Valeria Provincia in the Cosmography of Anonymous of Ravenna
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.38003/zrffs.14.6
Richárd Szántó, Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Bölcsészet- és Társadalomtudományi Kar, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2269-3285
Abstract:
Anonymous of Ravenna wrote the Cosmography at the beginning of the eighth
century, but his creation of the work cannot be determined more precisely. The
Cosmography contains descriptions of the entire world in five books, the fourth of
which includes a narration of Provincia Valeria Media. In describing the province,
Anonymous of Ravenna referred to several authors’ works, including the Tabula
Peutingeriana, Marcomir and Jordanes’ works, and other sources of unknown
origin. Anonymous noted that Provincia Valeria Media was located between the
Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, covering the area of the ancient provinces
of Valeria and Savia. Anonymous listed the toponyms in Provincia Valeria Media’s
territory, which he took from an early copy or transcript of the Tabula Peutingeriana.
In Cosmography, Carniola was the western neighbour of Provincia Valeria Media,
and it was bounded on the south by Liburnia Tarsaticensis. Regarding the name of
Carniola, this researcher can assume that it was a later addition to the text of the
Cosmography. Scholars disputed whether Provincia Valeria Media existed in the
fifth century or whether Anonymous took its name from historical sources. Recent
research has suggested that Anonymous borrowed the name Valeria from Jordan and
the name Media Provincia from the Tabula Peutingeriana. He merged the two terms
into Provincia Valeria Media. The actual historical value of the Cosmography is not
the creation of the name Provincia Valeria Media but the early medieval data that
Anonymous recorded in his book.
Key words:
Anonymous of Ravenna, Cosmography, Valeria Provincia, Pannonia, Early
Middle Ages
