The word
valence comes from
Latin
valentia, meaning
"strength or capacity". Known in Roman times as
Valentia Julia, the city had been the
capital of the Segalauni, and the seat of a celebrated school prior to the
Roman conquest. It became a colony under Augustus, and was an important town of
Viennensis Prima under Valentinian I. It was the seat of a bishopric perhaps as
early as the 4th century.
In the 5th century, control of Valentia passed from the Romans to the Alans
