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Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus (born ca. 30) was a Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 general.

His name suggests that he was an adopted son of a Caesius family into the Petilii. His elder brother may have been Caesius Nasica
Caesius Nasica

Caesius Nasica was a Roman military officer.He commanded Legio VIIII Hispana in Roman Britain, and defeated the first revolt of Venutius of the Brigantes during the governorship of Aulus Didius Gallus ....
.

His first important assignment was as legate of the Roman legion
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
 VIIII Hispana in the Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
 of Britannia
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
. He took part in the defeat of the 60/61 rebellion led by Queen Boudica
Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
 of the Iceni
Iceni

The Iceni or Eceni were a Brythonic tribe who inhabited an area of Roman Britain corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD....
, although he suffered a serious defeat when attempting to relieve the city of Camulodunum
Camulodunum

Camulodunum is the Ancient Rome name for the ancient settlement which is today's Colchester, a town in Essex, England. Camulodunum is the Oldest town in Britain in England as recorded by the Romans, existing as a Celtic settlement before the Ancient Rome conquest, when it became the first Roman town, and eventually a settlement of discharged...
 (Colchester
Colchester

Colchester is a town, and the largest settlement within the Colchester , in Essex, England.It has a population of List of English cities by population....
), which was destroyed by the Britons.

As a relative of Vespasian, Cerialis was made a hostage by Vitellius
Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year....
 during 69, during the civil wars of the Year of Four Emperors.






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Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus (born ca. 30) was a Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 general.

His name suggests that he was an adopted son of a Caesius family into the Petilii. His elder brother may have been Caesius Nasica
Caesius Nasica

Caesius Nasica was a Roman military officer.He commanded Legio VIIII Hispana in Roman Britain, and defeated the first revolt of Venutius of the Brigantes during the governorship of Aulus Didius Gallus ....
.

His first important assignment was as legate of the Roman legion
Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
 VIIII Hispana in the Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
 of Britannia
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, under governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
. He took part in the defeat of the 60/61 rebellion led by Queen Boudica
Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
 of the Iceni
Iceni

The Iceni or Eceni were a Brythonic tribe who inhabited an area of Roman Britain corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD....
, although he suffered a serious defeat when attempting to relieve the city of Camulodunum
Camulodunum

Camulodunum is the Ancient Rome name for the ancient settlement which is today's Colchester, a town in Essex, England. Camulodunum is the Oldest town in Britain in England as recorded by the Romans, existing as a Celtic settlement before the Ancient Rome conquest, when it became the first Roman town, and eventually a settlement of discharged...
 (Colchester
Colchester

Colchester is a town, and the largest settlement within the Colchester , in Essex, England.It has a population of List of English cities by population....
), which was destroyed by the Britons.

As a relative of Vespasian, Cerialis was made a hostage by Vitellius
Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year....
 during 69, during the civil wars of the Year of Four Emperors. Cerialis managed to escape and was one of the cavalry leaders that conquered Rome for the approaching Vespasian
Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
.

This success and his brother-in-law's trust gave him the command of XIIII Gemina, then stationed in the difficult province of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
. Again, Cerialis had to deal with a local revolt, the Batavian rebellion
Batavian rebellion

The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD. It was an uprising against Roman rule by the Batavi and other tribes in the province and in Gaul....
, in which the local tribes, led by Julius Civilis
Gaius Julius Civilis

Gaius Julius Civilis was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69. By his nomen, it can be told that he was made a Roman citizen by either Augustus or Caligula....
, a romanized prince, besieged two Roman legions at Xanten. Cerialis was again successful and received honours from Vespasian.

In 71 Cerialis was appointed governor of Britain
Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
, bringing the II Adiutrix
Legio II Adiutrix

Legio secunda Adiutrix , was a Roman legion levied by emperor Vespasian in 70, from Roman navy marines of the classis Ravennatis. There are still records of II Adiutrix in the Rhine border in the beginning of the 4th century....
 with him to the province. He was supported by Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman Empire general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Roman Britain. His biography, the Agricola , was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him....
, commander of XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century....
.

As governor, Cerialis campaigned against the Brigantes
Brigantes

The Brigantes were a List of Celtic tribes who in British Iron Age times controlled the largest section of Northern England and a significant part of the Midlands#The English Midlands....
 of northern England. In 74, Cerialis left Britain and returned to Rome as suffect consul. In 83 he was nominated consul for the second time, as a junior partner of the Emperor Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
.

Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
 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.

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