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Valentia (modern Valencia) was founded in 138 BC by the Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus as a settlement for veterans of the Lusitanian War — specifically soldiers who had served under Viriathus before his assassination. The city's right to strike its own bronze coinage was an early and significant marker of civic status in Hispania Citerior, where Roman colonial mints remained relatively sparse during the late Republican period.