Venutius was a 1st century king of the Brigantes

Brigantes

The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...

 in northern 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...

 at the time of the Roman conquest. Some have suggested he may have belonged to the Carvetii

Carvetii

The Carvetii were a people and civitas of Roman Britain living in what is now Cumbria and North Lancashire in north-west England. They are not mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography or in any other classical text, and are known only from inscriptions found in Penrith and Temple Sowerby in Cumbria...

, a tribe which probably formed part of the Brigantes confederation.

History first becomes aware of him as husband of Cartimandua

Cartimandua

Cartimandua or Cartismandua was a queen of the Brigantes, a Celtic people in what is now Northern England, in the 1st century. She came to power around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, and formed a large tribal agglomeration that became loyal to Rome...

, queen of the Brigantes, in about 51 AD. After the British resistance leader Caratacus

Caratacus

Caratacus was a first century British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest....

 was defeated by Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula

Publius Ostorius Scapula was a Roman statesman and general who governed Britain from 47 until his death, and was responsible for the defeat and capture of Caratacus.-Career:...

 in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, he fled north to the Brigantes, only to be handed over to the Romans by Cartimandua. While the Brigantes were nominally an independent kingdom, Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator 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 who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

 says Cartimandua and Venutius were loyal to Rome and "defended by Roman power". However, after the capture of Caratacus, Venutius became the most prominent leader of resistance to the Roman occupation. Cartimandua had apparently tired of him and married his armour-bearer, Vellocatus

Vellocatus

Vellocatus was a 1st century king of the Brigantes tribe of northern Britain.He was originally armour-bearer to Venutius, husband of Cartimandua, the queen of the Brigantes and an ally of Rome. Some time after 51 AD Cartimandua split with Venutius, marrying Vellocatus and elevating him to kingship...

, whom she elevated to the kingship in Venutius's place. Initially, Venutius sought only to overthrow his ex-wife, only later turning his attention to her Roman protectors. The Romans defended their client queen and Venutius's revolt was defeated by Caesius Nasica

Caesius Nasica

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

 during the governorship of Aulus Didius Gallus

Aulus Didius Gallus

Aulus Didius Gallus was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century AD. He was governor of Britain between 52 and 57 AD.-Career:The career of Aulus Didius Gallus up to 51 can be partly reconstructed from an inscription from Olympia. He was quaestor under Tiberius, probably in 19...

 (52 - 57 AD).

Taking advantage of Roman instability during the year of four emperors, Venutius revolted again, this time in 69 AD. Cartimandua appealed for troops from the Romans, who were only able to send auxiliaries. Cartimandua was evacuated and Venutius took the kingdom.

This second revolt may have had wider repercussions: Tacitus says that Vespasian

Vespasian

Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

, once emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

, had to "recover" Britain. He also says, introducing the events of the year of four emperors, that Britain was abandoned having only just been subdued (although some think this is in reference to the consolidation of Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. His biography, the De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae, 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.Born to a noted...

's later conquests in Scotland).

What happened to Venutius after the accession of Vespasian

Vespasian

Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

 is not recorded. Quintus Petillius Cerialis

Quintus Petillius Cerialis

Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus was a Roman general and administrator who served in Britain during Boudica's rebellion and who went on to participate in the civil wars after the death of Nero. He later defeated the rebellion of Julius Civilis and returned to Britain as its governor.His...

 (governor 71 to 74 AD) campaigned against the Brigantes, but they were not completely subdued for many decades: Agricola (governor 78 to 84 AD) appears to have campaigned in Brigantian territory, and both the Roman poet Juvenal

Juvenal

The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...

 and the Greek geographer Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

refer to warfare against the Brigantes in the first half of the 1st century.