Valentinus was a Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 figure of the later fourth century AD.

In 369 AD he committed an unrecorded but very serious crime. His brother in law, Maximinus

Maximinus (Praetorian Prefect)

Maximinus was a Roman barrister and Praetorian Prefect of the later fourth century AD.-Origins:Maximinus was born in Sopianae, Pannonia. His family was of Carpic origin. Maximinus' father was an accountant in the provincial government office of Pannonia Valeria.Maximinus studied law, and practiced...

 was close to the emperor Valentinian I

Valentinian I

Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....

 and was able to have Valentinus' sentence commuted from execution to exile

Exile

Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

 and he was sent to Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

.

On arrival, he soon made contact with other exiles in the province and they began planning a revolt that involved bribing the local troops to side with them during the chaos of the Great Conspiracy

Great Conspiracy

The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by...

.

When Count Theodosius

Count Theodosius

Flavius Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western Roman Empire. He achieved the rank of Comes Britanniarum and as such, he is usually referred to as Comes Theodosius...

 arrived to crush the Great Conspiracy he acted quickly to put down Valentinus' revolt before it could begin. He and his circle of exiles were handed over to the new Dux Britanniarum

Dux Britanniarum

Dux Britanniarum was a military post in Roman Britain, probably created by Diocletian or Constantine I during the late third or early fourth century....

, Dulcitius

Dulcitius

Dulcitius was a Dux Britanniarum, a military leader in Roman Britain in the later fourth century AD. He is praised by Ammianus for his military abilities....

for execution. Unusually, there was very little further investigation into the revolt and attempts were made to smooth over relations in the province following the restoration of peace.

Valentinus' story illustrates the instability in Roman Britain at the time, the widespread discontent with Roman rule and the lengths that Theodosius was prepared to go to keep the peace.