Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus (born ca.
30) was a
Roman 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.
His first important assignment was as legate of the
Roman legion IX
Hispana in the
Roman
province of
Britannia, under
governor
Gaius Suetonius
Paulinus.
He took part in the defeat of the 60/61
rebellion led by Queen Boudica of the
Iceni, although he suffered a serious defeat
when attempting to relieve the city of Camulodunum
(Colchester
), which was destroyed by the Britons.
As a relative of Vespasian, Cerialis was made a hostage by
Vitellius 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.
This success and his brother-in-law's trust gave him the command of
XIV Gemina, then stationed
in the difficult province of
Germania
Inferior. Again, Cerialis had to deal with a local revolt, the
Batavian rebellion, in which the
local tribes, led by
Julius
Civilis, 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, bringing the
II Adiutrix with him to the
province. He was supported by
Gnaeus Julius Agricola, commander of
XX Valeria
Victrix.
As governor, Cerialis campaigned against the
Brigantes 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.
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.
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