) 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 (Roman Britain), Valentia (further attested in the Notitia Dignitatum, List of Offices) from lands recaptured from "the enemy".Ammianus, XXVIII, iii. Its location is a matter of scholarly debate, but some place it in northwestern Wales with its capital at Deva Victrix, Deva (Chester). If so, it was probably intended to counter the extensive Irish invasions of Wales, Irish piracy and raiding occurring in late antiquity.

Notes

References

{{Late Roman Provinces, state=collapsed 410 disestablishments Late Roman provinces States and territories established in the 3rd century States and territories established in the 4th century Roman Britain