Quintus Petillius Cerialis
Quintus Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus (c. AD 30 — after AD 83),
Because he probably succeeded
Boudican rebellion
His first important assignment was as legate of Legio IX Hispana (Ninth Iberian Legion) in the Roman province of Britannia, under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. In the defeat of the 60/61 rebellion led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni, Cerialis suffered a serious defeat when attempting to relieve the city of Camulodunum (Colchester), which was taken by the Britons before he arrived. "The victorious enemy met Petilius Cerialis, commander of the ninth legion, as he was coming to the rescue, routed his troops, and destroyed all his infantry. Cerialis escaped with some cavalry into the camp, and was saved by its fortifications."[4]
Civil war
As the son in law of
This success and his brother-in-law's trust gave him the command of
Later career
In 71, Cerialis was appointed
As governor, Cerialis campaigned against the
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "Tacitus says that he was a bold soldier rather than a careful general, and preferred to stake everything on the issue of a single engagement. He possessed natural eloquence of a kind that readily appealed to his soldiers. His loyalty to his superiors was unshakable".[10]
References
- ^ His full name is attested in CIL XVI, 20 = ILS 1992
- ^ Birley, The Fasti of Roman Britain (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. 66.
- ^ Salomies, Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire, (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), pp. 131f
- ^ Tacitus, Annals 14.32
- ^ Tacitus, Histories 3.59
- ^ Tacitus, Histories 3.78-79
- Classical Quarterly, 31 (1981), p. 187
- ^ Tacitus, Histories 4.86; Agricola 8
- ^ Gallivan, "The Fasti", p. 188
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 760.