Venutius (13-72) was King of the Brigantes from 69 to 72 AD, succeeding Cartimandua. He led two rebellions against Roman rule amid the Roman conquest of Britain.
Biography[]
Venutius was born in Britannia in 13 AD, and he married the powerful chieftess Cartimandua and became co-ruler of the Brigantes in 43. Venutius opposed his wife's decision to hand over Caratacus to the Romans in 51 AD, and he became a leader of the anti-Roman resistance movement. Cartimandua soon tired of him and divorced him, marrying his retainer Vellocatus instead. The Roman Army sent Legio IX Hispana to crush his uprising, and he was forced into hiding. However, amid the Year of Four Emperors in 69, Venutius took advantage of the chaos in Rome to launch another uprising, and he succeeded in deposing and possibly even executing Cartimandua. The Roman emperor Vespasian responded by crushing Venutius' uprising in 72, killing him and ending his uprising.